Step 15: Using the initial lines as guides, draw the short, stocky front legs. Draw lightly at first. When you like what you have, go ahead and darken it. Surround the initial line with quick, short strokes to give it mass and draw some lines at the bottom for the toes. Now do the same for the leg on the other side.
Step 16: Draw the hind legs using the same technique. Surround the line by sketching lightly at first. Then darken it using quick, short strokes. Curve the hind legs back a bit and don't forget the snow leopard's toes!
Step 17: Use the initial lines as guides to draw the rest of the body. Snow leopards live in cold environments, so use longer strokes to give the coat a fluffier look.
Step 18: Draw the snow leopard's tail using the curved line as a guide. Snow leopards have the longest tails of all the big cats that they use to keep warm, so make the tail big and fluffy.
Step 19 (optional): For a cleaner look, erase as much as you can of the initial guide lines. Don't worry about erasing them all. It's okay to leave some behind. Also re-draw any final sketch lines you may have accidentally erased.
Final Step: Something's missing on this snow leopard... the spots and rosettes! Quick, draw them! Start by drawing small spots throughout the entire face. Then move on to the snow leopard's body drawing bigger spots and rosettes. Rosettes are like misshapen circles that have openings and don't close all the way. Draw them all over the body. They don't have to be perfect. The sketchier they are, the more it looks like they are part of the snow leopard's fur. The rosettes get bigger the further back along the body they are. Drawing the pattern on the fur can be very time consuming, so be patient and take breaks. Pause the video or use reference for accuracy in the placement of the rosettes.
Add some shading to give your drawing more dimension and volume. Pick the direction of the light source when shading so that the shadows are consistent with it. Draw a cast shadow underneath. This helps ground the snow leopard so it doesn't appear to be floating.
You can add more value throughout your snow leopard drawing for extra detail. Vary the pressure on your pencil to get different degrees of tonal value.
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