3d carved Cotton mouth snake

This cake was a completely new ball game for me.  The bulk of the cake is carved into a hill that is only on one side of the board.  The other part of the board is only covered in fondant with part of the snake on it. 

When I was asked to do a cotton mouth snake, I was a little hesitant.  What I ended up doing is cutting the snake into sections, covering those sections with fondant, then adding a vine to cover the sections.  To get the colors, I decided to use all white fondant and paint everything myself.  I had never painted on a cake before so this was a first.  I also had to make that head myself.  I found pictures and had them hanging everywhere and sculpted the head, then painted it.  

Now looking back, I would do several things differently next time but overall I am very satisfied with the outcome.