Hello peoples of the universe! So Tsunami_Holmes asked me to do a talon tutorial! Generally, I don't use the same technique twice (although I really should...), but I narrowed it down to five steps. I would strongly recommend using your hand as a model.

This is the profile talon version.

1. Draw the ground-I CANT EXPRESS HOW IMPORTANT THIS STEP IS. THIS SHOULD ALWAYS BE ONE OF THE FIRST STEPS.*cough cough* Ahem, then you'll put a wrist bubble in front of the bottom of the leg line. The size of the bubble depends on how slender or meaty the paw is. Above, I put a big bubble for a bigger paw. The final product should look like a lowercase 'b' (unless it's in a different position), but you can also put the wrist circle directly beneath the line too-this would look like a '!'.

2. Fill in whatever the paw is attached to, and draw a triangle-like shape in which one top corner is higher than the other. Depending on how long and how flat the triangle is, the paw will become more slender or more solid. The taller and shorter version makes what you see above, and a longer and flatter version makes a more bird-like look.

3. Draw three circles going down the farthest side of the parallelogram-these become the knuckles. (NOTE: A dexterous paw would have all or most knuckles touching the ground) If they go out of the shape, it's ok. Connect the circles with lines that gently curve into the triangle shape. Also, if you want to, draw a circle in the 'corner' of the wrist circle and put another smaller one under the first knuckle, but remember it must also be touching the ground. Connect those circles like the finger knuckles, but instead of cutting it off after the second circle, let it slope down gently. This becomes the thumb. Now you should have at least one visible finger, unless you add others behind it.

4. Define the knuckles and add claws. With claws, the slender paw goes better with long, non-retractable claws, and bigger paws go with anything proportional and can be retractable, semi-retractable, or non-retractable. I recommend adding a bump of skin in between the finger and the claw (if the claw shows). Add any definition to the leg/arm the paw is attached to.

5. Erase guidelines and shade and/or colour.

Stay tuned!