Elephants are one of my favorite animals. They are huge and may seem quite intimidating but they exude warmth and calm. I think I have never painted animals before and so May will be a theme of just painting them. I might reference from some non copyright photos at Paint My Photo since I don’t photograph animals much.

In this painting, I used a variety of earthy colors. I started with yellow ochre for the lighter areas then quickly added burnt sienna to identify some of the values. I also splashed a bit of orange and pink wash on the younger one. It is always better to start light and take it easy on the colors. When the initial layer has dried, colors are strengthened by adding darker version of burnt sienna or burnt umber and mixing it with cobalt blue for the shadow. The fun part is to add the final details. Bold curve lines accentuated the trunks while the faded broken lines gave the skin texture. The melancholic eyes came alive with the use of the same dark mix. Light washes and blend of green, blue, orange and red for the background finish off the painting.

I can still see some areas that are in need of more colors but I’ll leave that to the next painting adventure.