Happy Year of the Snake

 

Giving life to the rattler

The next step in my snake painting was to render the markings of the snake.  These markings are visual clues to trick our mind into thinking that this is indeed a snake that we are looking at.  If the markings are done correctly and are distinct enough, perhaps we can even identify the species of the snake.  The grid that I sketched in before assisted me to write in the array of scales in their proper orientations and gave my painting a degree of realism. 

Before applying color to the sketched snake, I needed to establish the light values.  I was taught this while learning how to do landscape in Chinese brush and it served me well over the years.  Light values help to define the medial and lateral sides of the snake, to borrow from medical terminology.  These values also help to locate the light source, thus giving a three dimensional interpretation visually.  The values were applied using a light wash, and then rubbing with the semi-dried belly of the brush to help with the texture. 

I could now color the body of the snake.  Tea was my favorite color to use for this purpose.  Mixing it with vermillion gave me the right hue and the opacity from a little mineral green helped to give off the subtle feel of snake skin.  I also dolled up my snake using little dabs of metallic gold acrylic color.  Camouflaging is the art of survival in nature, but for my painting I needed to snake to parade itself a bit more. The paper itself had built in gold specks in it,  so the additional gold did not seem to distract. 

My project being a Chinese New Year's painting needed the mandatory red color.  There is no better representation of that than a piece of red paper for people to write something auspicious down, as commonly practiced in China and Hong Kong.

So I painted in my piece of red paper.

I placed that piece of red paper under the snake to suggest that the snake deemed it a favorable and safe place to dwell.  I wanted to accentuate the fact that the snake was laying on top of the paper by casting a shadow.  To help me determine the location of such shadow, a fashioned my prop snake using the packing material that I had intended to stamp the snake with and shone a light on it.

Now that I had my shadow painted in, and it did seem to lift the snake off the paper, I needed to write something auspicious on that piece of red paper.

I chose to write in the Chinese word for Bliss.  That word is very popular with such usage, especially for New Year's wishes.

I wrote the word Bliss using the same metallic gold acrylic paint that I dressed the snake with.  I chose to write it in the walking style font rather than the more formal block print font.  I liked the fact that the more cursive style calligraphy fit in better with my coiled snake.

Almost time for a Zodiac painting

It wasn't that long ago that I was fretting about painting the dragon.  I just couldn't form an image of what a dragon should look like in my head.  Now it is almost time for its successor to emerge.  The year of the snake is imminent.

I know a couple whose zodiac signs are dragon and snake.  Dragon is traditionally held at the highest regard. Ancient emperors donned robes embroidered with magnificent dragons and these emperors held an absolute monopoly to the rights of anything that had to do with the dragon.  The emperors claimed to embrace the virtues of the dragon, being kind and just on one hand but fierce and ruthless on the other.  As for the snake, I suppose most cultures do not  treat the snake with any fondness, which is unfortunate.  It is interesting none the less, to find the snake as a symbol of healing, both in biblical terms and in Greek mythology.  It is therefore employed as an emblem in the medical and pharmaceutical arena.  Thus this couple would always banter with each other, but wittingly agree that they are both serpents and the true difference lies in whether one has legs or not.    

Painting an animal that is associated with being sneaky, like a snake in the grass; or being evil like snake-eyes is difficult.  Very difficult.  Especially if the painting is to be used as good omen for the rest of the year.  I don't want to paint puny grass snakes.  They are not majestic symbols for me.  I don't want to paint a constrictor snake, they seem sneaky and sinister.  The King cobra is fierce alright, but that is all I can see.  Always angry and combative.  Not a virtue to embrace.  

I've tried playing around with snake painting years ago.  That never evolved into anything.  It was done on photo paper and purely for fun.

Recently I did a family zodiac painting and I modeled a snake in the shape of the alphabet L to give homage to the family name.

  

For the current exercise I chose to model a rattler.  

The rattle snake looks plump and wholesome (if one can call a snake wholesome) and it doesn't bother you unless you initiate the threat.  And it gives warning by making the rattling sound.  So it's not sneaky like the boa, not scrawny like the grass snake, not pissed off like the cobra.  I would say the rattle snake is the gentleman amongst snakes.  Enough said. 

I found a pose that I liked.  It was in the shape of the infinity symbol.  I suppose I could hype the painting by addressing the "hidden" meaning of the subject.  A true Zen master.  Wink.  Wink.

Filled in the body to see how the sketch would look;

Satisfied that this was what I wanted, I sketched the design onto a gold speckled Xuan.  I wanted to take advantage of the specks to help with the texture of the snake's skin.

I had some packing material laying around that I tried to exploit.  It had the same sort of scaly appearance of a snake. I was hoping that it could somehow allow me to "stamp" in the skin.

 

I decided against it as I realized it could be more effort than what was worth.  I would be spending so much time trying to align the "scales" in the correct orientation.  

So I sketched in my grid on the snake to help me visualize how the scales would line up when I needed to paint them in.  If I needed to paint them in that is.   Sketching in the grid was interesting. It reminded me of cutting out and gluing the ribs when building a balsa wood glider with my son when he was young. Fond memories.  

I also identified the spine of the animal to help me conceptualize the sides of the snake when it twisted and turned.