Shadow Beast, design process

The Shadow Beast is a species I created for a character design class in 2010 (this is the oldest thing I will be posting)

They are an amalgamation of anatomy from various species of animal: Head like a donkey, teeth like a carnivore with tusks on the bottom, body sort of like a bear or big cat, hands like a raccoon, long thick tail for balancing on hind legs and hitting things, and other misc. parts I just liked. Size slightly smaller then the average horse.

As a species they are guardians of a shadowy realm where the Godess/Queen of Shadows lives, with her small son Mori. They are like dogs and can be silly and sweet but also very dangerous.

Toyhouse: https://toyhou.se/6140686.shadow-beast
Mori: https://toyhou.se/6140708.mori