Pencil-slim snake reaching from one twig to the nextBrown, lime, sky blue. Paint the gap between the twigs as open sky and bridge it with one straight stroke.
Snake asleep in a hoop, its tail tucked under its chinSlate, gray, cream. Paint a ring, thicken one side of it for the head, and close the gap with the tail.
Net of black mesh over bright yellow scalesYellow, black. Paint the body yellow, then cross it with two sets of slanted black lines.
Figure-eight loop of one snake, head lying over tailTeal, navy, white. Break the line where the body passes under itself so the crossing reads.
Green snake wound three times around a bare branchLeaf green, lime, brown, pale blue. Paint the branch first, then pass the coils over it and behind it in turn.
Lazy S of one snake sweeping the canvas diagonalRust, cream, black, sand. Paint the S as one tapering band and add markings only after it dries.
Snake asleep in a hoop, its tail tucked under its chinSlate, gray, cream. Paint a ring, thicken one side of it for the head, and close the gap with the tail.
Snake climbing a tree trunk in a slow helixGray brown, olive, cream. Paint only the bands that cross the front of the trunk and skip the hidden ones.
Snake in a flat spiral, head resting at the centerMustard, brown, cream. Pencil the spiral, then follow it outward with one loaded round brush.
Snake pouring out of an overturned basket, loop by loopStraw yellow, brown, moss green. Weave the basket with short crossing strokes before the snake goes in.
Snake sidewinding across a dune, a row of tracks behindSand, ochre, pale violet. Paint the tracks as short slanted bars and put a violet shadow under each.
Snake stretched along the bottom edge, head raisedBrown, cream, sky blue. Run the body in from one side and lift the last hand's width into a curve.
Swimming snake, S-curves and a V of ripples behind itBlue green, dark olive, white. Pull each ripple line outward from the neck with a nearly dry brush.
Tight coil from above, the body stacked like a rope matOlive, tan, dark brown. Paint the rings from the outside in and darken the gap between each pair.
Two snakes twined up one garden cane, heads at the topGreen, yellow, tan. Paint one snake fully, let it dry, and cross the second over it.
Patterns: rings, diamonds, stripes 12
Black snake showing an orange belly at every turnBlack, orange, gray. Paint the orange only where the body rolls toward you on the outside of a bend.
Black snake with a painted rainbow sheen on each curveBlack, violet, teal, gold. Drag a little of each color along the top of every curve with a dry brush.
Brown zigzag down the spine of a tan snakeTan, dark brown. Paint the zigzag as a row of joined triangles, their points to left and right in turn.
Dark saddles on pale gray, each one edged in blackPale gray, chestnut, black. Space the saddles evenly, wider on the back and narrowing down the sides.
Diamond chain down the back of a sand-colored snakeSand, dark brown, cream. Mark the spine with dots, then join them into diamonds and outline each in cream.
Net of black mesh over bright yellow scalesYellow, black. Paint the body yellow, then cross it with two sets of slanted black lines.
Plain emerald snake with one white line along its sideEmerald, dark green, white. Fill the body flat, shade the lower edge, and add the white line last.
Red, yellow and black rings repeated the whole lengthRed, yellow, black. Paint the body yellow first, then lay the red and black rings over it when dry.
Rows of U-shaped scales lapped like roof shinglesOlive, lime, dark green. Start at the tail and lap each new row of U shapes over the one behind it.
Shed skin lying beside the snake, pale and see-throughCream, gray, olive green. Paint the old skin as a faint outline of the scale net with no fill at all.
Speckled snake, one pale dot on every dark scaleDark green, cream. Press the dots with a cotton swab in slanting rows, smaller toward the tail.
Three long stripes from head to tail on a dark snakeBlack, yellow, olive. Pull each stripe in one go with a liner brush, following every bend of the body.
In grass, on branches and rocks 12
Head raised above a field of white daisiesGreen, white, yellow, olive. Dab the daisies with a round brush and keep the ones near the snake largest.
Pencil-slim snake reaching from one twig to the nextBrown, lime, sky blue. Paint the gap between the twigs as open sky and bridge it with one straight stroke.
Snake among desert stones the color of its own skinSand, tan, rust. Paint stones and snake from one mix and separate them only by their shadows.
Snake at a pond edge, tongue almost touching the waterMud brown, blue gray, olive. Mirror the head in the water with the same colors mixed paler.
Snake basking on a flat rock in morning sunWarm gray, ochre, brown, pale yellow. Paint a soft shadow under the body on the side away from the sun.
Snake coiled in the fork of a mossy treeMoss green, gray, brown. Sponge the moss on the bark before painting the coils on top.
Snake crossing a dirt road at dusk beside its long shadowDusty pink, violet, brown. Stretch the shadow three times the width of the body, away from the low sun.
Snake curled inside a hollow log, eyes at the openingDark brown, tan, yellow. Paint the hollow nearly black and pick out only the eyes and the edge of one coil.
Snake sliding between fallen autumn leavesRust, orange, yellow, dark brown. Lay the leaves down first, then let the body pass under some and over others.
Snake under a wheelbarrow, its tail left out in the sunRed, gray, green, tan. Paint the shade under the barrow dark so the sunlit tail stands out.
Snake's back showing in three places through tall grassGrass green, yellow green, brown. Paint the grass first and leave three low arches for the body.
Tree snake draped over a branch in hanging loopsLime, leaf green, gray brown. Hang each loop a little lower than the last and overlap the leaves in front.
Heads close up 12
Chin on a branch, nostril and eye in one straight lineGray brown, olive, black. Line the nostril, eye and jaw corner up along one ruled pencil mark.
Chin propped on a stack of its own coils, tongue tucked inBrown, tan, cream. Paint the coils as stacked bands and set the head across the top one.
Cobra facing you, hood opened wide like a fanTan, brown, cream. Paint the hood as a wide flat oval and stripe it across with narrow dark bars.
Face-on snake, forked tongue flicking between two nostrilsGreen, yellow, red, black. Paint the head as a rounded triangle and split the tongue into two tips.
Hatchling's head poking from a split eggCream, green, gray. Shade the egg with gray on one side and keep the hatchling very small.
Head in profile with a round pupil and a long jaw lineOlive, cream, black, amber. Run the jaw line back past the eye and curve it up a little at the end.
Head lifted on a neck bent like a question markTeal, dark blue, yellow. Sweep the neck in one curve and place the head level on top of it.
Head pushing out of its old skin, the new scales brightLime, cream, gray. Paint the old skin dull and wrinkled behind the head and the new scales clean.
Lidless eye holding the reflection of a bright windowAmber, black, white. Add the window as a small white square that crosses the edge of the pupil.
Slit-pupil eye close up, scales curving around itGold, black, gray green. Paint the eye as a gold disc, add the upright slit, then ring it with small scales.
Spade-shaped head from overhead, tongue in two tipsRust, cream, dark brown. Keep the head symmetrical: paint one half, then match the other side to it.
Tongue flick frozen in the air, both tips curled apartDark red, olive, pale blue. Pull the tongue in one stroke with a liner brush and fork it at the end.
Simple shapes for a first canvas 12
Capital S turned into a snake with a red tongueGreen, yellow, red. Paint a block letter S, round one end into a head and add a tongue.
Cartoon snake tied in a bow under a pointed party hatGreen, red, yellow, black. Paint a looped bow shape, add a cone hat on the head end, then two dot eyes.
Checkerboard snake in squares of two colorsBlack, white, red. Rule lines across and along a wide body and fill every other square.
Flat black S-shaped snake across a blended evening skyYellow, orange, magenta, black. Blend the three sky colors wet, let them dry, and paint the S flat black.
One thick wavy line with an oval head and two dot eyesPurple, pink, white. Load a wide flat brush and pull the wave without stopping, then add the head.
Rainbow snake in fat stripes on a white canvasRed, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. Paint one wide wavy band and stripe it straight across in order.
Smiling green snake peeking over a watering canGreen, gray, yellow, black. Paint the can as a simple cylinder and rest the head on its rim.
Snake hugging all four edges of the canvas as a frameBlue, lime, white. Run the body around the border and let the head meet the tail at one corner.
Spiral snake filling a square canvas, dots on its backOrange, yellow, black. Paint a fat spiral from the center out and dot along the middle of it.
Sponge-stamped circles in a curve, the first one a faceLime, dark green, white. Stamp the circles so each overlaps the last, then paint eyes on the first.
Wavy snake made only of swab dots in a lineAny five bright colors. Press dots along a penciled wave with a cotton swab, biggest at the head.
Zigzag tape resist along a snake, bare canvas betweenTeal, coral, mustard. Lay tape in a zigzag down the body, paint over it, and peel when dry.
How it works
A snake is a limbless body covered in overlapping scales, so a painting of one is a line and a pattern. These canvases sort by both: coils, markings, places, heads and simple first shapes.
Read the full guide
Paint the line first, then the markings
Paint the whole body as one tapering band and let it dry; acrylic is fast-drying, so the wait is short. The markings sit on top: rings, a diamond chain, a zigzag or long stripes. Rows of U-shaped scales lapped like roof shingles shows how each row laps over the next.
Eyes and tongues, close up
Snakes active by day typically have round pupils, and many night species have slit pupils. Slit-pupil eye close up, scales curving around it is the night kind. The tongue is forked, so Tongue flick frozen in the air, both tips curled apart ends in two points.
No picture here shows a snake striking or feeding.
Questions and answers
What is an easy snake to paint?
Easy first snakes, under More filters, holds 21. One thick wavy line with an oval head and two dot eyes is a single stroke, and Rainbow snake in fat stripes on a white canvas is bands of flat color.
How do you paint snake scales?
As rows of small U shapes that overlap, each row laid over the one behind it. For speed, Speckled snake, one pale dot on every dark scale presses a single dot for each scale with a cotton swab.
What colors are snakes?
Many. Snake skin can be plain, striped along the body or blotched. The palettes here run from sand and brown to emerald, black with orange, and rings of red, yellow and black.
Are these real kinds of snake?
Only the cobra is named, for its spread hood. The rest are plain looks, such as a green tree snake or a sand-colored desert snake, so you can paint from imagination or match one to a photo.