Pinky

“Elephant is the beast which passeth all others in wit and mind."  ~ Aristotle ~

Recently, I polished off reading the book Water for Elephants.  Although it’s a story of a young veterinarian in a traveling circus in the 1930’s, I was drawn in by a character, named “Rosie”.  I’m especially fond of elephants, fascinated with their intelligence, long memories and attachment to their herd members. Elephants are characteristically known to mourn their deceased companions. Rosie as you’ve guessed, is an elephant and as was often the case during that time period, were mistreated and abused.  It made me especially sympathetic to the character’s plight and the unforgiving manner the handler treated her. 

The pachyderm attraction for me has long been established.  I recall as a child of approximately age 8, my first drawing worthy of some praise was the character “Horton” the elephant from Dr. Seuss’s book.  Over the years, I’ve amassed a  small elephant figurine menagerie.  For good fortune, the collection is positioned trunk up and facing the door.

This newly created piece is “Pinky”.  Reading Water for Elephants helped to drag me out of an artistic slump.  For me, it stands to reason that it would take an animal to help re-ignite the spark.

Pinky was created with Primacolor pencils.