Over the past few years my style has changed ever so slightly, so around three years after I made the original tiger bee I decided it was time to revisit it and see how my style has changed, and even if I could improve upon the image. I quite like how chonky the original version was, but felt it could still be a little bit more rotund. I also gave more depth and impression of the fur, and picked slightly more muted colours.
This image has been made available as t-shirts and stickers.
This image also prompted the idea for other animal mash-ups, which resulted in both the leopard moth and the flying fox.
2018 version
I was having a conversation with a fellow artist regarding bumble bees, and how we’ve both tried to save when we’ve seen them exhausted on the street, with mixed results. I was also trying to think of something to draw for a drawing prompt challenge, which was “Strange tiger”. Somehow, the idea of a tiger bee, or a bumble tiger sprung to mind.