The Lower Shaggy Mane and the Legs and Paws

After many days of quilting this lions face and upper mane, I can spend time on the much darker 'under mane where lower mane meets legs.

A variety of shapes slightly differing from the upper mane  were warranted. The original image was so very dark in this area that all fur patterns are 'made up.'

This lion is running straight toward the viewer... so at first I thought I would study the muscles of a lions legs and quilt accordingly... but alas....    the fractured light in this animal is so severe, I abandoned the earlier idea as it just wouldn't look right, so I let the fabric ( light fractures) guide me to merely create a new texture, less densely quilted.

The result is almost impressionistic which reads fine at a distance.

Since this is a competitive piece.. The full image will have a delayed photo post.