Since this was a complex subject, I started with a more precise initial sketch than I normally would, detailing the shape and size of the scales with a white charcoal pencil. The I began outlining the scales on the head with a dark, almost black, purple pastel. Almost immediately, this painting was affectionately dubbed "Snakey" as a working title.

For the tail, which the snake's neck is resting on, I used a brighter purple. The real focus of this painting is the head, so I began experimenting with my palette there (fancy artist way of saying "tried out some colours"), as well on a few tail scales.

When I was happy with my palette, I continued across the head. Each scale has about six colours in it, from emerald green, blue, lilac to yellow and orange. It took a while but I was finally happy with the eye (mostly). You can see where I also popped a few colours into the background, beginning to work up some idea of the direction for the background. Some artists have a painting all planned out before they touch the paper. I'm not one of those - my paintings tend to evolve and change from the original concept much of the time - not always in good ways!

After developing the head detail further, I began colouring the rest of the neck and body in. I'd decided to keep the leaves of the tree dark, so the snake appeared to be coming suddenly out of the gloom, and worked them up in cool pinks, purples and dark greens to complement the snake's colours.

Now we have some tail colour appearing. Along with the front of the snake's head, these scales have the most detail on them. Although they appear primarily yellow in the photo, each of these scales is actually a blend of dark green, orange, yellow and purple tones. Directly under the neck you can see one scale is the base green colour, with the next one to the right have the orange layer filled in. The next scale along has some yellow brought in as well.

Now there are some shadows and highlights beginning to be worked into the snake's neck scales. As I worked the scales further back on the neck and body, I softened the amount of detail. This allows the viewer's eye to "fill in" it's own details, and keeps the focus on the point of interest - the head. You may have noticed he finally has a nostril - as I'm working one area of a painting, I'm also going back to other areas and refining and adjusting as I go.

Now we have much more done on the tail. The challenge now is to ensure that the scales go AROUND the body, and don't appear to just be a flat surface. As snakes move over surfaces, their body constantly flexes and changes, and this needs to be reflected in the painting. I've removed that nasty lilac in the background that was "hitting me in the eye", darkened the background overall, and brought a couple of leaves over the back of the snake's body.

Didn't much like the first leaves I did, they looked like a pair of claws. Hate the new version even more - it's got to go! Have to make sure the colour from the tail is reflected in the scales on the neck, and that it looks nice and round. The scales on the body are just about finished, and there's only a few scales on the lower left part of the tail to go now.

Getting close now... I'm much happier with the leaves now, and have almost finished those pesky tail scales. The underside of the neck was quite difficult, but I feel it's nearly there now.

The final version. Thousands of little touch-ups all over the painting, a final tweak of the eye, and "Snakey" is all ready for a more glamorous title and a new home.