[jennfreckles]

First of all i find it very helpful to plan out where the head/body goes before i do anything else!
this helps with figuring out the pose of you drawing and it helps you know how much more room you have to draw on!
This step later on can be very helpful for planning out your proportions~
the line through the head on this step shows where i plan to direct the face towards, the line being the middle of the face.

step 2 is entirely used to place all of your characters features [ear type/ eye size/ fur length/ hair or no hair]
you can also see on this step how the face isn't just the circle from before, try to avoid circle faces, it doesn't look pleasing to many people~

the 2 little extras at the bottom is just my preference but i feel as if there should not be a line between the head and the neck, as if to separate the 2. instead i like to make the head flow seamlessly into the rest of the body, same with the tail even though the tail should essentially be part of the back, in animals the tail is just part of the spine.

art is very hard for the first several years, my only advice is to keep practicing!