I’ve been meaning to get this “paw study” up for several weeks now, and RL keeps swooping in with other things to consume my time and keep me busy. So, finally, the wait is over!

This Paw Study is part of the Balaa’s “Artist Conspiracy” series, who’s whole purpose is to provide both good reference pictures for artists as well as inspiration to try them out in new artwork! There will be nine pictures in this series, with the “number zero” having been posted a long, long time ago now: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/432365/

As this /is/ a Paw Study, I thought the very best candidate for modelling would best be a kitty with very large and imposing paws, who doesn’t mind showing them off. So, logically, that led me to The DrifterMan, who was more than happy to volunteer.

In this photo, #1 of 9, Drifter is displaying the underside of this left forepaw. There are several features of note which are rather characteristic of most cougars. There is thick, dense, very fine fur on the underside of the paws, which help protect the more sensitive areas that are between and above the pawpads in several way. Insects such as ants and such have a hard time getting through the fur because of its density, and because the fur is so fine and thick, it provides a very good layer of insulation, for those winter months, when cougars must hunt in the snow, and the paws must double as snowshoes.

All the pawpads are still quite visible in this pic, which is one of the primary reasons I chose it. Each of the digits has its own pad, varying in size from in innermost to outermost digits, biggest to smallest respectively. Another interesting point to note, is that the “thumb pad” is actually located on the /opposite/ side from the dewclaw, which is the feline equivalent of a thumb, even though it’s not long enough (or has enough joints) to be considered and “opposable digit”. In Drifter’s case, which is indicative of almost all feline species, the underside of the dewclaw’s sheath is on the topside of his paw (“top” being relative to this pic) with the dark line of fur - the top of the “T” shape - ventral to the dewclaw itself. The pad for that digit is on the “outside” of the wrist, vice the inside as is the digit itself. It should also be noted that this pad is not used while walking, so it does not have nearly as “rough” an appearance, and on most felines, is much more “pink” in color.

The central “palm” pad is not completely visible here - sorry about the copyright info being a bit in the way - but can be best described as a “volcano”, in this case turned sideways with the crater on the right, tapering outwards towards the left, with three “portions” making up the whole pad: the two outer right-triangal shaped portions, with the inner, rectangular shaped portion. Besides the absence of clawmarks, the easiest way to differentiate between feline pawprints and canine - wolf - pawprints, is the shape of this main pad. The main pad for candids is quite different (but I don’t think I have any comparative pix).

So, this is the first of the Drifter Paw Study pictures. I’ll likely post them in pairs, so they don’t all flood the world at once, as I know the other artists get upset to get bumped out of the spotlight on the mainpage. :)

This picture was taken 20-Jul-03. The image was taken with a Canon EOS 10D and the EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM lens. The original was taken at full frame of 3072x2048x24b, ISO eqv 400, 1/90 shutter, f/5.6. This image was shrunken down for space conservation.