Elephant Self Portrait
April 12th, 2008This elephant is simply incredible! I wonder if he came up with the design himself or if he was taught it and that’s all he does. Either way, WOW.
I found out a little more about this video. This particular artist appears to be an elephant called Hong who lives at the Maetaman Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai, Thailand. An article about Hong published on The Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project (AEACP) website notes:
Two years ago, Hong began painting with her mahout, Noi Rakchang, and has steadily developed her skills. After learning how to paint flowers, she moved on to more advanced paintings. She now has two specialties. One is an elephant holding flowers with her trunk, and the other is the Thai flag. An elephant with so much control and dexterity is capable of amazing work. Just for clarification, with these realistic figural works, the elephant is still the only one making the marks on the paper but the paintings are learned series of brushstrokes not Hong painting a still life on her own.
We are sure that as Hong continues to investigate her artistic side, her paintings will become even more beautiful.

April 12th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Hi Jeff,I have just spent a very extraordiary 8 mins watching this elephant draw such a clever design as you said, mesmorising how exactly it kept to the lines, apart from the fact that it was an elephant drawing an elephant :0)how random is that!
I googled your site as I had seen your name on a geneology study a family member has been doing here in the UK. My mums maiden name is Milner and so somewhere through the ages our family tree lines might cross or come near to doing anyway…just thought I would say hello. Hope you and your family are all well and happy.
Best wishes from the UK
Helen
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:16 am
Thanks for the note Helen. It’s nice to hear from you.