First I just sketched out the general position of the animal. Lots of erasing and do overs, but still not taking to much time, this is just a rough first step.

This is where I realized how much I like using layer styles in my photoshopping and had to find different ways to get the effects I wanted. First I just took the pen tool and outlined the animal using my pre-sketch as a guide. then I stroked the path with a small hard brush without applying pen pressure. Then stroked it again this time with a slightly larger brush and pen pressure turned on. Then I drew the circles for the eyes with the pen tool and filled them with white. Then deleted most of the path except for the part where you see the shadow at the bottom of the eyes, then I switched my brush to a soft one and stroked the smalled path with a grey color. Then loaded the selection of the eyes layer, then I inversed the selection and deleted the part of the brush stroke that was outside of the eyes. Thats how I managed to get the bevel embossed-ish look. Then I inveresed the selection again and expanded the selection the on a layer below that i filled it with black. Then with a slightly larger soft white brush I added the highlight at the top of the eyes outline. I hope all of this is making some sense...if not just ask I'll try ad explain a different way :)

Painted in a base color.

for the record I have two sugar gliders, they are running about my room while I was working on this, so they were a large inspiration. Anyway next i just added some yellowish detail with the pen tool. Then I stroked the path with a more orange color with pen pressure applied.

Then added some wierd orange markings. Once again with the pen tool, this time I made the path into a selection then feathered it a bit, then filled the selection.

I used the pen to make the green part of the eye, then I made the path a selection. With a large soft light green brush I painted a stroke over the bottom of the darker green. Then I deleted the bottom portion of the path then with a smaller soft black brush I stroked the path with applied pressure. Then just like before I inverted the selection and deleted that part of the stroke that bled out onto the white part of the eye. Then I contracted the selection and filled it with black on another layer. So that the pupil would be exactly the same shape as the eye.

Then I started to add reflections in the eyes. I also painted in more detail in the green part of the eyes. and started a bit of overall shading.

Added more eye reflections with the pen tool, and erased some parts a bit.

Then using all the same methods, I re-created the tail in the eyes.

More overall shading, and detail added to the tail ball.

Next I started texturing, using a small round brush I added lots of little dots with a black color and a lower opacity. After I had a large area covered I just kept reusing that piece to cover the rest of it.

Then I started on the background. Just used a huge soft brush to start creating a shortly after sunset feel.

Just so you know there will be a few parts that look funny because the animal sit over top of it. Anyway then I roughly put in the tree its sitting on and started on some trees in the background. Then did a little smudging.

Painted more detail in the trees and spotted in a bunch of stars with a small soft brush. Then I used the pen tool to start detailing the tree.

COntinuing on the bark effect, I took the original pen tool selection and expanded the selection then made it the working path, then stoked it with a different color. Then Continued to expand and contract the selection and fill it with different colors or stroke the path.

Then I discovered I could load the selection of some of the layers that were just strokes, then expand that selection and stroke that path, so I was getting double the detail because It was stroking a line on either side of a line that was already there.

After that just some final lighting and shading, and little details. Then just put the creature back in and did a few slight last minute contrast, and color adjustments and it was done!