This a slightly different version of the leopard shapeshifter I did for Kyoht's very cool Bump in the Night portfolio. His ornamentation is inspired by Afican jewelry and designs, though it's not based on any actual pieces; I made them up myself.

Pencil, with the border created in Illustrator, and colored in Photoshop. 2005.

For the lovely and kind Aurorawolf, here's my piece for her as part of the Sketchbook Ring. She didn't specify a theme; instead she collaged her book (cool idea!) with favorite scenes, symbols, and photos. I drew her with some trees, her cat and snake, and symbolic-style wings; I've not drawn a snake in FOREVER, so I apologize for inaccuracies!

Pencil, Photoshop CS on sketchbook paper. 2006.

A kitsune-type shapeshifter, though she's really not a specific kind of fox. Her hands hold the mask a bit clumsily on purpose; I wanted to exaggerate the contrast between the feminine, human body and her true "beast"-like, predatory nature, and I thought more human-type hands wouldn't have the effect I wanted - so I gave her very pawlike hands. The dress is clunky, almost like a "shell" for the animal-fox-spirit inside... *shrugs* darn me and my symbolism. My "kitsune"-type creaures vary widely because I love to experiment (and I get bored easily) - please do not feel that I am trying to define what a kitsune is in any way!

Mostly mechanical pencil, with some grey background tones added in Photoshop 7. 10/31/2003.

A leopard shapeshifter, originally drawn a few years back; she's not supposed to be "sexy" - notice no large, um, "features". I guess it's just easier to change sans clothing, I dunno. I DO know the paw-hand may look odd, but this was meant to be more of a metaphor than an actual creature; I thought if I did the two paws/hands differently, it might represent a changing nature better.

Pencil (an earlier sketch), colored 2006 in Photoshop.

For Coyote Osborne, who's always been very kind and supportive of my art - and done lots for others, besides. He had created his own creatures called "Wolvan", and I thought it would be interesting to try drawing one for him.

This is on a piece of buff-colored cardstock with an embossed border. It's not very big - no more than 5" wide, I think. Pencil, Photoshop. 2006.

Shockwave! A portrait to be re-sized and used for message boards and personal icons; he supplied the background. In return, he surprised me with an incredible story that I need to post to my website properly. Thank you so much, Shocky! Pencil on cardstock, Photoshop coloring, his photo image background.

Swiftred! I drew her as a more quadrupedal werewolf - still looks a bit feline, though. All details and ornamentation per description; drawn in the Fall of 2002. (Swiftred - THANK YOU! Do you want this in color?) Pencil on cardstock.

Perfect Night, property of Amber Holland. He's supposed to have yellow tipping scattered throughout his fur, but it just "jumped" too much so I toned it down. This is from 2002, and I'm STILL not happy with the way I draw wolves, but practice IS helping! Pencil, stippled cardstock background, Photoshop 7.

So, my hard drive crashed, and while I was recovering my files (thankfully), I found this. Pencil, color in Photoshop 7 (unfinished).

Wolfmage! The Final Version. He's a (very patient!) wolf/dragon, slightly humanoid in form. All details, clothing, and dragon-to-wolf proportions per specific description. I left the hands more human for contrast; he's a mage who's summoning up a storm, and I thought dextrous human hands would make more sense in this case than paws. Stylized for use as an avatar. Thank you all so much for your helpful comments; this pic is all the better for them. Pencils/Photoshop.

Klandagi! (AKA the super-nice LorCat) She asked to be depicted as a wolf with cougar markings, enraged. The choker is her own. A second version with Klandagi as a coyote-hybrid is in the works, too. Pencil. The knotwork took about 1-1/2 hrs overall. Inspired by George Bain's work and Dover Book's royalty-free Celtic Design publications.

"Steppenwolf"; black brushpen. Recently on a message board someone mentioned the book STEPPENWOLF by Herman Hesse; I'd read it years ago, and was much influenced by it. Discussing it again reminded me of the series of pics I'd done with it as my muse - so I hunted around through my old stuff, and found this, which I had done in an hour as an exercise (another "test" of mine - to see if I could do a finished piece, from conception to completion, in an hour... with no references - as you can tell :P).

Graywolf/Illahie! My half of our trade, this pic is also a study of one of the ways I do werecreatures: to paraphrase another post, they're built for running on all fours like a non-anthro wolf, but with enough strength in the hind limbs to enable walking on the hind limbs for short periods if necessary. That's why the legs may look a bit stubby; the limbs aren't that short - they're just more muscular than on a regular wolf. The wrists are slightly altered to allow rotation; most canines, with some exceptions like foxes, have wrists that restrict lateral movement.

The face is a bit wide; perhaps if I had defined the skull through the fur more I would have been more successful. THANKS ILLAHIE! :D

iisaw! Began as EEwolf (here at the VCL in early 2000) which I wasn't happy with, I re-drew him (with permission) as a 'yote, but with ee's build and with markings/coloration based off the wonderful Spirit Mask he made. I hope it looks like him a little... Pencil/Illustrator/Photoshop. The 'yote tattoos are by ee himself, and the rune and pouch are his, too! *bows* (I still need practice on canines, and the feathers need work too, and...)

One-Paw! According to his player, this were' is 80% wolf, 20% human, and his whole life is focused on running; he's very thin, and somewhat jackal-like in appearance and markings. Note the narrow chest, and shoulders on the side of the body - a much more efficient arrangement for running on all fours than a more human, "shoulders on the back" arrangement would be. His hands are quite pawlike, but are somewhat flexible and have functioning thumbs. His tattered right ear and facial scars are the result of a gunshot wound. Someday I'd like to redraw him. Character © his player, Apocalyptic Drms.

Diviner: In Celtic mythology there is mention of a magical pack of hounds with fur of pure white except for their red ears; though not a hound, this female werewolf is indeed a hunter/seeker-of-sorts, and was inspired by the tales. She wears ornamentation reminiscent of the lesser-known Celtic La Tene style, including a torc around her left wrist, and her body is well-suited to running on all fours, as in syn-lobis2.jpg and syn-onepaw.jpg. Someday I'd like to re-draw her; I would hope I'd do a better job next time. There have since been other drawings with werewolves and skulls, but ours are all unrelated (lots of people can have the same ideas about what's cool).

Alicia! A request for Jason Magnotte. According to her description, she's "a Child of Gaia, Galliard, Homid Born". Though I'm not a W:TA roleplayer, I researched and tried to make her appearance reflect her description. She's much more humanoid than I usually draw werewolves - however, I drew her to match JM's specific description of her. Please note I no longer take requests (no free time)!

Another werewolf n'trees. Generally my were-creatures spend a lot of time on all fours, though they can walk on their hind legs if necessary. Their opposable thumbs are dextrous despite their short length. This one has narrow shoulders, like real wolves; it's shoulder-blades are more to the sides of its body, rather than on it's back (as in humans). Although that tends to limit arm mobility to some extent (try picking up your dog that way), it makes for less stress on the forelimbs and shoulders while running, and thus a more efficient gait. I've done them this way for years, dating back to 4th-grade sketchbooks; it makes sense to me. HOWEVER - I do were-creatures all different ways; this is just one example of anatomy - there's no right or wrong way to draw them!

Unfinished werewolf-type-creature, pencil, 3/2001. No need for feathers or earrings or tattoos on this guy; he's just sort of an impressionistic sketch of something that popped into my head one night. He's pretty broad-faced for a wolf; but then, he's not exactly a wolf, anyway.

EE Wolf: 2000, pencil. I thought I'd lost this (sadly partially completed) picture, a commission for Eric Elliot, whose muscular creatures are absolutely breathtaking! However, once I found it, I was unhappy with it and re-did it, with iisaw as a coyote instead - see syn-iisaw2.jpg above. I had my husband pose for me, to help me get the arms right (it's easy to mess this pose up). I purposely made the body more human, and did a human-type neck, instead of the fluffy neck fur, for a change.

Werewolf (scratchy): 1996, pen. A heavy-bodied werewolf. He's rather fangy, too. My older werewolves were often VERY muscular like this guy, with impossibly huge, almost saber-like canines (I have a tendency to put huge canine-fangs on everything) and huge claws, and usually went on all fours most of the time.

Sacred (Two): 1996, pen & white-out. A werewolf-couple; one of those dreamlike images that comes to you quickly that you try to capture on paper. Yes, I drew werewolves before they were "cool", but that doesn't mean I don't still love to see other people's werewolves, too!

Wolf: 1993, oil on canvas-paper. Stylized wolfhead; another exercise (for myself) in oils.

Wolf-bear: 1996, pencil. What started out as a werewolf ended up as a werewolf-bear-thing.

Begin: 1994, RSVP pen. I drew this without reference, straight from my head (obviously). Though not that accurate, sometimes I think "sudden inspiration" drawings are more interesting than something that's been copied from a photo and labored over. I LOVE to see sketches and "inspired pieces" from other artists!

Wyld (RDI character study, in white for clarity): 1993, pencil. In the early 90's I spent a lot of time in the Red Dragon Inn chatroom on AOL. This was the non-combative form Wyld often assumed in there - though she walked mostly on all fours, she could still hold a root beer. I drew her so a chatroom friend could see she was not a furry, but a werewolf (he wondered why she didn't wear clothes). The little sketches show her paw-hands, and thumbnails of her in two- and four-legged poses.

Promise Me: 1993, pencil. This is Wyld, looking more human-like (note the shoulder arrangement, etc.), in an admittedly common pose - but it was fun. Here she is in her more common black pelt and golden blonde hair (also cliché, maybe). In case anyone thinks werewolves with long hair are a new idea, I'd like to say I was doing them this way since the 80's (and I'm sure I was NOT the only one)! But does that really matter? Because, as they are creatures of fantasy, I think you can draw them ANY WAY YOU WANT. There is no one, single, most-correct way to draw a werewolf! There's just personal preferences.

'Wolf: 1994, pencil. He's almost coyote-like, this slim 'wolf, and he has the expression of a guy I had the pleasure to be friends (YES, "just friends", thank you) with in college. Inspired by a photo in a NWF calendar.

Haaaaaarrrr....: 1994, pen. Just a werewolf-type creature with black, almost husky-like markings. I drew him before I ever saw "Balto" (he's NOT Steele), and he's not Robert Smith, either - though I AM a huge fan of The Cure...!

Wolfmoon: 1993, pencil & pen. Stylized representation of an angry Wyld; though she'd never get her mouth closed with fangs like that! The stars in the background form constellations (not in their real positions in the sky, though). One of them is Draco, and the rest are kinda cropped off.