Elephant Paints Self Portrait

I saw this video it is absolutely stunning video of how an elephant paints its own portrait. It is not a gimmick or trickery, you can see how the elephant paints this by itself.

I searched Google for more information about the Elephant paintings and came across this old news with more detailed information about it.

The paintings was revealed to the western world by Art graduate Victoria Khunapramot, 26, after she brought the paintings from Thailand to the Dundas Gallery on Dundas Street in England. The painting includes “self-portraits” by Paya, one of the few elephants that have mastered the technique.

Khunapramot told BBC News:

"Many people cannot believe that an elephant is capable of producing any kind of artwork, never mind a self-portrait…But they are very intelligent animals and create the entire paintings with great gusto and concentration within just five or 10 minutes - the only thing they cannot do on their own is pick up a paintbrush, so it gets handed to them…They are trained by artists who fine-tune their skills, and they paint in front of an audience in their conservation village, leaving no one in any doubt that they are authentic elephant creations."

Khunapramot also said that it takes about a month to train these elephants to paint.

Dr. Joyce Poole, an elephant expert was asked about this strange behavior whether the elephants do have special skills. She said they can be trained to paint in a free flow technique but she doubts whether they really understand what they do.

Whether the elephants really understand the painting nuances or not, what they are doing in this video is simply spectacular, maybe showing us that they do have a hint of talent in them.