Two sketches, Needing crits :o

[Arinaca]

Justa bit of background on me
17, last year of highschool, midyear exams next week >.> i've hung around DA for a while, well, you ask for crits n you get vague answers a lot of the time, or none at all I -want- to get better, im kinda sick of all my work looking cartoony, simple etc.

Rip em up i want to get better, and, I might as well start here!

First! i drew this early last year? around then

Something off with the right ear, the sleeve thats in the air is off too, i was going to get around to outlining this in photoshop or whatever, but i wanted to know what to change first plus, i want her hands looking more fox-like, thicker fingers with claws and pawpads.

Drew a few weeks ago, Snow leopard

First thing i've been happy with for aaaages, im not that good at humanoid, better at dragons, canines, felines etc.
I was just sketching n came up with this, later wanted her to be a snow leopard, atmo she looks a lot like a jaguar, thin tail. I need her tail thicker and fluffier to be a snow leopard, im having huuuge trouble with her head, huge. Hands need the same thing as the fox.

[Carnifex]

k,so i didn't bother with the first sketch as you said it's one year old,so i don't get why you're posting it for critique now. (i'd start a new one there,rather).
second,ALWAYS take ref if you don't know exactly what you're trying to work with. if you want a snow leopard,go look up snow leopard pics,print em out and work with them. make a few pics first of snow leopards themselves,not in humanoid form,to get used to their features,how their general proportions are etc. (plus i'm against anime-ish hair on animals,sorry).
i tried to work basic human proportions into this pic,take it with a grain of salt cause i'm no expert either (yet).
study the human body,and i mean really good,otherwise your critters will fail from the start (as they did now,i'm sorry to say). it's a hard road to take,but if you wanna be good,you've gotta take it.
take this as a starting point (plus maybe this),and good luck!

p.s.: if you haven't seen her already,check out kyoht for inspiration and how to make it right

[Arinaca]

I posted the first sketch because at some point soon i want to work on it, and its the first time i've really tried drawing something more humanoid without it looking much much worse out of proportion hehe.

Yeah just after posting on here i was poking around google, plan on doing some stuff next tues after exams, sadly at the time i was in maths and didnt have any refrence hehe. Ahh yeah the hair, if you've seen people with the short spiked hair, thats what i was attempting to draw, and it didnt quite work hehe.

Huuuuge thanks for the pic! it does help a lot, and yeah they do suck atmo but only one way to get better :3 I'll check out some anatomy books and whatnot, huge thanks again

I've seen Kyohts work, love it, and Golden Wolf's too :3

[Decimus]

Work from a wide-range of assortments via magazines, comics, or illustrations. "Draw from life" you'll hear this all the time and it's beneficial. Reference material is a big help, genuinely it adds belief to realm that is not. Take time to review your resources. You will prevail. I see it in you, and you have lots of ambition. DRAW!

[Arinaca]

:3 thanks! out of curiosity, any magazines in particular you can reccomend? Hehe next time im on the bus/train/whatever i'll remember to sketch people more. Once i've redrawn the pic i'll upload it again n see what you guys think