1. Reference 2. Full w/ background - It's okay, I like the pose and tea splashes. I was about an hour into the piece before I realized that I messed up the cheek tufts, but I was too lazy to fix it. 3. Doodle sheet - I like this one! I enjoyed doodling the tea splashes in the tail. 4. Scene - I like this one much more than the first full! I dislike the background though, since I feel like it takes away from the piece. 5. Seasonal/holiday doodles - These are okay. I like the first, third, and fifth ones, but the second one really sucks. I tried to make it look like tinsel was trailing from the star, and I don't think it's seen that way. 5. Bust - It's pretty nice. This is actually part of a piece that I didn't have time to finish, so I just did this part. It's supposed to be a young version of her, when she lived with her family, so that's why there's no tea bag. Tea Leaves lived in a family where each member was an expert in a certain type of tea. When a new member is born, they are named something simple and flexible such as Tea, Branch, Leaf, Herb, Flower, etc. Once they reach the age of 12 cat years, they leave home to either find the tea they have a passion for or to develop their passion for a tea. Once they become an expert in that tea, which usually takes 1-3 years, they return home. Their new name becomes the type of tea they've spent years on learning about. Tea Leaves left home at 12, saying goodbye to Matcha (mother), Barley (father), Oolong (grandmother), Chai (brother), Branch (brother), and the rest of her extensive family. She wandered for a year, finally settling in a nice cave in the mountains. She sold all types of tea at the market below the mountain, unable to choose just one. During the winter season, she enjoys selling hot tea and cocoa to her customers. In the summer, she sells iced tea. Soon, she grew a reputation for being shy, kind, and sweet. Whenever villagers ask about the tea bag she uses as an earring, she tells them about each tea leaf inside. When she left home, each family member gave her a leaf from their specialized type of tea. Even now, 2 years after she settled, she's unable to find only one tea to settle on. However, Tea Leaves isn't worried. She knows that one day, she'll return home. But before that, she wants to grow into someone her family could be proud of. So her life continues, with her selling tea happily and wandering through the fields, picking herbs and flowers.
