Lion and Hyena Characters..

Yup, I'm having quite a bit of fun designing two new characters for a children's book (to be published - hopefully - by Fantasi Books). I've been learning a lot from Ed Benedict's approach to character design (of course my stuff isn't nearly as brilliant as Ed's designs.. duh!). Also, I'm just trying to have fun with it and follow my own design insticts. The last thing I want to do is copy someone like Ed Benedict's style. I try to search for character personality by means of drawing my characters with various facial expressions (usually I imagine my character reacting to something specific). At the same time I'm searching for design shapes that fit together. I'll post the more refined character designs later.