Michelle Cote Fontaine Fine Art

Wilson is my son’s beloved Yellow Leopard Gecko.  Having a Gecko in New England presents some unique challenges. The main one is creating a perfect very hot temperature for the day and then for the evening.  To accomplish this, Wilson lives under lamps that are white during the day and red for the evening.  When Wilson comes out at night, the red light combines with his yellow skin and throws off an orange color.  I decided to paint Wilson because everyone needs to have a painting of their beloved pet.  The most challenging part in this painting was the formation of his tail, his underside behind the back right leg, and the creation of his very content facial features.  Wilson also has some raised bumps throughout his torso and tail and it took some time to figure out how to create the tiny, tiny dots that cover an animal that is only about 8 inches long.  Happily, I was able to render a fairly accurate portrait of this very little guy.