Just a doodle I did on the PDA; not really sure where it came from. I did a lot of work trying to get a fierce expression, and failed miserably, so I settled for happy/surprised. Take it for what its worth.

Trying to demonstrate I can do something other than lions. My Raccoon Thief from a swords and sorcery setting (no name yet). Not happy with the cheek ruffs, or the arched eyebrow/mask. On the other hand, the outfit came out just the way I wanted it to...

Exercise

The woods were dark, and deep. I ran as if my very life depended on it. Behind me, I heard the rustle of large, leathery wings, and knew she was behind me. No matter how hard I ran, I knew I could never escape her. I could almost feel her hot breath on the back of my neck...\r\n\r\nShe was the most persistant, demanding, and effective cross-country running coach I'd ever had!\r\n

They've been training Tankers at Grafenwehr, in Germany, since the 1930's. Last I heard it was still in heavy use, by Nato. Not many places left in Europe where you can drive tanks around... Given its history, there are bound to be a few ghosts there.

The previous picture had demanded a sequel. Maybe he'd been scratching his back, but I'm beginning to think he WAS practicing his pole dancing routine... for the sentinel of a neighboring pride. Looks like he's got her interest, too. \r\n\r\nOn the other hand, she COULD be looking at something else entirely...

Guard Duty (Xaven's Pose) I saw a picture by Xaven and liked the pose, but couldn't leave it quite as, well, blatant as that. He'd pulled it off MUCH better than I thought I ever could... However, as I played around with it, well, this emerged. A sentry, watching the borders of the Pride's territory, defending them against intruders. Boring. Here his relief has surprised him. He's either scratching his back against his spear, OR practicing his pole dancing routine. Not sure which. Thanks to Xaven for firing my imagination, and take it for what you will.....

Companion piece to VanAnkat Hunts. Different times call for different techniques. 'Nuff said\r\n\r\nBy the way, I realize most folks won't recognize the setting; that's the TC's machine-gun turret on an M48A3. No power traverse; you had to horse it around manually.

Bunker Busting on Iwo Jima

There were more tanks in the Pacific theater than you might have thought. Taking Iwo without them would have been much more difficult. Here a Marine M4 and a squad of infantry go after a bunker complex.\r\n\r\nI have GOT to quit attempting these complex drawings; this one took years to kick out the door, and should have been much better for all the effort

"Jungle Trails - Jaguar" A friend recently pointed me to a tutorial for doing jaguar spots (http://macmerc.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=47) and this is the result of my experimentation with it. The log is supposed to be across a still stream, under the dark canopy of the jungle. Anyways, _I_ like it...

Kitoth and Kaylee

A request from Kitoth. Hey, anything for another Lion, right?

As you can see, I'm still working on those Leopard spots. Might get it right one of these days, too.

LVT-4 This one's been in the works forever. The LVT (Landing Vehicle, Tractor) was made of aluminum, and able to "swim; they were a Godsend to the Marines, in the Pacific during WWII. This is the "armed" variant; they were frequently used as tanks by desperate commanders (which they weren't). On occasion they were also used as gunboats. And the life of the average Marine in the Pacific in WW II would have been a lot grimmer without them. I bet the soldiers at Normandy would have liked them too....<br>

On a Budget

Its difficult on the veldt; few resources beyond grass and water, and wildlife. The Buffalo to the south held the Cape,with its gold and diamonds. They could afford to import weapons. And they were our ancient enemies. Some times you had to make do with what you could afford. Here, a small pride attempts to defend their territory from an enemy patrol. The 106mm recoilles rifle is still effective against light armor, even though its over 40 years old. The M274 can carry it easily and it can carry more than its own weight. The Buffalo are predictable; they'll charge into any attack, and land mines are generally cheap.

Maxim

I don't have the exact quote, but long ago, a great British General said; "When the going gets tough, trouble me not with your mottos, your plattitudes, your morals, proverbs, or witty sayings! Nay, whe its dropped in the pot, GIVE ME YOUR MAXIMS!" Here, one of the pride's young lionesses has helped to set up an ambush near the pride's waterhole. The Maxim machine gun is older than her grandsire, but has been lovingly cared for, and is still quite functional. And while those Hyenas aren't going to raid the waterhole on HER watch, she does seem awfully glad to see her relief, doesn't she? Sorry about the grass; there's only so much you can do on a PDA....

New Bow. The elf was dead when we found him. I couldn't make heads nor tails of that piece of wood, but she figured out what it was for. I couldn't believe how fast she could drop the prey, nor the range she could hit them at.... Made my spear seem... obsolete.\r\n\r\nDone on the PDA; transition to the desktop did something funny to the colors...

New Rifle. Once it was just claw and fang, and that sufficed. Then the zebras came up with spears, and the jackals learned the bow. For generations we kept to the old ways, but eventualy we had to "modernize". First flintlocks and then the Gewer 98 or the Lee Enfield. With a good scope, those met the needs of a skilled hunter for several more generations. But when the Hyenas got AK-47's and the Cape Buffalo got that shipment of RPG-14's, we knew it was time, once again. Here one of the Pride's seniors tries out a new rifle. Will he be impressed?

Oola-Lop. This one's a little difficult to explain; as things built up to the release of Star Wars Episode III, I saw, on Renderosity, a prop by PhilC, for the Poser program; the slave girl that danced for Jabba the Hutt at the beginning of episode VI. Those fleshy... horns? Swung from her head as she danced, and somehow, I thought "lop". Here's my version of her as a lop-eared bunny. Why green? Well, ages ago, I read some fiction about a space patrol where one of the characters was an Ytt, a lepine-like being, only green. Green's a good color for an alien slave girl, don't you think? Green lop-eared Orion slave girls?

Open Door Policy

I'm not sure I'd follow her into her boudoir; for one thing its awful dark in there; for another, there doesn't seem to be a handle on the inside of the door. On the other hand.. bunnies.... Oh, what the heck....

Sexy Lioness; what else is there to say?

The Raid

It was just a raid to keep the Rhinos off balance, and to demonstrate the pride's annoyance at the use of their water hole...... A few mortar rounds, shoot and scoot. If they weren't gone by morning, perhaps a sterner warning would be required.

"Raquel" When I was in College,I had the famous poster of her, from the movie "One Million Years BC". Lousy movie, but.... Here's my furry version; a tribute if you will.

Ready Alert. In the canal zone, during WW II, fighter squadrons were kept on ready alert, against a Japanese attack against the critical Panama canal. Pilots sat in the cockpits of their fighters, ready to go, day after day. Fortunately, there never was an attack. Never the less, the fighter pilots were there,and probably bored out of their gourds too. Here a fighter pilot sits "ready alert" at the station built to defend the critical Ka'hass jump gate, the route to Federation space.... Kudos to APIS, who does this sort of thing much better than I.

Reluctant. My version of "meet the parents". Perhaps he's just not a beach person, after all, most felines don't care for the water. More likely he's not really wild about meeting her friends. Maybe he thinks he won't fit in. But she's not having any of it....<br>\r\n

Disaster at sea? Depends on your point of view, I guess....

Starfleet Vixen It was a horrible transporter "accident".... The Chief Engineer had programmed the transporter to identify "real Foxes" upon lock-on, and "shrink" their uniforms to something almost scandalous. All in good fun, of course. And then, someone was researching Vulpes Vulpes when the new Ensign signaled, requesting to be beamed aboard. The computer glitched, and the result was.... Surprisingly pleasing to everyone. Starfleet, however, was not amused.

Sitting. This came from a genuine simple pencil sketch and grew to unimaginable.... something. They say you can tell a lot about a person by the books in their bookcase. I've actually got a number of these.

Soldiers at the gate: Easter service, and my mind was wandering. The youth were putting on a skit and thoughtlessly, I didn't have a clue what they were doing. Two teens in robes were pacing back and forth in agitation, and the announcer was saying "our Master is dead, and we thought they'd be coming for the rest of us. We were listening for the tread of soldiers at the garden gate"... OK, the first thing that flashed through my mind was "well, the first put a couple of grenades over the garden wall.... THEN I figured out they were talking about Jesus' death, and the disciples fearing they were next... Oh. Ooops. Sorry, Lord.... This picture is what came to mind; completely inappropriate I'm afraid. Prismacolor markers and Derwent watercolor pencils

Spontoon Island. I finally got around to reading some of Simon Barber's "Spontoon Island series, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Here's a small tribute; my Tigress, Bali Hi, doing the "Hula of the sunburned tourist" at the annual dance competition. In the background is a somewhat out of the time line Vought OS2U Kingfisher from about four years in the future. Maybe he's emerging from the Burmuda Triangle....<br>

My Tigress, Bali Hi, does the Hula of the "Tourist who tries to see up grass skirts", while the weekly Pan Am clipper flies past on its way to the harbor

Spotlight

Just a fetching Cheetah Fem in the spotlight. Trouble? She might be.....