Thanks, guys.
Striping was a real pain! As I mentioned, I don't have airbrush, so it was all done with a regular brush over a sprayed foam - it takes for ever. I used quite a few pictures as references to get it somewhat right.
As for the research, these are some interesting things I learned in the process:
1. There are 3 types of zebras, but each type has distinct stripes and always the same number of stripes - one has fifty something for example, the other one eighty something.
http://zygote.swarthmore.edu/ecto10.html2. There is no final theory why zebras have stripes. One says that stripes break out the shape of the animal, making it less visible in savanna for predators. Another one claims it is to eliminate large surface of the same colour preferred by insects such as tsetse fly. I found a very interesting article about gestation periods when stripes start developing. Zebras are believed to be black, since the skin under the stripes is all black.
3. There are 4 or 5 types of giraffes as well, with distinctly different patches. I chose the one that was easiest to paint.
4. The snake in my show is the puff adder, a very dangerous African snake that puffs up when in danger. His name is Lebolobolo, which in one of African languages is the actual name for this snake.
5. Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump.
Fun stuff!
