Kalahari Princess

A preliminary sketch of an idea I had for a painting of an African Leopardess, likely to be sold in the Further Confusion Art show. The name was inspired by a show I recently caught on animal planet that chronicled the life of a leopardess trying to raise a family and survive in the Kalahari Desert. I chose the composition simply because it intrigued me, we shall see how well it works in painted format. I was inspired by a pose from a photo I found sometime ago., from where I don't even recall now..and also by trying various poses myself in the mirror. I am still debating how to go about doing the background, but I have a fairly good idea of what I want, nothing complex (shocking!), rather a simple gradiant/wash of softer colors..ie washed out purples/blues/pinks. However, I do welcome other suggestions and ideas!

Usually I am prone to post such sketches in my scraps, for the most part I will continue to do so...and hopefully you folks will be kind enough to drop in on my scraps as well!

Details:

Size: a little under 6"x10"
tools: mechanical pencils on smooth vellum. Original rough concept sketched in open canvas 1.1
time taken: roughly a little over an hour

EDIT: thank you for those that commented, the name of the show WAS Kalahari Supercat ! I would have never remembered if not for your comments!

Thank you for looking!