Miss Niki's Medusa

Finally done, yay! asked me to draw her a Medusa so here it is. I like that she didn't give me any real rules or restrictions because I work best that way... if I am familiar with the subject matter anyway...

I've always liked the way those pythons with the yellow spot things looked so I wanted to use those instead of making her the typical green or brown. I was getting a bit worried about the pattern on the snakes looking too busy but with the shading and playing with opacity it softened out some. I didn't make her hideous (like all of the pictures I've ever seen of her seem to be) because I don't usually like drawing things that are ugly in nature (and thankfully that wasn't what Niki wanted).

I went a little nuts with the make up because I was going for that exotic look... It looks more like Sephora attacked her but oh well...

I had originally planned on making her dress white because I wanted it to be just a little traditional but the plum was so complimentary to the golden tones in her skin and 'hair' so I just went with that... and I made some of the snake ends tails because it kind of softened her out a little... if that makes any sense.... I might change that if it bugs me as well as the doll-like quality of her features.