I applied varnish to separate the tempera from the following oil colors. The tempera have given the painting its extreme radiance. Now I want more nuances, transitions and spatiality. I hope to achieve this by subtle overpainting with transparent oil paints. I'm curious if it works as imagined. Through the varnish cracks have become visible immediately. The painting already experienced some shocks since spring 2017. I'll try to hide those cracks a bit. Practice makes perfect, so I keep on learning by doing! But I definitely want to start soon with a new detailed painting and this one blocks me. It keeps me trapped, but basically I'm already happy with it and all the statements are already included. That's why I'll finish it now. It later gets a frame that represents a broken terrarium.

Dakota snaking around, analyzing everything!🐍💕 The world outside the box is strange and frightening. Just one look and then quickly back to the hide! 😅

Dakota in the dark!☻
The hide and seek game must be possible!🙄 The more safety a terrarium suggests to the animal, the freer it moves.😉 Don't force it to be openly on display. Let it make its own decisions.🐍 That's how it gets really interesting. My corn snake Dakota feels safe between branches and foliage. My leopard geckos also have some thin branches vertically in the terrarium, in addition to roots on the ground and caves in the back wall.

Nocturnal creatures 🌌

I just felt like changing the sky.

It's not finished yet. Maybe never will.
I'm furry, so no need to hurry. I paint for over 2 years on the picture. Recently I sat for about 10 hours again. It's gouache tempera on canvas (20x20cm). It means a lot to me, because I always wanted to paint a very detailed picture. I haven't painted many pictures yet. A few, but without satisfying me. The title is "Terrarium Snake and Monarch Butterfly". It describes my self-image, along with hurdles and desires that shape me. Every now and then I show you the progress.

Look at Arsinoë's beautiful eyes! 🙃

Arsinoë guards the twilight zone! 🌙

Right now, many are trying to come over again! 👻👿💀

The realm of my corn snake. 🐍🌿
I've attached the water bowl with a branch. Now a cute little mushroom has grown out of the branch. 🍄🙃

Mata mata! 😄🐢
A nocturnal freshwater turtle that is found mainly in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. There it prefers shallow waters, where it remains motionless until a fish comes close. Only small fish are eaten by creating a vacuum that sucks the prey into its mouth. The fish is swallowed whole, the structure of the mouth makes it impossible to chew.