What ya looking at?

I have worked with scratchboard before, so I am thoroughly impressed with this particular piece.

Color: From far away, this can easily be mistaken for an edited photograph (I don't wear glasses, but still). The colors are basically perfect: They fit everything. The orange is precisely like it is on a real tiger, and the eyes aren't too green. Simply stunning. The hues are are a warm, rich, roiling amber that draws you into the picture, until the colors finally lead to the nose and eyes, where you are captivated for a moment. You notice the soft, shrill pink of the flower, and the succulent dark greens and earth tones. The void of the background is reflected in the pitch black of the stripes, and balanced out so that there is not too much dark. The use of white is good, too. Lots of people leave in too much white, but in this case, since it is photorealistic, the balance is awesome. Perhaps, though, there is a tad too much of that glowing yellow on the claws of the frontmost paw? It is not completely distracting, but when looked at, it seems a bit too radiant.

Craftsmanship: I do not lie, I can see no errors when looking at this. The amount of detail is exquisite. Each individual hair on the tiger is visible, every single whisker, the gleam of the eyes, the pores of the nose. Incredible. I have no negatives for this part of the picture <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/w/w…" width="15" height="15" alt="" title=" (Wink)"/>

Focus: Like the colors did, the lines created by the position of the tiger's body and the direction of the stripes is sort of like a halo. At first, I saw the right edge of the picture, and the black ripples amongst the satin amber waves led to the powerful paw, which led to the calm chest, the nose, then these wise, curious, settled eyes. Once the picture leads you to the eyes, it is difficult to look at much else.

Between the lines: This picture could be interpreted many ways. But, for me, the connection between the predator (viewed as a truculent, savage, devastating beast by the local townspeople) and the fragile little flower is touching. It could be death coddling life, or simply that even the greatest evil, the most spontaneous power and grace still has space in its heart for a small, delicate, precious thing.

Positive: Simply *adjective that is a synonym with gorgeous that I haven't yet used*. It was hard to critique for anything that needed to be fixed, for there was almost nothing. Top notch work, exemplifying the word beauty.

Negatives: Back paw needs a bit more detail perhaps, and that odd yellow glow on the front paw is slightly distracting.

Summary: <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/t/t…" width="15" height="15" alt="" title="Thumbs Up"/> 9.8/10