It's been a long time since I previously drew an anthropomorphic animal. Now--I'm motivated! What a long story behind this...
6 Dec 1989: a university in Montreal being stormed in and shot up. The perpetrator was just one man armed with a rifle and a knife. He shouted, "I want the women!" He killed fourteen women before killing himself to avoid being brought in by police. In Canada, that's a day to be remembered for the monstrosity in people and the tragedy that struck.
Building on that, I hate how women are treated, especially by people with authority. Women are treated as wimps or sex objects. Thanks to tags, women have been getting together, to help each other through their negative backgrounds. Me, I want to see more ladies who are like Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor.
It was really last year when I wanted to draw the protagonist of a book by an anthro artist that I read online, but I was convinced that I wasn't ready for it. Now, I chose to do it. The protagonist comes from a tribal background. A bobcat was betrothed at a young age, forced to marry someone that she would grow to resent, and he abused her. She failed to protect her son after he was deemed cursed for being born visually impaired. She survived the vicious attack on her by the tribe, being saved by a pair of travellers. She vows to become stronger and to pursue her husband to avenge her son. And she calls herself Shivah. The book is called "Off The Beaten Path".
I would have stuck to the palette that the character actually has, but I wanted from the start, an orange background, hot colours for anger, which I thought would conflict with her beige and tan palette. So, I went with a blue and violet palette in contrast, which I thought would work for the spectral vibe. I considered adding black feathers, but I forgot. I also had a hard time knowing the pattern that a bobcat usually has. They seem to have short stripes along with spots. I wanted to fit in a bow, which the character uses in the story. I may have failed to realistically add her braid with turquoise.

I ran four practice sketches before making this final. On the afternoon of 6 Dec, 2017: drinking a latté, eating a sandwich, and listening to Tarja: The Shadow Self, I drew with a pencil, most of which was erased in the colouring process; coloured with pencil crayons, watercolour pencils, and a wet brush; I spent 54 minutes on this, start-to-finish.
Thank you, Rukis Croax, for inspiring me.