There are line drawings, paintings and other techniques included in this list.īeneath the images are descriptions of each artwork, as well as information on each artist, when it is known. All were sourced from Rawpixel, who provide them as copyright-free, and they can help you to learn more about how to draw an elephant, in a wide variety of ways. Please find below a list of elephant drawings and paintings, some of which were produced by famous artists, whilst others remain anonymous, to the best of our knowledge. We have therefore decided to provide a collection of elephant art for those looking to draw elephants themselves, and perhaps require some inspiration in order to make a start. Conservation continues to be a growing interest and poster art can help to promote certain causes through its impactful messaging.
Elephants have also become under attack from poachers, which has sadly led to their numbers falling considerably, raising the profile of this animal in our thoughts.Įlephant art can help to spread the word about these injustices, as well as teaching us more about the animal itself. Zoos have helped to change this somewhat, but even then, it is understood as being a contrived environment, and not quite the true experience. Introduction to Elephant DrawingsĮlephants have excited many of us due to our inability to see them in the wild, other than for those able to travel to see them. Artists have depicted these huge animals within their work, and slowly improved the accuracy of their paintings and drawings as our knowledge of these creatures evolved over time. Published on J/ Updated on October 14, 2023Įmail: / Phone: +44 7429 011000 Elephants have excited us all for centuries, with their unusual anatomies and behavior out in the wild. “Understanding how elephants behave and respond to rapid changes in human-dominated landscapes may help us develop conservation strategies that promote the coexistence of people and elephants,” says LaDue.Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience Only about 22 per cent of the land that elephants use is within protected areas. The land in which elephants once roamed freely is shrinking as humans expand – especially in India, the world’s most populous country.
“Then, because of the shallow depth of the ditch, the feet are left unburied, not because they deliberately buried the head, but due to the unique topography of the burial site.” “I could envision elephants pushing a dead calf into a narrow ditch, and given the awkward shape and weight distribution, the calf landing on their back with the feet in the air,” he says. He isn’t convinced that the positioning of the calves was intentional. Still, LaDue says that “we must be careful in how we interpret these results, especially as the mental and emotional lives of elephants are still largely mysterious to us”. “Others have noted that elephants appear to behave in unique ways towards their deceased relatives, this paper is the first to describe what appears to be methodical and deliberate burial of elephant calves after they have been carried to the burial site.” “These observations offer impressive evidence of the social complexities of elephants,” says Chase LaDue at the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden. However, the Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus) in this study generally avoided returning to the burial sites, instead using alternative pathways. Bruising along each calf’s back suggests they were dragged or carried long distances to the burial sites.Īfrican bush elephants ( Loxodonta africana) have been observed covering dead bodies with vegetation and returning to these locations later. They ranged in age from 3 months to a year old, and a number of them were malnourished and had infections. The calves’ bodies were later exhumed and examined. An elephant calf buried on a tea estate, with its feet protruding from the ground