One of the terrors of kayaking the wilderness rivers of Florida: causing a huge alligator to leave his sunspot on the bank and slide into the murky water under my kayak. They are generally not aggressive toward anything as big as a kayak, but they definitely do not want to be bothered while warming their reptilian blood in the morning! This fellow's apparent smile was probably not a sign of friendliness.
In order to emphasize the alligator skin's texture, I chose to paint on heavy, rough paper. The high contrast created by the strong Florida sun outlines the scales on the beast.