Sketch Concepts - Compound Word Illustration

Attached are a few concepts for the compound word illustration project assigned in Illustration. This project's goal is to take a compound word and illustrate it literally.  I went with the words sheepdog, bulldog, honeybadger, and sealion. Below are my sketches made in Paint Tool Sai with a Wacom tablet.

My favorite sketch so far is the honeybadger that is made of honey and has honeycombs down his back to imitate the prominent stripe on most honeybadgers. As a backup, I would go with my sealion sketch. A lion out at sea in an innertube, just chilling. Who said that cats hate water?

Here is a Google Document with all my reference photos and links or information about where they came from. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sTsT23a2tui2uG1zcYYnirxKf6zwD50SbhZ_Gd8iBa4/edit?usp=sharing