Eyes must convey the attitude depicted by the body, as well as each expressive part of its face, neck height, and tail position. In the minds of some artists, they first envision the eye expression they want to convey, building the rest around that attitude or mood, which becomes the theme of the entire piece, habitat included.
As we go through this article, notice how many more details are seen on the shorter-haired cats as apposed to the fluffy ones. Compare a fully primed Canadian lynx to an extremely short-haired ocelot. Consider the difficulty factor when choosing a competition specimen, as the wow of a fully-furred lynx might outweigh the difficulty factor of a short-haired bobcat. Keeping in mind the importance of the silhouette (refer to Issue 140, Article 1), a bobcat is very distinguishable from other cats. Much of this uniqueness comes from a generally round-shaped head with more rounded ears, shorter ruffs (long hair coming off the sides of the head), and shorter ear tuffs (the cluster of black hairs that come off the back of each ear at the tip) as a comparison to its sometimes very close look-alikes of the various lynx species. The bobcat head should not be a Mr. Potato Head where you get to mix any components.
To subscribe or renew, visit www.breakthroughmagazine.com or call 800-783-7266.