About the Green Tree Python Drawing
Since childhood, I have been fascinated by Green Tree Pythons (Morelia viridis) and Emerald Tree Boas (Corallus caninus). Although they evolved in different snake lineages and live in opposite hemispheres, both developed a remarkably similar arboreal form and behavior: green adult coloration, prehensile tails, broad heads, and the characteristic posture of looping their bodies over a branch. They remain one of my favorite examples of how evolution can produce similar solutions to the same ecological challenges.
For several years, I kept a captive-bred Green Tree Python in my office. He was a beautiful and generally gentle snake, usually resting in the compact coils typical of the species. I still had to pay attention when reaching toward him, however, because an approaching hand could occasionally be mistaken for a mouse.
Young Green Tree Pythons may be brilliant yellow or red before undergoing the dramatic color change that produces the green coloration seen in many adults. In Canopy Gold, I wanted to capture the remarkable beauty of that juvenile stage – the intense yellow body, intricate white markings, large watchful eye, and secure coils wrapped around the branch.
The dark background isolates the snake and makes its golden coloration appear almost luminous, while the close composition emphasizes both its alertness and its adaptation to life in the forest canopy.
Canopy Gold is a colored pencil Green Tree Python drawing by Michael E. Dorcas for Tantilla Art. Reference photograph courtesy of W. W. Lamar.