Florida Panther on Sable Palm Branch by Fawn Allen. All Rights Reserved. Fascinated by highlights and shadows, darks and whites and their spacial relationship that allows the eye to perceive them as three-dimensional object, I began my preference to sketch with pencil or charcoal during my teen years.  I am drawn to the curve of a shoulder, the depth of a blossom, the roundness of a cheek.

With this submission, as a South Florida native, I am drawn to the dramatic beauty of an endangered Florida Panther -- of which there are less than 180 living in the wild, mostly in the Everglades. Here I have depicted the panther on a piece of natural Sable Palm, the State Tree of Florida, and part of the panther’s habitat.