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Description
Alright this is my shading explanation for .
Just follow along with the numbers to the key down here.
(The LS=Light source)

1. Obviously this is a tail, the point of this is too use common sense. Obviously if the light source is above it, the shadow will be on the opposite side. (I'm pretty sure you already know that though)

2. This is a cat's front leg, and 2. is to show how they have muscles pop more, just to make it less 2D. Now even if your character isn't very muscly, or on steroids, he/she will still have her anatomy pop a little, as they aren't completely flat. In my style, and many other's too, I like to exaggerate that by shading the divider of the elbow, because your animal probably has muscle on his lower and upper arm. For the paws, look to Number 3.

3. Just a simple paw, nothing much. Because the light is hitting a harsh point on the fur, it will be focused mainly on what's open to be hit, in this case, once again, the fur on the opposite side won't be hit by light, because of logic. I like to sort of outline the paw with shading, because like number 2, it gives it more 3Dish pop. Obviously other toes will have a small shadow in between them because they are close together, shielding some light away from the other paw. Just a little bit, not too much. To show how the bones of the paw/wrist pop, obviously the skin in between where the bones stick out, it will be indented, so I would suggest shading that to show the bones casting shadows. You can read more about indentions down at number 5.

4. A wolf/fox face, (I don't really know what it is, just go with it, this will most likely work for any animal that is canine or feline.) Here, logic happens again. Once again, to give the things that bulge a little more than other some pop, I like to shadow some of it, like the eyes for example. They are round, not flat, so they will have some shading too. The head will cast a shadow, so unless your light source is underneath his head in some sort of way, there will be a shadow under his head. Any cheek fur that you like to stick out, will most likely cast some sort of shadow, but unless your character has a foot of cheek fur sticking out, it probably won't be that big of a shadow. This also goes for the head fur/hair if your character has any. Some of the fur will have shadows too, if you really want to get into detail. The ear lobes will also create some shading on the inside of the ear. On to the mouth highlight: where there mouth above their lips, canines and felines have a bulge there if you look close. To highlight this, I outlined it in shadow. The rest is pretty self explanatory, just logic from the light source once again.

5. Just some back leg of who knows what. If you look close enough, you can tell theres a little curved line where his leg bends. This is an indent, and so show that it's indented, I like to shade there, but the shadow by it is kinda covering it up. If you just outline the line art for an indent on one side of it, then it look truly indented because of the shadow showing that there is no light reaching it, because it's indented, obviously. The shadow under the thigh can be explained just like in number 4, how the head casts a shadow. Well, so does the thigh, in my eyes.

6. This example applys to mostly wolves, dogs, and muscular felines, like lions. This has the same explanation as number 2, except this is for muscular animals. I drew some detail to emphasize the muscle on the front legs, and since it bulges, like I've been saying, it will cast a thin shadow on the drop off. It's kind of hard to see, but I added shading on the outline of the lineart detail.

7. This is for people that like their characters with hair. This is pretty much for referance, pretty much self explanatory, some of the hair will be shading because it has no acess to the light. I added some extra thin lines of shading for for detail, but that's just my style. You can see the ear's shading closer up too.

I hoped that helped, Asha. Sorry it sucked so bad, I did it quicker than I should have. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know! : )

Description
Alright this is my shading explanation for .
Just follow along with the numbers to the key down here.
(The LS=Light source)

1. Obviously this is a tail, the point of this is too use common sense. Obviously if the light source is above it, the shadow will be on the opposite side. (I'm pretty sure you already know that though)

2. This is a cat's front leg, and 2. is to show how they have muscles pop more, just to make it less 2D. Now even if your character isn't very muscly, or on steroids, he/she will still have her anatomy pop a little, as they aren't completely flat. In my style, and many other's too, I like to exaggerate that by shading the divider of the elbow, because your animal probably has muscle on his lower and upper arm. For the paws, look to Number 3.

3. Just a simple paw, nothing much. Because the light is hitting a harsh point on the fur, it will be focused mainly on what's open to be hit, in this case, once again, the fur on the opposite side won't be hit by light, because of logic. I like to sort of outline the paw with shading, because like number 2, it gives it more 3Dish pop. Obviously other toes will have a small shadow in between them because they are close together, shielding some light away from the other paw. Just a little bit, not too much. To show how the bones of the paw/wrist pop, obviously the skin in between where the bones stick out, it will be indented, so I would suggest shading that to show the bones casting shadows. You can read more about indentions down at number 5.

4. A wolf/fox face, (I don't really know what it is, just go with it, this will most likely work for any animal that is canine or feline.) Here, logic happens again. Once again, to give the things that bulge a little more than other some pop, I like to shadow some of it, like the eyes for example. They are round, not flat, so they will have some shading too. The head will cast a shadow, so unless your light source is underneath his head in some sort of way, there will be a shadow under his head. Any cheek fur that you like to stick out, will most likely cast some sort of shadow, but unless your character has a foot of cheek fur sticking out, it probably won't be that big of a shadow. This also goes for the head fur/hair if your character has any. Some of the fur will have shadows too, if you really want to get into detail. The ear lobes will also create some shading on the inside of the ear. On to the mouth highlight: where there mouth above their lips, canines and felines have a bulge there if you look close. To highlight this, I outlined it in shadow. The rest is pretty self explanatory, just logic from the light source once again.

5. Just some back leg of who knows what. If you look close enough, you can tell theres a little curved line where his leg bends. This is an indent, and so show that it's indented, I like to shade there, but the shadow by it is kinda covering it up. If you just outline the line art for an indent on one side of it, then it look truly indented because of the shadow showing that there is no light reaching it, because it's indented, obviously. The shadow under the thigh can be explained just like in number 4, how the head casts a shadow. Well, so does the thigh, in my eyes.

6. This example applys to mostly wolves, dogs, and muscular felines, like lions. This has the same explanation as number 2, except this is for muscular animals. I drew some detail to emphasize the muscle on the front legs, and since it bulges, like I've been saying, it will cast a thin shadow on the drop off. It's kind of hard to see, but I added shading on the outline of the lineart detail.

7. This is for people that like their characters with hair. This is pretty much for referance, pretty much self explanatory, some of the hair will be shading because it has no acess to the light. I added some extra thin lines of shading for for detail, but that's just my style. You can see the ear's shading closer up too.

I hoped that helped, Asha. Sorry it sucked so bad, I did it quicker than I should have. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know! : )