Nearly finished with the beaded lizard's mural!  I've had a lot of fun with this one, and I am proud of how it's turning out. A few areas still need serious work, and there are other areas that I have probably spent too much time on.  

Above is a panoramic photo of all three walls, and below are detail shots from each wall.

I have taken a little artistic license and intensified the colors in some places, but for the most part this is a pretty accurate depiction of certain parts of the Sierra Madre Occidental where the Mexican beaded lizards live.  I've been working from photographs.  It is such a fantastic landscape with mountains and brightly colored trees and cactus and it is really a pleasure to paint.  I hope I can visit there some day.

If you see me in my cage, knock on my glass and give me the thumbs up!

Right now I am working on a mural for the Mexican Beaded lizard exhibit.  I've been looking at pictures of the Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in western Mexico where beaded lizards are found.  The environment of the mountain range is mostly dry tropical forests that are a mix of trees, scrub, and funny looking cactus, so that is what I will be painting.

The beaded lizard is one of only two species of poisonous lizard in the entire world (I painted the exhibit for the other species of poisonous lizard, the gila monster, just last month).  They're pretty awesome.

I still have a lot to do on the mural, but I think the mountains and clouds are looking pretty good.  I am covering up the old mural (a jungle scene) as I go, though I might leave a few leaves.  

I finished work on the North American Desert Lizard exhibit on October 1st.  I am quite happy with the finished mural.  The gila monster and her fellow lizards have not been moved in yet, but I am hoping they will feel right at home.

Below are a few close-ups.

(Harris hawk sitting on a cactus.)

(Ridges of the Superstition Mountains on a warm clear day.)

Photo by Derik Holtmann

Last weekend a local Illinois newspaper, the Belleville News Democrat, ran a story about me and my mural work at the St. Louis Zoo.  Go to bnd.com and search "artist in a cage" if you want to check it out.  Photographer Derik Holtmann took some great pictures for the article.

Photo by Derik Holtmann, art by Patrick Weck

Photo by Derik Holtmann

Photo by Derik Holtmann

The zoo recently commissioned me to paint an exhibit for some lizards that live in North American deserts.  I am having a blast working on this mural and am probably 3/4ths of the way done.

 
The exhibit is for these awesome guys: the spiny-tailed iguana, the chuckwalla, the blue spiny lizard, and (my favorite) the gila monster.  The Banded Gila Monster is one of only two species of poisonous lizards in the entire world!  I feel like I'm painting the home of a celebrity.

When I started there was already an 18 year old mural here.  The old mural was a rocky desert scene, but the colors were very dull and the type of mountains were not really appropriate to the environments in places like Arizona where these guys are usually found.

First I painted the newly plastered area by the skylight to look like a blue sky.  I hid a lizard or two in the clouds.

The scaffolding was taken away and I painted over the rest of the old mural's sky.  Here's Paul putting in some new lights.

Next, I began painting over the old mountains.

I am basing the new mountains on pictures of the Superstition Mountain range in Arizona.

I finished repairing and expanding the reticulated python exhibit on June 13th.  They've moved her back in and I think she likes it.

Most of the work I did is in the upper area of the exhibit that leads to the skylight, though I also added some plants to the original, repaired places where the paint had flaked away, and painted the rocks to look more natural.

Reticulated Python Exhibit--Stage 3

This is a (somewhat distorted) panoramic of the exhibit.  I'm nearly finished.  They took away the scaffolding so tomorrow I will be working mostly on touchups.

Reticulated Python Exhibit--Stage 2

I began to extend the branches of the older mural up into the new space.  Everything above the overhang is new, while most of what is under the overhang is old.  Here I was still struggling a little with matching the colors.

I stole a fan from the backstage area, so it doesn't feel so much like the tropics anymore.

The Wall is pretty rough, making it difficult to paint clean edges.  I made some simple stenciles to help me with the branches.

I finally made some nice clusters of leaves and branches that I think look pretty similar to the branches in the original mural.  I also added some suggestions of cloud cover.  Maybe I'll throw in a bird or two later.

Next up: I've got to work on that corner.

The Reticulated Python Exhibit--Stage 1

I am currently working on an exhibit for this beautiful snake: the reticulated python.  The reticulated python is native to parts of Southern Asia, and some experts say it is the longest snake in the entire world.

This is the python's exhibit.  They just extended the space upwards about 5 feet to a skylight.  My job is to extend the old mural all the way to the skylight.  The mural depicts a tropical asian forest scene.  The challenge will be matching the colors and leaf patterns of the older mural.

I began by rolling out a coat of light green paint for the forest canopy, and a coat of blue paint for the sky.  That was all pretty easy.  I got a bit sweaty working so close to that skylight, felt like I was really in the tropics!

The Black-headed Python Exhibit

The first exhibit the Saint Louis Zoo asked me to paint was the Black-headed Python exhibit.  I was very excited to get the job and spent a long time thinking about how I wanted it to look.  The black-headed python is native to Australia, so I wanted to include some unique Australian landmarks.  That's Ayer's Rock (also known as Uluru) in the background, and those handprints on the wall are meant to be indigenous Australian rock art (http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-indigenous-art).