I am currently laying awake in a state of depressed anxiety and this is oddly comforting. I love the pose and textures and the cute lil paw sticking out.

I would be grateful if it makes you feel a bit better.

this is also another captivating piece of yours but i must say contrary to how they are popularly drawn hares, rabbits and such have no paw-pads, if its just part of the style that is fine but i just wanted to make you aware that in reality they do not have them

I am aware of that, but the funny thing about this hare is, the anatomy is entirely incorrect. The right side of the body is positioned in a way that's impossible for a hare but plausible for a human, while the left legs have proportions akin to those of a human, not a hare. So, those are actually deformed human feet padded with fat, though I now recognize that they aren't distorted enough to be identified as such.

It's always a struggle for me to figure out how to hide the transformation elements while making it unmistakably clear once you notice.

i did saw the shifting anatomy, it was quite interesting, never considered the fat of the human body also adopted a shape similar to paw-pads, but i suppose it does so with certain light

What's this about a "sculpting approach?"

I try not to focus on the corners or edges; instead, I try to suggest the geometric shapes, like when you sculpting in ZBrush, you gently mold the connections between bones, or gap between muscles to form skin and fat. The objective or lining here is to increase and decrease the volume of the surface.

Could you go into a pictorial tutorial on that? I feel like I want to do that but am missing some of the “how”

I was inspired after revisiting the books/videos of Glenn Vilppu, an artist I greatly admire. His lines follow the flow of muscle fibers. I suggest you look at his work, as I am terrible at explaining and teaching stuff. I've uploaded my drawing process; hope it helps a bit.

https://youtu.be/WHa_TvDin4o

I'm actually studying under Vilppu in his class. From what I've read, his lines follow the action of the figure: like the flow of a river as he puts it, not the flow of muscle fibers. I could be wrong though, as I'm barely through the beginning part of understanding Figure 1, and your process touches on the form, after it's been lit, with the fibers as opposed to constructing forms. There IS a gesture, but it feels more shape-ey as opposed to form-ey
How much are you visualizing the painting before you have enough detail that you can light it with the thick flat brush at second 3 in the timelapse?

Oh, I'm really bad at explaining things, especially drawing, as I try to follow my instincts (I haven't done systematic training for my 2D art at all). In sculpture, following the muscle fibers is a way to hint at motion, and I'm trying to translate that feeling into drawing.

That big flat brush is for soft pastels, and it's a good way for me to "hint" at the form (the peak area of an object is usually the lightest). I'm really bad at perspective, so these techniques help me to position things. Most of the time I spend is on correcting perspective errors, as you can see. For visualization, I don't usually think clearly before I draw; I have a rough idea and theme in mind. I do very rough brush strokes, try to see some images from the chaos, and slowly make it clearer. It's not a good habit in terms of productivity; I'll constantly make bad ones (and those I won't upload). But sometimes it produces interesting things (because they're very, very impulsive and can capture my emotion at that short moment).

I suggest you don't follow my words too closely; they're more about my feelings and instincts, and many times I don't even know what I'm doing. It's better to listen to what Vilppu teaches because his methods are more systematic.