1 I start this python by laying in a squiggling gesture line. Next I add curved marks along the initial line to begin to define the roundness of the form. These lines will also act as guidelines for the pattern I’ll place later. Finally I roughly indicate the rounded triangle form of the snake’s head.
2 Next I connect the curved strokes to outline the entire body, slightly building up the form of the head as well.
3 Now I begin to mark the general shapes of the snake’s skin pattern. These slightly irregular shapes roughly fall between the curved guidelines I established in step one.
4 Finally I fill in the colored pattern with a sharp 2B pencil. I am careful to keep the values lighter along the top of the snake’s body, darkening them toward the ground. I also add a few light hatch marks on the light-colored portions of the pattern to give the snake a round appearance. Then I create a ground shadow using short, energetic strokes to suggest a sense of movement.