I am happy to share this painting of a veiled chameleon named “Grumpy”. Her portrait was painted with acrylics on a 12″ x 16″ stretched canvas, and completed on August 23, 2022. Her portrait can be seen in my pet portrait portfolio. Although this is not the first time I have drawn or painted a chameleon, it is the first time I have done so as a commissioned portrait painting. This was both challenging and exciting for me to paint. I had the challenges of color-matching the colors of the chameleon’s markings, painting a unique skin texture, and making sure the anatomy and proportions are as accurate as possible. The customer wanted it to be naturalistic, so I incorporated branches and leaves into the painting at the owners request. The texture of the branches and the subtle coloration and shininess of the leaves was another challenge, and I feel like I pulled it off well. Chameleon’s skin texture is very rough, almost like canvas, with very small bumps all over. While I could definitely paint the larger ones, as well as the spikes on the edges of her body, I could only do an impression of skin texture on her body. The size of the scales were basically the size of the bumps on my canvas, so I used the canvas texture to add the scaly texture to the body by doing some dry brushing over the surface. The customer left the background color up to me, and I chose dark teal, blue and violet. The dark tone allows the chameleon to pop, and the cool blues also enhance but do not detract from the subject. I think any other color would have clashed too much.

This was fun and I learned a lot painting this chameleon, and would love the opportunity to do more reptiles in the future!

The veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) is also called the Yemen chameleon, and is native to the Arabian peninsula. They are fairly large species of chameleon, and are named for the casque on the top of their head, which is larger in males than females. Males typically have more vibrant coloration as well. They are arboreal (live in trees) ad eat mostly insects, but will also eat some plant matter occasionally. They are one of the most common chameleon species kept as pets.

I would love to paint a portrait of your pet! If you like this painting of Grumpy and you want one of your own lizard, please check out my Pet Portraits Information page. I can paint any species, and would love to help immortalize your furry, feathered, or scaly friend as a unique work of art.

This artwork is also available in my online stores as a fine art print, wall art, home decor, and other gifts. Please read below to learn more about the various products in my stores.

Fine Art Prints Store

In my Fine Art Prints store, this artwork is available on a wide variety of wall art options, as well as home decor gifts. There are eight options for wall art: canvas prints, framed prints, paper giclee art prints, posters, metal prints, acrylic prints, wood prints, and cloth wall tapestries. Canvas prints range in size from small (10×7.5 inches) to large (60×45 inches) in 11 different size choices. There are five options for the stretcher bar size and side color, and the canvas is available in a glossy or matte finish. There is also dozens of choices for frames. Giclee art prints come in 12 size options, ranging from 8×6 inches to 60×45 inches. There are 8 paper choices, including glossy, matte, metallic, and luster. They have hundreds of options for framing and mat colors and styles. Metal prints are printed directly onto a 1/16″ sheet of aluminum, with a glossy finish and wood cradle on the back for easy hanging. They come in 11 sizes. Acrylic prints are printed onto the back of 1/4″ sheet of clear glossy acrylic, with two mounting options. Both metal and acrylic prints are very glossy and best for rich vibrant colors. Wood prints are printed directly onto 3/4″ maple wood panel with hanging hardware attached to the back. Tapestries are printed onto a sheet of polyester microfiber fabric, and come in three sizes.

In this store are other gift options as well. Other choices include greeting cards, phone cases, throw pillows, duvet covers, shower curtains, tote bags, carry-all zipper pouches, beach and bath towels, apparel, coffee mugs, spiral notebooks, fleece blankets, jigsaw puzzles, wood ornaments, and vinyl stickers.

RedBubble – Gifts and Apparel

In my RedBubble Store, this artwork is available on many different products. There are lots of apparel options, including many different types of t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, tank tops, and baseball shirts. Also choose from hats, baseball caps, scarves, socks, and kids clothes. Other unique products include mouse pads and desk mats, pet blankets, pet mats, vinyl stickers, laptop skins and sleeves, iPad skins and cases, iPhone skins and cases, Samsung skins and cases, postcards, greeting cards, magnets, hardcover journals, spiral notebooks, and jigsaw puzzles. Home decor options include wall tapestries, acrylic blocks, wall clocks, bath mats, shower curtains, coasters, comforters, duvet covers, floor pillows, throw pillows, throw blankets, tote bags, coffee mugs, water bottles, travel mugs, and zipper pouches. There are also many wall art options including art boards, art prints, canvas mounted prints, canvas prints, framed art prints, metal prints, photographic prints, posters, and wood mounted prints.

Society6 – Home Decor and Gifts

In my Society6 store are even more unique home decor gifts. Their products can be divided into categories. The first is wall art, which includes mini art prints, framed mini art prints, recessed framed prints, floating acrylic prints, framed canvas, art prints, framed art prints, canvas prints, metal prints, posters, wood wall art, wall tapestries, and wall hangings.

In Home Decor are throw pillows, throw blankets, rugs, shower curtains, hand and bath towels, beach towels, bath mats, wine chillers, water bottles, placemats, coffee mugs, travel mugs, coasters, serving trays, cutting boards, acrylic trays, tote bags, welcome mats, can coolers, picnic blankets, jigsaw puzzles, and acrylic boxes. Other office and tech gifts include desk mats, notebooks, stationery cards, stickers, phone cases, laptop sleeves and skins. There is also a selection of apparel.

Etsy Shop – Unique Gifts

In my Etsy shop I have a few select gifts for chameleon lovers. This includes canvas prints, minky throw blankets (both single and double sided), jigsaw puzzles, vinyl stickers, and accent mugs.