Snakes and how to make them

 This is the photoshop document I am working from.  Please see this post for details on how I made the sketch.

 This is one third of the above drawing done in glass.  I will eventually do the whole thing, gawd willing.  This section is 22" high and 10" wide--but I cut it into 5" strips.  Click to enlarge, blah blah blah....  Please note I am not trying to match the colors exactly.

 Here are the layers for the right hand side.  This project is being done with Saint Just Turquoise flash #221 and Lambert's 1001/R/CL/B.  The black  details are Reusche Stencil Black 1059 and the yellow is Silver Stain  yellow #3.  The pink is cold paint (Mussini transparent magenta)

 Left hand side layers.  Are you wondering if this was hard to do?  Yes, YES, emphatically YES!!!  I can very close to trashing it and giving up  on too many occasions to count.  So, now that your appetite is suitably whetted, I am sure you want to make some snakes in the glass yourself!  Here's how, step by step!  See posts in upcoming days as I work on it.  Please note it may take a while.

 The glass has been cut for the second third of the design--another section 10" x 22". (this pic is a detail)  I covered it with clear contact paper to make a sandblasting stencil and spent all day tracing snakes onto the plastic.

 First sandblast.  On the red panel, I sandblast some areas I know I want to be blue.  On the blue panel, I sandblast areas I know I want to be red.  This is just a rough guess.  I will decide to take off more later and will do it with a hand engraver.

 Then I free blast the snakes so they have texture on them.  This is for a thousand reasons:  #1 being its so much easier to work on it when some of the color is gone.  It may seem like the flash layer is thin but removing it by hand makes it evident that its deep....very, very deeeeeep.  And it hates you and your measly attempts to change its appearance.

 This is what the layers look like together...not very impressive! 

And here it is next to its older sibling.  More to come!