Snow Lion

This was a quickie since I was burned out from all the inking on my Guardians picture but really wanted to draw one -- Tibet's equivalent of the Chinese guardian lion, the Snow Lion. The kid there was an afterthought, but I'm glad I stuck him in there.

I'm too tired and lazy to paraphrase right now, so here, for those of you that are interested:

The Snow Lion resides in the East and represents unconditional cheerfulness, a mind free of doubt, clear and precise. It has a beauty and dignity resulting from a body and mind that are synchronized. The Snow Lion has a youthful, vibrant energy of goodness and a natural sense of delight. Sometimes the throne of a Buddha is depicted with eight Snowlions on it, in this case, they represent the 8 main Bodhisattva-disciples of Buddha Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha.
Associations: main quality is fearlessness, dominance over mountains, and the earth element.
-[link]

"The Snow Lion is an archetypal thoughtform confluence or personification of the primordial playfullness of 'joy' and 'bliss' (Sanskrit: ananda; Tibetan: dga' ), somewhat energetically comparable to the western unicorn, though without a horn. Though paradoxical, the Snow Lion does not fly but their feet never touch the ground; their existence is a playful 'continuum' (Tibetan: rgyud) of leaping from mountain peak to mountain peak. The energetic potency (wisdom or shakti) of the Snow Lion is expressed in the attribute of the gankyil/gakyil ('bliss+whirling' or 'wheel of joy') that the Snow Lion keep in eternal play."
-I know it's bad form to quote Wikipedia about this kind of thing, but isn't that just the loveliest mental image?!

There's been a documentary made about Tibet called Cry of the Snow Lion: [link] and the 'snow lion' is also apparently a nickname for the Tibetan Mastiff.