Happy Year of the Snake! I’ve had a sketch of Aurelle with her pet snake or familiar I did a while ago, and today seemed an opportune time to try and add to it.
This is how the sketch looked when I opened it up earlier today:
For reference, here’s how large Julius is normally:
I think Julius lost a bit of cluelessness through being painted, but it was fun to go back to it again. I remember I felt stuck, at the time, for how to take the idea forward. I was debating which style I wanted to paint it in. I don’t think I’d take it much further than this, but I hope it works as a small, silly painting.
I’ve been looking at some of my older art, and it made me nostalgic for a type of painting style I used to do more often. The style is more controlled than what I’ve been experimenting with in recent years, which is more loose and expressive. This previous style is also easier for me to do, plus I think it tends to turn out better, or more clear/easier to read, to a viewer. I enjoy both styles, and want to try and incorporate both more this year.
Here’s a fun fact about snakes: Contrary to their common perception as vicious predators, many snakes are quite timid and docile – even friendly. In captivity, if respected and treated gently, many may never show signs of aggression toward their keeper. They key is to learn and understand their natural instincts and behavior, and gain the snake’s trust over time. Though they do not show affection the same way mammalian pets do, it is generally accepted that the highest compliment a snake can show you is trusting you to not harm it. In this sense, this trust might be the most equivalent form of love or affection a snake can show to such a drastically different creature as ourselves.
I did the original line sketch a while ago, but I believe the above paragraph captures part of my thought process when sketching it. I wanted to try and show a calm and friendly snake, more similar to my real-world interactions with them, to contrast with how they are generally portrayed as being vicious and deadly in entertainment media. When I first found this out about them, I was very surprised by how inaccurately they tend to be portrayed. I never knew they were such misunderstood animals, and almost always unfairly maligned.
I also wanted to show that relationship between human-and-reptile, where while the reptile might not not understand “love” in the same way a human might, there can still exist a friendly bond between two species who do not fully understand each other. :)
Aurelle’s long friend is based on the Rosy Boa, one of only two boa species native to the United States (I still think this fact is so cool!). They are primarily found in the states of California, New Mexico, and Arizona, as well as the northern part of Mexico. Real Rosy Boas are quite small snakes, growing to only around 3-4 feet in length (about 1 meter). They are known for their calm and sweet dispositions, and are also considered the slowest snake in the world – clocking in at a respectable 1 mile per hour (~1.6 km/hr).
The Rosy Boa is also my favorite species of snake – in addition to their calm dispositions, I was also initially drawn by their beautiful, yet perpetually confused, faces. The combination is very adorable to me. :)
I’ll put the full painting in the full post (below) – I might touch this up in the future, and I’ll keep it limited to the full post until then.