This year from the 29th January made this year the year of the snake! I love the Chinese Zodiac, especially as they’re based around animals. It’s also the basis for Fruits Basket, a classic anime that I grew up with.
This particular snake is inspired by the Blue Insularis Snake from Indonesia, particularly Komodo Island. This species is venomous and will use this venom to weaken their prey which usually consists of small birds, mammals and reptiles. The bite is pretty bad to humans too, so you’d need medical treatment pretty quickly! The adults are about 2-3 feet in length so smaller than l’d have expected. The Blue Insularsis is a type of pit viper. Something really cool about pit vipers in that they’re named after their special heat sensing puts between the eyes and the nostrils. You can see this in the painting with the black sidewards V type shape. Another cool fact is that they give birth to live young rather than eggs.
I chose to experiment with oil pastels for this piece. I really liked being able to blend and it was nice to not have to worry about being too precise! It did help that these pastels are smaller than l’ve used in the past too. I used a paint marker to refine the eye and add some highlights on the skin. I found these particular pentel pastels although very good for small areas were a challenge to cover large areas of background – perhaps soft pastels or paint would be a better choice in future.
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