I began my endangered species project with thumbnails. This was actually a very fun part of the project. I enjoyed the entire project but really struggled with Illustrator to get a product that I liked.

I worked with the #16 head and #12 body from the thumbnails to refine my drawing. 

I next tried outlining in Illustrator. My skills were limited so this was pretty difficult. One thing I learned from this project is not to try to outline the whole character, but break it up into shapes.

Next I started to add solid color, then gradients. I added the pattern to the fur and refund the eyes. 

I thought my character need just a little more depth and color so I added a shade of brown. Some of the leopards I looked at were several different colors such as grays, browns, white, and some black.