UPDATE:
First, after more than a year of procrastinating on him, I busted out with some work on Leo (obviously WIP)...
Still need to work on some reddish/brown accents along his flanks and back legs, and he'll need another couple rounds of highlights, but pretty happy with him after so long avoiding my brushes and paints. I avoided him for so long because the sheer amount of tan hide I needed to cover seemed intimidating, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I made it out to be in my head.
Also, Gaius had an accident...
It might not be immediately obvious, but I broke off the end of his head-branch and chipped up his hair - I was boxing up my AR stuff up to take on road trip so I could play with some old friends, and of course I dropped him while I was wrapping him in foam.
Total amateur move on my part... Need to use some GS and then retouch that part of him here soon.
As always, I love feedback - any comment, critique, question, etc. is welcome and appreciated. Thanks for looking!