Snake Farm; Ophiophobics beware

After a slight detour from the path with the Armadillo print, I am back to working on the 5 animals of Shoalin which are to be made into tea labels. The next in line is SNAKE. Many people are afraid of snakes, which is why there is a special word for it: ophiophobia.

Family portrait, me in center. Often left in the care of these two, I managed to survive being dropped on my head, having a glass broken on top of my head, and being squeezed by a large snake...One of the most oft repeated phrases at home was "Don't tease your sister." Needless to say I adore them both.

I am not afraid of snakes, wary and respectful as one should be of potentially poison creatures, but not afraid. The reason being I was raised with snakes, not by snakes, with snakes. My brothers, 10 and 12 years older than I, had a great interest in snakes, hence there were a few in the house. I learned to handle them and so have no particular fear. One time my parents were having people over for dinner and my brothers put a large boa, not the feather kind, on my 5 year old self and sent me out into the gathering. The guests were aghast, astounded, and stunned. The snake became frightened and started to squeeze........there were a few tense minutes as the brothers gently teased the snake off their little sister....

One of our scaley family members and a brother.

Several years later and several years ago, both are facts, on a neighborhood walk I came upon a boy and a girl throwing rocks at a smallish Gopher snake. "What are you doing?" I asked and the answer was trying to move the snake because they were scared of it. Luckily it had not been injured so I picked up the cool scaley fellow and let him loose in a nearby grassy lot, a much better snake home than the street. The kids were pretty impressed that a person could just pick up a snake, I hope they resist next time they have the impulse to throw rocks at something they

are scared of.......

Here is a shot of the final version and a proof. The final version is on top. After looking at the proof I decided that the bottom scales looked too much like fish bones, so I added a bokashi (gradation print) along the belly of the snake.

Colors used are Cobalt Blue Medium, Prussian Blue, Quinacridone red and a mix of Earth Green and Hanso Yellow. Image size is 7 by 5 inches. I also plan to reddish version when I get my delivery of Red Oxide (light AND medium) pigment dispersion.......