Would you get in the water now? May 15, 2012  |  By Jim McNutt

Bob Kuhn’s brightly symmetrical creature eyeballs viewers as if to say “better not!”  This image and a host of other sketches, paintings, and sculptures are part of a new exhibition and companion publication, Bob Kuhn:  Drawing on Instinct.  The project illustrates the marvelous progress from the sketches of a master to the finished product, and shows why Kuhn is preeminent among wildlife artists for his drawing talent.

The Field & Stream cover on which “Tiger” appeared in 1955 also reveals that the “fearful symmetry” could even scare hardboiled magazine editors into flipping.

Image Credits: Robert Kuhn (United States, 1920-2007), Tiger, 1955. Original art for cover of Field and Stream magazine, March 1955. Acrylic on Board. 14 × 10 inches. Collection of Frank and Lana Petersen.

Field and Stream magazine cover, March 1955. Collection of Frank and Lana Peterson.