What do you think a feline elf design would look like? Like an elf race that evolved from felines?
a very fun idea! to start, i know this is different, but i have a post on anthro lion anatomy which may be a helpful start for the general body plan and some skull anatomy in various felines.
I don't know if you're looking at any specific felilne ancestry, but for the sake of simplicity I'm going with a cougar for visual reference, since their skull shape is easy to adapt. Also because i just like them.
They're a lot more arboreal than some other big cats (and they're actually closer related to cheetahs than the "true" big cats. Which means they cannot roar and they can meow)
you may have already seen it, but I did answer the question about humanoid hands with retractable claws, it's over here.
to start, just some studies of cougar anatomy
(image description: simple outline studies of cougar skeletons and a few cougars in trees. The skull is short and rounded, the body and tail are long, and it's a very flexible and well muscled cat. Two of the skeletons show different poses, as if it is stretching or fighting. One of the cougars in a tree is climbing downwards. end description)
the other reason I'm picking a cougar as a good example for cat elves is because they're really good at climbing and have a pretty arboreal lifestyle, which fits some common tropes for elves. So now here are my sketches for how you might adapt this anatomy to make some elves.
(image description: three simple drawings of a bipedal skeleton and a close up of the skull. The first image is just the skeleton, which looks mostly humanoid but has no collarbone, shifts the neck bones further back on the skull, and has a tail as well as digitigrade legs. The skull is almost the same as a normal cougar skull, with a rounder cranium.
In the second image, the skeleton is a faded red and the body is outlined as an anthropomorphic cougar. they're furry and their ears are situated on top of the head, like a normal cat.
In the third image, the skeleton is white and the body outline shows a more humanoid facial structure and hair, as well as ears situated on the side of the head. the nose and feet are still very cat-like. They also have eyebrow whiskers. end description)
Eyebrow whiskers are fun. I encourage the use of any facial whiskers in fantasy people design, even though I don't put them in all of mine lol.
You can go more cat-like or more humanoid. Keep the digitigrade feet or flatten them. I'm leaving the neck bones further back like that so they can shift between a bipedal and quadrupedal stance, which will help them retain the ability to climb directly down a tree as shown in the previous images of real cougars. so here's a final design concept.
(image description: three flat colored drawings of feline elves, mimicking the poses of two climbing cougars and the fighting cougar skeleton. There is a line of fur down the backs of these elves, connecting to the fully furred tail, while the rest of their bodies remain hairless except for the head. they are all wearing simple clothes made of leather/hide with a lot of bone decorations and some feathers. The main dye colors here are red, brown, grey, and green. the elf climbing vertically downwards is able to turn his neck to keep his line of sight parallel to the tree, and both he and the younger looking elf clinging to a different tree are able to flex their ankles so they can use their feet to cling to the trees. end description)
this was a fun one, I hope that's all helpful! Of course, you do not have to use cougars as your base, this was just my choice. More fur would also allow for fun things like dyed fur patterns to convey things like social status, if you want a little extra culture flair. Feline elves would be obligate carnivores, most likely, and they'd probably stick with an ambush hunting technique.
Have fun with your cat elves!
