Done in Ps CS4. Size: 800x600.
Original photograph: "Respect" by

An absolutely beautiful piece of art I should say, a big, big THANK YOU !!! for the reference to the author.

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So!
This is the first feline and also the very first furry creature I've actually painted.... digitally I mean. And there's a couple of things I learned about fur as an instant:
- First, which I'd name my golden rule about fur painting - the more layers you add, the better it looks in the end;
- Second (which, if the first one is the golden rule, then that would be the DIAMOND rule about fur) - it's an absolute f**king pain in the ass to paint....
Srsly, out of about 4.5 - 5 hours that this painting totally took, I've spent approximately 4 hours on fur solely, which makes at minimum 80% of the time gone for furry'ing.... That's inhuman.

Ummmm, what else?.... Background is random light spots on green, so no textures used this time, in case you're wondering, no, the fur is entirely manually painted, like I hinted already. As a matter of fact could be said each and every hair is manually painted, which means that if someone tells me it doesn't look well, I'll be forced to commit a suicide

Anyway, I may say a lot of rubbishness, but the truth is I love this picture. I love snow leopards, and big cats as a whole.... that too. Still, I think it'll take me some time until I gather the courage to paint a furry mammal again.

Step by step tutorial on this one:
[link]Other two versions of this painting:

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Thank you very, very much guys for all the
and comments! I deeply appreciate your support!
This is fantastic!!