The Elephant Challenge.

I am sure that I am not alone in following and watching, "The Great Painting Challenge." At first i wondered where they had found the ten artists especially when I learned some had never ever shown their work to anybody other than family and friends. That some of them had made no effort to test the market with the sale of their work. 

Was there maybe a little jealousy that I had not heard about it and had not been one of the ten they had found? Possibly, but having sold so many I do not expect I would have qualified. 

I would not have lasted very long anyway had I been one of the initial ten. The new format means that this time round the ten have two tutors. I would have been so restricted by the strictures those artists, and I am sure thy are good artists, were putting on me. I think I would have lost a few brushes and tubes of paint and will leave you to think where I might have lost them. 

Lat night it was all about observation and animal portraits. 

I was thinking of the tale of the elephant and its child.

A mother and a baby elephant were lying around, suddenly the baby elephant asked, "Mother may I ask you some questions?" 

"Of course you may my son, " replied the mother. 

"Mother why do we have such long eyelashes?"

"To protect them from the strong light of the deserts and jungles. And to protect them from biting insects." 

"Mother why do we have such long trunks?"

"So that we can reach high into the jungle trees for food and to reach down for water."

"Mother why do we have such huge feet?"

"To carry our weight , my son and to be able to walk through the rough jungle trails. 

"I see," sad the little elephant. "So why are we here in a zoo?"

Now I know that we all have opinions and views about the worth and educational values of zoos but please respect my view that I would never be seen in one. So I would have been thrown off the competition without ever having put pen to paper. 

So anyway I though I would have a little fun and do what I might have done had I seen the elephants and been asked to submit. 

I leave you to make your own judgement on my attempts and if you wish to give your critique.

Oh and one last little thought about the elephants.

Skills, knowledge, abilities and experience are only ever useful in the right place and put to the right use. 

Have a wonderful day. I leave you with my second portrait of an elephant. I am aware that one of the contestants did something similar so I claim little originality for this other than I had told my wife that this is what I might have done before they even started painting. 

The eye of kindness and loyalty.