Draw a Coiled Snake

Coiled snakes can be really tricky to draw. Here's a simple method to draw a realistic snake in no time!

Steps

Draw two J's and connect them with an open oval; the head.
Close the J's by curving it around, towards the top J. For more detail, add shading to where the body first coils.
Begin a new coil below the original one and end it under the previous coil's curve. Add shading, if desired.
Make as many coils as you want by repeating step 3.
Towards the end of your snake start narrowing the tail until you are at about half its width and at the middle of the above coil.
Continue the tail inside the coils. Make it as long/short as you want. Finish it off, with a rattle at the end.
Add detail to the head. If it is a cobra, you have to make a shield like structure on the back of its neck right below the head. Make two dots right above the end of the mouth for its nose holes. Also, decide if it has its mouth open or not and/or if the tongue is sticking out, and adjust accordingly.
Start on its scale pattern. You can make it as simple or complicated as you like.
Outline the snake with a permanent marker, if desired. Also, consider coloring your snake.
Finished.

Hiding aspects of a drawing will give it a more realistic look.
You can also make the back part of the coil hidden to provide a different view. This is useful for close up sketches (photograph on right).

Don't try to get a real snake to pose for you; that's dangerous and unnecessary. For that, you should get plastic snakes.