Artist's Note:

It had been a while since I’d painted any kind of reptile, and so I thought it would be nice to paint another snake. I wanted to capture the beauty of its mottled scales, and present the animal in a harmonious way with its surrounding environment. I didn’t want the environment to be a major focus though, so kept it blurry in order to create the sense of depth of field to make you feel really close to the resting snake. These are the largest of the rattlesnake species, and are among the heaviest of all known venomous snakes. They are known to grow up to 2.1m long, but on rare occasions they have been found up to 2.4m long. On average though, they are around 1.7m long as adults.

They are as beautiful to look at as they are dangerous, with the hemotoxin in their venom killing red blood cells and causing tissue damage, and their bite can be fatal. Once they have found a suitable spot to hide in, they lie in wait for passing prey. They eat both small mammals like rabbits or squirrels, and also birds when they can catch them. They themselves are in danger of being eaten by a variety of predators – but only when they are young. Nothing wants to risk eating an adult Diamondback. Because of this lack of predators, once they are adults they can live for over 20 years. For more info on them, see here.