A Sundarbans Tiger Illustration

"The Sundarbans mangrove forest, one of the largest such forests in the world (140,000 ha), lies on the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal. It is adjacent to the border of India’s Sundarbans World Heritage site inscribed in 1987. The site is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests, and presents an excellent example of ongoing ecological processes. The area is known for its wide range of fauna, including 260 bird species, the Bengal tiger and other threatened species such as the estuarine crocodile and the Indian python."  ~~ from the Unesco websiteI received a commission recently from a film-maker who had just returned from shooting (with his camera!) Tigers in this remote location. He wanted a particular stance, and had no materials to provide for reference, so I went to work.The image I was able to assemble looked like this...Here is the approved sketch......and the finished illustration:The pattern on this animal is fascinating, and was fun to draw. These tigers of the Sundarbans are not timid around water, like their domestic feline relatives-- they seem to relish their semi-marine habitat. A majestic creature I was happy to illustrate.