Apr 4 2008Elephant Paints Elephant Portrait, I Want It

I used to have to do that shovel duty with my step father. And he crapped like a superstar. About six months in I switched to a snow shovel which didn't work either, so I ended up dousing it with kerosene and lighting it on fire as soon as it hit the ground. Did you know shit crackles when you burn it right away?

http://wtcctr.blogspot.com

What a load of shit.
I could do better than that, and it took him forever aswell.

Tell steven he lives in the dark ages.

This story is older than my grandma.

FAIL

that's amazing!

SCAM! You can see it's a guys hand in a fake trunk. Great editing though.

@Booger

I didn't know a human's arm could bend and flex like that.

Are there thousands of joints and muscles I am not aware of?

I've got no audio here, so I can't tell if it's mentioned in the clip, but I'm curious as to whether the elephant knows what she's painting or if she's been taught to reproduce another image.

Personally, I think this should be featured in the "so freaking cool" category. I mean elephants are amazing, but I did not know they could do such things. They rock! Sad thing is, that elephant can paint better than I can :( Granted I paint better with scale models, but still. That is brilliant!

All you who think it's fake: haha, good one.

Agreed, Uncle Eccoli. That would be the difference between pretty cool and totally amazing in my book.

I'm guessing that the elephant didn't just start painting that all by herself though - I feel like that would have to have been a huge story by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm betting that the elephant learned to paint that by looking at similar pictures, etc. Still, pretty awesome... but not the same as totally original art.

What kind of painter doesnt even sign there own work when they're done? Dumbass elephant

Unreal. Love it.

The Elephant Lords are coming!

Soon, people with more money than brains will be paying thousands for these paintings and the Elephant will be painting all the way to the bank.

old news, but here's for the skeptical: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/5203120.stm

@James:

what is "original art" to you?

art that is created without any sort of reference? or abstract art?

if you're complaining that the elephant is painting this because he's been taught to, and its what he knows, then you've got beef with most of the artists nowadays.
Where do you think those images artists paint, come from? Sometimes its a reference image, and sometimes it comes from their brain... but either way, its what that artist knows, and is what they've been practicing for years.
Thats where I think this elephant ties in ^

Otherwise, if "Original art" to you means "Abstract" then I'm pretty sure this elephant can slop on a whole bunch of colours and mess them about -- which is what most of the Abstract Art I see nowadays IS anyways.

What I'm saying is, there is no such thing as "Original art" because even if the image an artist creates does not come from a reference, there are still "references" in that artists brains that come from daily life, and the ability for humans to use their eyes and remember images.

@Bob
You are a moron with no life.

I, for one, welcome our new elephant overlords.

I was waiting/hoping someone would explain it properly, and I must say that I fully agree with Bob on this. I echo what he said exactly.

Booger, you're an idiot.

It's possible that the elephant wasn't taught to paint this portrait before, like some suggest. Elephants are one of the very few animals that can recognize themselves in the mirror, so it's highly possible that he knew what he was painting and very likely, that he was painting it from an existing idea or memory.

He does seem to have a pretty clear idea of what he's painting, because of the way he goes over the same places to perfect them, like with one of the legs. He draws the leg ones, and then goes over again to make it look better. I don't think it's memory, here. He's actually aware of what he's doing.

It isn't as if we *want* for it only to be taught behaviour - we are simply considering the possibility. After having watched the clip again, I've noticed several things that incline me to believe that the elephant knows what she's doing.
She is clearly very careful in going over some strokes a second time. At one point, somebody is moving another painting through the frame that appears to also have been done by the elephant - more flowers - that for some reason gave me the distinct impression that the elephant paints what she wants to paint. I found it particularly striking that she placed the green "grass" stroke so precisely under the painted elephant's feet.
I still have yet to read the BBC article posted above... It would be very interesting to determine the extent to which this elephant's apparent affinity for painting could be directed toward meaningful communication with man, but I suspect that not everything she'd have to say would make tourists smile.

holy shit - forget buying the painting (which is bloody adorable) - I want to buy the elephant! What a grand time we'd have, painting together :)

Painting is this elephant's second favorite thing to do. It's favorite? After receiving a bad review from an "art critic", giving said critic a good old fashion tramplin'.