Are You Afraid of Snakes?

 

Protected by a Snake pen and ink illustration by Joni James

     Taking a short break from the Horoscope drawing project, I recently saw a journal in a bookshop with a beautiful golden snake slithering across a dark green cover, and knew this snake was going to be my next project. I've never drawn one before. Not even in the calligram series I created a decade ago. I don't think I could sit relaxed having this creature loose in the same room, but somehow on the safety of paper, I suddenly love snakes. I was even wearing snake earrings while drawing this after the first day. Each of these illustrations take about 12 hours done in short intervals due to neck pain. It teaches me patience and the necessity of a good massage. This is the 15th drawing in this busy style first launched when I was home with Covid in 2022. It must have been the fever. My head felt like two balloons, as Pink Floyd illustrates, and with it came a shift in my art.