#12 Two Elephant Paintings

 
ele.jpg
Photo Credit: Emma Evers @emmaeversphotography

Photo Credit: Emma Evers @emmaeversphotography

Materials List

Canvas: 6x6 inch canvas or paper.

Acrylics: White, Black, Medium Yellow (or any Yellow), Phthalocyanine Blue (or any Blue), Orange, and Raw Sienna.

Brushes: Small round detail brush, Small flat brush, Micro or liner detail brush.

Reference: Photo of elephant directly above.

Adjustments.jpeg

Start by painting your canvas with Raw Sienna mixed with Orange. Let that dry.

Paint a layer of just Cadmium Yellow, adding less paint to the outer edge of your canvas. Let that dry.

IMG_9552.jpeg

Mix up Grey using White and Black. Draw the Elephant with Grey.

Fill in the darkest areas with Grey - eyes, under the ear, under the trunk, along the jaw. Reference photo above.

IMG_9553.jpeg

Add in more White to your Grey. Fill in the rest of the Elephant using this Grey. Don’t cover up the dark tones from the previous step.

IMG_9555.jpeg

Go back to your Dark Grey by adding in more Black to your Grey mixture. Add in definition around the head, top of ear, elephant trunk, and eyes.

Artist Tip: Painting an elephant requires a lot of different shades of grey. Study your reference photo to see where the light source is.

In this photo the light source is directly above the elephant. Study your reference photo to see where the lightest areas are on the elephant and the darkest areas. Pinpointing this before you paint will help you know where to place your lightest grey and your darkest grey.

IMG_9556.jpeg

Fill in the inside of the trunk with Black. Add a subtle bumpy texture to the bottom of the truck with Dark Grey. Add in two eye lids using Light Grey. Paint in trunk with Light Grey.

Artist Tip: All you need to do is simply add in more White or more Black to alter the Grey tone. Make sure you wash out your brush thoroughly between mixes.

IMG_9557.jpeg

Using Dark Grey, paint ALL shadows around trunk.

IMG_9558.jpeg

Add in more White to your Dark Grey mixture to create little horizontal indents along the outside of your trunk.

IMG_9559.jpeg

Mix up a Light Blue using White and Phthalocyanine Blue. Fill in the base of the trunk using this Blue.

Paint small droplets of water coming out from the elephant trunk using this Blue.

IMG_9561.jpeg

Outline droplets with just White. Paint the tip of the trunk with just White.

IMG_9562.jpeg

Create tiny dots for small water droplets and then add more pressure and paint to your brush to create larger droplets.

Here’s the second elephant painting in video form. Enjoy!