The Scottish Wildcat Tartan thread: conceived here on X-Marks!

[S Mitchell]

I see what you are saying, what colours would you suggest to more closely mimic a pelt that perfectly blends with the changing colours and textures of the uplands?

I've never seen a Scottish Wildcat and am entirely unqualified on the subject, but (there's always a big but) I was thinking earlier, based on the photos in this thread, they seem in some photos to have a more greenish/gray coat and in others to have a sort of golden brown coat.

If I were to try to paint the color I see, I'd probably start with a mixture of raw umber, pthalo blue and titanium white and see where it put me. For the stripes, I'd probably use a bit of mars black mixed with again umber or even violet or purple.

Of course, designing a tartan is a wholly different enterprise than painting. OC Richard mentioned once how some tartans colors blend to form another color. I wonder if something similar could be achieved here on purpose. I also wonder if an asymmetric tartan would convey a stronger sense of wildlife.

Honestly, though, I'm just thinking out loud. I'm out of my depth when it comes to designing tartans.

[tpa]

Here it is with a bit of gold and double black rather single black lines

I like the gold addition but think the black line or lines need to be bolder, more akin to the original, as they are on the wildcats.

[McMurdo]

Rex
Thank you for the input, I suppose if I went without the black lines then the two browns may blend more, however as others have said as there is black in fur of the cat I really think we need black in the tartan. Perhaps once this is dialed down we could look at a weathered version. For now I have taken some of the suggestions here and have saved another version though I have not got rid of the other version. Here is what I've come up with now:

[Tim Little]

Rex
Thank you for the input, I suppose if I went without the black lines then the two browns may blend more, however as others have said as there is black in fur of the cat I really think we need black in the tartan. Perhaps once this is dialed down we could look at a weathered version. For now I have taken some of the suggestions here and have saved another version though I have not got rid of the other version. Here is what I've come up with now:

I like this one, too, and think a weathered version could be excellent.

[creagdhubh]

I like this one, too, and think a weathered version could be excellent.

I agree, but then again, everyone knows how fond I am of weathered/reproduction colours.

[Alan H]

There is a CHANCE.....meaning that the idea has occurred to me, though I've not shared it with anybody but McMurdo... that there might be a Wildcat Tartan AND a Wildcat Tweed.

I can't swear to this. It's just a vague possibility, thinking on which mills are best set up to do..whatever. However, I am very leery of diluting the admittedly limited initial market. We all know that for a custom run of a tartan, we'll need orders for about 20 yards, minimum, to keep the price down to something like reasonable. The same goes for tweed.

Right now it seems like we might have *Significantly Interested* potential orders for 16 yards of a tartan, so we're getting there.

Alan

[Theyoungkiltman]

Wildcat tweed? There is no way I wouldn't get some to make a waistcoat out of. Of course if there is enough interest in it. Might we do a kickstarter or indiegogo crowdfunding campaign? I know we can get it going that way.

[creagdhubh]

There is a CHANCE.....meaning that the idea has occurred to me, though I've not shared it with anybody but McMurdo... that there might be a Wildcat Tartan AND a Wildcat Tweed.

I can't swear to this. It's just a vague possibility, thinking on which mills are best set up to do..whatever. However, I am very leery of diluting the admittedly limited initial market. We all know that for a custom run of a tartan, we'll need orders for about 20 yards, minimum, to keep the price down to something like reasonable. The same goes for tweed.

Right now it seems like we might have *Significantly Interested* potential orders for 16 yards of a tartan, so we're getting there.

Alan

Wow! This just keeps getting better and better, Alan! How exciting!

Cheers,

[McMurdo]

Wow! This just keeps getting better and better, Alan! How exciting!

Cheers,

That's what I thought too.

[Alan H]

Yeah, well......don't get TOO excited, yet. I haven't even proposed this to the mills, yet!

First things first...and that's the tartan.