I completely forgot I had this picture! This is Ariel, the cat, not the drow of the same name ^_~ On Gaia a nice girl was holding a contest to draw a picture morning the loss of her beloved pet cat, Ariel. She supplied us with a few pictures to referance from, but I didn't do a 'direct' referance. She also told me that on the last day she saw Ariel, she was watching a butterfly, hense my choice of pose. While this is Ariel, it's is not a copy from any of the photos. People always ask how I do the fur when I draw animals, so I'll supply that answer now.
1) Use paintbrush to block in the general shape of the animal,
2)Airbrush in basic patternation and shadow play,
3) Use the 'natural media' brush which has the widest-spread markings to make some rather lame and digitally fake looking fur,
4) Use a low oppacity airbrush, thin size, and draw in some dark fur the old fashioned way.
5)do the same as step 4 again, but with a white or light coloured airbrush. But this time, try to stay within the darker lines, it'll look like highlights.
6)Use the smudge tool to tidy things up *If Neccessary*. I don't do this much, it can look quite bad! be careful not to over do it!
7) Make separate wide light and shadow layers with a wide low opacity airbrush
8) Fiddle around with layer modes like 'overlay' until it looks spiffy.
8b)Tip! The natural media brush is without a doubt the best way to draw that short, difficult fur such as on the snout. Don't use it for long strokes like you would elsewhere, just carefully dab it on, almost dot like. Repeat with a much lighter colour, and there ya go, realistic short fuzz-fur!