Gateway into the Soul

Ok forgive the humm, dull title. Usually when I finish a piece, the name just jumps out at me within a matter of seconds and always seems to click.

Anyway I know there are a few mistakes in this picture but I doscourage critique for two reasons. 1 already know where the mistakes are and the reason im uploading is because otherwise they will drive me insane to the point of doing something about it and I just want to consider it finished and two it was a result of a two hour free draw that I didnt expect to go ANYWHERE, so the fact that it came even this far stunned even me(especially in the short amount of time)

Alrighty now for the formal description. After my last project involving a panther I had dozens of pictures of black panthers sitting on my comp that I studied to get the anatomy and fur of the panther for the commission right. So I was rather bored and looking at them again and something random struck me. I was suddenly amazed by just how light can play off of a black panther's coat and based on the surrounding light make them appear less than black. A few photos I had really showed off the spots of a black panther when lighting hits them and what for whatever reason I found even more amazing was the almost greenish hue their coats and still carry a silverish sheen on top of that hue! The spots show through very well too! So I decided to experiment for myself with the idea. I rather like how it turned out too!

Edit: Yes I did use a reference for the initial concept, specifically for the intense expression .

Prints: Yes, 8x10 10$US, plus shipping. Print will not be watermarked.

Sorry folks, I never wanted to watermark my work, but my hand was twisted. This is my income and when people steal my work, they steal food from my mouth.