Elephant painting

I finally did it! I made a collaborative piece of art with an elephant. From the first time that I saw a youtube of an elephant painting in 2009, I was inspired to witness the process first hand.


 After my 2010 trip to Maese Elephant Camp near Chiang Mai, Thailand to watch elephants paint, I found out that the camp offered Basic Mahout Training Camp. Mahout's are the people who train the elephants. In 2012 I arranged to go back to stay at the elephant camp and do a collaborative piece of art with an elephant




Here is Thongpetch and me with our finished piece.





An elephant has to be trained to paint. To find out more of the process, read When Elephants Paint by Vitaly Komar. Thongpetch, a six year old 'modern' elephant could not only paint but play soccer! After spending three days learning elephant commands, riding and bathing Thongpetch, we were ready to paint together.

Step 1 is placing a paint filled brush into his trunk.

Because I was asking Thongpetch to paint in a style he was unaccustomed to (he normally paints dots), I had to use my finger to point where I wanted him to make his strokes.












This is Thongpetch applying the final stroke which was a dot. He was really focused during the entire painting process and his trunk quivered sometimes with his intense concentration.

Way to go Thongpetch!!