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Tim Squires

Graphic Art, Design, Illustration and Animation

Drawing the Tasmanian tiger

February 14, 2018 by Tim Squires 2 Comments

The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was a large native carnivorous marsupial that was driven to extinction in Tasmania. The tragic story of the animal continues to fascinate many people both in Tasmania and overseas, and although many unverified sightings have been reported since the last one died in Hobart’s Beaumaris Zoo in 1936, no concrete evidence of its survival in the wild has ever been found.

Alert Thylacine by Tim Squires. Digital drawing.
Alert Thylacine by Tim Squires. Digital drawing.

While growing up in Tasmania, and spending a great deal of time in the bush and wilderness areas of our island, the mystery of the Tasmanian tiger was often the topic of conversation around late-night campfires. As a young art student during the early 90s, it featured strongly in a series of preliminary drawings that I completed for a proposed book on Tasmanian wildlife. I later went on to complete detailed studies of the animal from the preserved specimens in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart, and the South Australian Museum in Adelaide.

This research helped me to complete the illustrations that were published in my first book Animals of Tasmania: Wildlife of an Incredible Island, (2009), which was written by wildlife ecologist Dr Sally Bryant.

Since then I have continued with my research and artwork, and am presently working on a new book to visually document the animal with a more comprehensive series of drawings showing anatomy, appearance and behavior in greater detail.

In 2017 I became a featured artist at the Cradle Mountain Wilderness Gallery, and contributed a life-sized digitally created print for display in the Gallery’s newly developed Tiger Room. My artwork was also used as a key image for a range of Tiger Room and Wilderness Gallery promotions.

Prints of that artwork, titled Alert Thylacine, are available from the Cradle Mountain Wilderness Gallery shop, and from my online gallery at Redbubble.

Studies of Tasmanian tiger (thylacine) anatomy by Tim Squires
Studies for Animals of Tasmania.
Thylacine pages from Animals of Tasmania.
Pages from Animals of Tasmania.
Thylacine pages from Animals of Tasmania.
Pages from Animals of Tasmania.
Thylacine skeleton drawings by Tim Squires
Skeleton and bones.
Thylacine skull drawing by Tim Squires
Thylacine skull. Pencil on paper.
Thylacine pup sketch in progress.
Thylacine pup sketch in progress.
Thylacine pup completed digital drawing by Tim Squires.
Thylacine pup completed digital drawing.
Tim Squires creating digital artwork of a thylacine using a Wacom Cintiq 22HD
Alert Thylacine artwork in progress on my Wacom Cintiq 22HD drawing tablet.

ARTIST Tim Squires admits he probably falls on the “obsessive” side when it comes to tigers. I have seen him spend hours pencilling minuscule hairs on the pelts of his thylacine drawings. It is yogic stuff that requires immense concentration and a steady hand, but the results are beautiful, with a textural accuracy rarely achieved in a sketch. — Simon Bevilacqua, Opinion Editor, the Mercury.

Filed Under: Thylacine artwork and research

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Janet Swift says

    May 16, 2018 at 9:25 pm

    Tim This is the first time I have seen your work. It is stunningly beautiful.

    Reply
    • Tim Squires says

      May 17, 2018 at 9:43 am

      Hi Janet, thanks so much for your kind words, much appreciated.

      Reply

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Tiger Guide back cover art detail.

Prints and artwork available here

Black-headed honeyeater by Tim Squires
Tasmanian tiger by Tim Squires
Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii
Eastern quoll, by Tim Squires

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