Acrylic on Acrylic Gesso primed un-stretched acrylic canvas sheet 12″ × 8″
The original is not available.

1. FEATURED in EXPLORE on RedBubble!

“Keep five yards from a carriage, ten yards from a horse, and a hundred yards from an elephant; but the distance one should keep from a wicked man cannot be measured.”
~Indian Proverb ~

With a height of just over 3 – 4m (measured at the shoulder), a length of between 6 to 7.5m (that’s the length of an average motor car garage!) and weighing in at 6 tonnes, these mostly gentle giants of the African bush are highly intelligent with a strong sense of family and herd, and a complex social structure.

Elephants are incredibly social animals: they form strong, long-lasting bonds within their herd. They adopt orphaned calves, help injured elephants and work together. They have surprisingly complicated behavioural patterns and interactions. An injured member may be helped to its feet and supported by other herd members: if it is badly wounded, it may be vigorously defended by the herd, with even the calves taking part. Although elephants are normally peaceful individuals, they can be aggressive and extremely dangerous, especially if they are sick or injured. Females in groups with young are particularly unpredictable, as are males in musth.

Here in Africa they are native to a wide variety of habitats including semi-desert scrub, open savannahs and dense forest regions. Besides its greater size, it differs from the Asian elephant in having larger ears and tusks, a sloping forehead, and two “fingers” at the tip of its trunk, compared to only one in the Asian species.

For this sketch, I looked at many different photographs from a great many angles, and developed this stance from all the ‘information’ I had gathered in my mind.

20th Feb 2011 – 1 Greeting card to RB member Thank you!

1. 25th August 2010 – FEATURED in Paws & Claws
2. 25th August 2010 – FEATURED in New Creations of Beautiful color
3. 25th August 2010 – FEATURED in The Beauty of Nature
4. 26th August 2010 – FEATURED in Freedom in Words & Art
5. 27th August 2010 – FEATURED in Retired And Happy
6. 27th August 2010 – FEATURED in Inspired Art
7. 21st October 2010 – “Gentle Giant” was chosen as “A Special Animal” in Pets Need a Hug – Whoot whoot!
8. 24th October 2010 – FEATURED in Indigenous to East & Southern Africa
9. October 2010 – Placed in the TOP 10 of the challenge Big Five in Mozambique – 10th Place
10. 4th November 2010 – FEATURED in Pets Need a Hug
11. 15th January 2011 – FEATURED in All Creatures Great & Small
12. 19th February 2011 – FEATURED in Just Fun
13. 19th February 2011 – FEATURED in The Best of Anything and Everything
14. 20th February 2011 – FEATURED in Animals of Africa
15. 14th May 2011 – FEATURED in Sold!
16. 19th May 2011 – FEATURED in Playful Photogenic or Color-Painted Animals
17. 24th May 2011 – FEATURED in Story through Image
18. 14th June 2011 – Placed in the TOP 10 of the challenge Features 5/23/11 in “Story Through Image” – 3rd Place
19. 15th June 2011 – FEATURED in The Best of Red Bubble
20. 22nd June 2011 – FEATURED in Nature in It’s Entirety
21. 10th October 2011 – FEATURED in African Beauty
22. 14th October 2011 – FEATURED in Image Writing
23. 28th March 2012 – FEATURED in Welcome to the Jungle
24. 29th March 2012 – FEATURED in Let Animals Stay Free
25. 6th April 2012 – FEATURED in Art for Sale
26. 24th April 2012 – FEATURED in Fauna, Flora and Landscapes of South Africa