Inbetween

Very nice colour choices! The analogous scheme offers variety in hue, but at the same time, unity across the image. Using the sand drifts / rocks to angle the eye towards the subject was a clever use of the landscape as well. The texture and lighting you put into the environment really gives a strong sense of space and density – I can tell the land on the left of the image is much more solid than the earth and dust-like clouds on the right side. This distinction also makes the feline pop out from the background, which is a nice touch. I like the way you made the foreground details sharper and darker while making the details of objects further away looser and lighter but still representative of shape.

One thing I don’t like as much in the backdrop is the curling cloud in the middle; if the viewer’s eye is to follow the ground plane, one’s focus is swept up along the cloud’s edge, almost like a ramp, and tossed back off the picture. Outside that one curly-cloud, every other aspect of the environment perfectly guides the viewer’s focus towards the cat.

As for the cat itself, I think you did a nice job on the shading and the building of texture. The muscles and forms are well defined, yet still soft enough to give the impression of a fur coat. I do believe the anatomy of the pose is off in several places though.

The angle of the hind leg works until the knee; I feel like the joint has been extended too far before sloping down into the ankle -- especially with the foreshortening that pose would create. As another critique mentioned, the hind paw appears a bit lost in the sand.

Another thing that struck me is: the right hind leg is missing. One could argue you wouldn’t see it because the left-front forearm hides it, but there definitely should be a sign of a paw/leg in the gap between the forearms; with the visible hind leg extended so far backward, the cat would need to bring the missing right hind leg forward and outward slightly to balance the weight.

The cat’s head appears to be at an odd angle too. I feel like you intended to have the cat looking out into the distance to emphasize the sensation of vastness in the scenery, but if I follow its gaze, the cat is staring at the ground just before the edge of the image. If the cat is indeed supposed to be looking at the ground, I would have compacted the neck a little bit rather than stretch it.

Overall, very nice job! Just some compositional things that could be corrected in a sketching-stage for the next time around! Keep up the good work! : )