Step 15: Use the third line from the left as a guide to draw the first hind leg. Lightly sketch the shape of the leg as you follow the path of the guide. When you get the structure of the leg right, darken the lines. The top of the leg should be wide, and it should get narrower as the bottom. Use curved lines along the side of the leg for the muscle structure. Add a couple of curved lines at the bottom for the toes. Darken the line on the right side to finish the shape of the jaguar's leg.

Step 16: Draw the jaguar's other hind leg same way. Follow the basic path of the guide as you make the shape of the leg wider. Add the toes at the bottom. The tail will be blocking the left side of this leg, so don't worry about drawing all of it.

Step 17: Use the remaining lines as guides to draw the rest of the jaguar's body. Simply darken the outer edges of the initial guides to create the shape of the body. If you made your initial guides thinner or wider, now is the time to correct them to give your jaguar the proper body shape.

Use the line on the right as a guide to draw the shape of the tail. Follow the path of the guide as you draw around it and make the shape of the tail thicker. Jaguars have short tails compared to the other big cats, so if your guide is too long, make sure to draw it shorter.

Step 18 (optional): For a cleaner look, erase as much as you can of the initial guide lines. Don't worry about erasing all of the guides. It's okay to leave some behind. Re-draw any final sketch lines you may have accidentally erased.

Final Step: Something's missing. The pattern of the coat! Start by adding tiny spots on the head. The spots should get bigger the closer they are to the back of the head. Don't add spots to the area directly around the jaguar's eyes, above the nose or around the mouth and chin. Add a few tiny spots in the whisker pad area. Make the section around the side of the mouth dark too.

Now add the distinct jaguar markings called rosettes all over the body. Rosettes are basically spots that cluster together to form misshapen circles. Add one or more spots inside each rosette. A difference between the pattern of a jaguar and that of a leopard is that leopards don't usually have spots inside their rosettes. Jaguars also have bigger rosettes that are spaced out more. These spots should be dark, so press down firmly with your pencil to get a dark value.

Adding the rosettes all over the jagu2ar's body can be VERY time-consuming, so be patient and take breaks. There's really no trick or shortcut for adding the coat pattern. You just have to be patient and add one rosette at a time. The farther back on the body the rosettes are, the smaller they should be. The markings on the underside and on the lower part of the limbs are basically spots.

You can draw the pattern on a certain section, say the legs, then take a break and do another section later. That way it's not too overwhelming. Otherwise just continue to add the markings until the entire body is covered. You can also use a single dark value all over the body if you want to make your jaguar a black panther! At the base of the tail, the rosettes are bigger, and then they clump together to form stripes near the tip.

Use a light value on the rest of the body to give your jaguar more detail. Don't add this light value around the eyes, muzzle, lower jaw and underside, as those sections are mostly white. Add the value smoothly to get an even, light base tone throughout the body. Shade right over the rosettes. Vary the pressure on your pencil to get different degrees of tonal value.

You can stop here if you'd like or you can add a medium value inside each rosette. The value inside the rosettes should be a bit darker than the base tone but not as dark as the actual rosettes.

You can also use this medium value to create shadows and give the body more dimension and volume. Pick the direction of the light source when adding the shadows so that they're always consistent. It's always a good idea to use reference as you draw.

Add a cast shadow underneath. This helps ground the jaguar so it doesn't appear to be floating. Remember to pause the video after each step to draw at your own pace.

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