Sherbert is the fifth chameleon portrait I have painted. He is a Sambava Panther Chameleon, and his vibrant coloration is really stunning and beautiful. His portrait was painted with acrylics on an 8×8 inch canvas, and was completed January 31, 2025. The leaves in the background are marbled pothos, a request from the owner. This made a stunning and interesting choice for the background, and complemented his unique markings.

This portrait was painted on a fairly small canvas, yet chameleons have a lot of details like scales and spines, so this was a challenge for me. I recently got a set of rigger brushes (fineliners) that really help a lot with very fine details. In order to get the small detail in the scales, I used a layering and glazing technique. First I painted the base layer a mid tone, then painted the shadows. Then I went over the top of those with a very light opaque color (either titanium white or pale yellow) and then glazed transparent color on top to bring back the color. I found this technique works best for painting textures like scales, especially when the surface is very small. Some areas I had to go over many times to get the texture I wanted.

In the reference photo, Sherbert was resting on his owner’s hand, and she wanted me to change that to a branch, which was easy enough. She also requested the marbled pothos, which she did not send me photos for but they are a common houseplant and I was able to find references for it on my own. I am often asked to make these changes to the portraits, and I hardly ever use the reference photos as they are. Either I make a composite using multiple photos, or I make drastic changes like this using other references or my own imagination. I did not use a reference for the branches. Sometimes, making a composite photo is not done literally, but in my head, by using one main reference for the majority of the painting, and another to fill in small details, such as referencing color. That was also the case here, as I had to reference the colors from a different photo.

Sherbert’s coloration is the most vibrant I have ever seen on a chameleon! In general, panther chameleons tend to be the most colorful species, with intense blues, greens, reds, and yellows. This is the first I have seen of one with mostly red and yellow. The yellow areas have hints of green tones, and the red had hints of orange. The casque was a grey color, and his lips and side stripe were white. The red and yellow colors of his body contrast with the greens in the background, and make a striking portrait. I chose to make the background dark green with some texturing to make it interesting, rather than just a solid color or black.

I hope to paint more chameleons in the future! I paint all species! Whether you have a cat or dog, or another pet, I can paint them for you! Birds, lizards, rodents, farm animals, even fish! Please see all my exotic pet portraits in my gallery here.