Amanda Myers Does Art... (sometimes)

An alligator snapping turtle waits for his next meal.

I can’t help myself. I’m attracted to ugly, unpopular animals. If you are too and would like to support me and my work, head on over to Society6 and pick up a print of this beauty.

Take a guess as to what animal will be the subject of my next painting?

Allow me to introduce you to the Moonrat. It’s a relative of the hedgehog and can be found throughout Malaysia and Indonesia. The one pictured here is a subspecies that is found in Borneo. Not only are these creatures quite ugly, they apparently also smell strongly of ammonia and rotten garlic. Now I know after reading this you’ve suddenly found some uncontrollable desire to have one of these fine creatures as a pet, but I must strongly advise against this. As an alternative, buy a print of one instead. This piece shows off all of the creature’s best attributes, not to mention it smells considerably better. *

*scent quality can not be guaranteed.

Fan art of sorts for Anya McNaughton’s  Fire Tiger and Acid Panther. I had this idea about a year ago. I thought I’d draw it on the computer because at the time I felt it would look better that way. I quickly lost patience and forgot about it. I recently thought about it partially because she’s been making T-shirt designs to sell and also because I’ve been watching Game of Thrones.

Anyway, it didn’t take me too long to draw. I had the most fun painting it. I used Gouache for the first time and I don’t think I could have used a more appropriate medium for this particular style.

I got the inspiration for this painting from my mom, who was bitten by a rattlesnake when she was nine.  When I asked her about it, she said she was searching for crickets around some old tomato stakes. During her search, she put her foot under a pile of boards and felt something bite her. It didn’t take her long to realize that it was a rattlesnake.  At this point her dog apparently came to the rescue, only to get bitten as well. Luckily, my grandmother was nearby to take my mom back to the house and later to the hospital, but only after killing the snake with a garden hoe. My mom remarked that it was my grandmother’s favorite snake-killing tool.

Both my mom and her dog made a full recovery.

You can buy a print of this here, if interested: http://society6.com/AmandaMyers/Rattlesnake-vhm_Print

WIP #4. If a rainbow and a rattlesnake had a baby, it would look like this.

WIP #3 I got a bit more accomplished last night while watching another Game of Thrones episode. Are you guys bored with these WIPs?

Progress is slow mostly because I’ve started watching Game of Thrones and I have a lot of catching up to do. My schedule is also not very accommodating.

WIP. I have no idea what kind of colors I want to use yet. It’s getting to the point where I need to decide quickly. The yellowish parts are actually masking fluid.

Coconut crab.

I bought myself a red watercolor pencil to draw with. It’s like I’ve found what it means to love making art again.

My shrimp are awesome. 

It’s been a while since I’ve done any figure drawing. I’m so rusty! This model was fantastic. I only wish I could have gotten some decent drawings out of the session. This was the last one for the night.  I really hope he comes back.

A Greenland Shark, which is my second attempt at painting a shark. I feel this is way more successful than the goblin shark I painted; mostly because I relaxed and let it be what it wanted to be rather than forcing a style or mood upon it. 

Also, as cool as goblin sharks are, I really like Greenland sharks. Eye parasites and all.