In 2024, I was honored to paint pet portraits for not one but two chameleons! They were both for different owners, but they were both veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus), one of the more common species kept in the pet trade. I thought it would be a good idea to combine both portraits into a single blog article, due to their similarity, and not wanting to be redundant over multiple posts. Both of these customers were referred to me by the wonderful Chameleon Forums, of whom I am a sponsor. If you have a chameleon, please check them out! They are a fantastic source for all things chameleon!

The first portrait is Beman, the male veiled chameleon. His portrait was painted with acrylics on a 9×12 inch canvas in February 2024. The owner requested a background of leaves and branches, and I just used generic tropical plant leaves as my reference, based on some leaves in his enclosure. Beman’s coloration is very striking, with lots of yellow, green, blue, orange, and even grey. He is showing off a defensive pose, which is clear from his puffed out body and rigid stance, as well as his darker coloration along his casque (the projection sticking out of the top of his head). His calm coloration is mostly pale greens, teals, and some faded yellows. He has an area along his flank that has black markings as well, and these were a little challenging to portray accurately and look realistic. Due to the smaller size, it was difficult to get a lot of small details in the scales, so I had to use a more painterly style to imitate the scale texture on his body.

The second chameleon portrait of the year was Nachito, a female piebald veiled chameleon. Her portrait was painted with acrylics on an 8×10 inch canvas, completed in April 2024. Compared to the male above, the female veiled chameleons are less colorful, being mostly shades of greens and browns. They also have a much shorter casque, and in general are overall smaller in stature than the males. The interesting thing to note about Nachito is that her hands and feet are pink, with white bands around her wrists and ankles. This is due to her piebald coloration, which means she lacks the typical pigmentation in those areas of her body so they appear pale. She is also perched upon a branch, and surrounded by pothos leaves, as requested by the owner.

It has been fun and challenging to paint chameleons! It is a welcome change from cats and dogs, and I love being able to add more species to my portfolio. Nachito and Beman are the third and fourth chameleons I have painted portraits for. And hopefully will not be my last! I am eager to create paintings of any exotic species, including reptiles, rodents, amphibians, birds, fish, and any other species that are kept as pets.