About the artwork

This is a watercolour of Satao2 a great big bull elephant and one of the last rare Great Tusker's. Without being a product of the ivory trade, in the wild tusks are left to grow incredibly long and some even reach the ground. Regrettably the majority of elephants do not reach this grand majesty. It is a never ending battle against the ivory trade to project these beautiful creatures. I used a warm sunset palette that reflects back onto the body to create interesting textures and tone. The skin texture was made using an old paintbrush with limited bristles and semi dry paint. For this piece I challenged myself to use only watercolours, any white parts are the white of the paper. I had to be careful, making sure the water was controlled, waiting in between layers to make sure the paint did not bleed or blotch. The background was left loose and expressive to create depth of field and focus for the subject matter. This watercolour painting will compliment a living room, hallway or reception as an interesting focal point. This would also make the perfect gift for any elephant lover to add to their collection. The landscape format fits most spaces. Acid free, Aquafine, Daler Rowney watercolour paper has been used with Daler Rowney Aquafine watercolours to preserve the painting. The artwork comes ready framed, ready to hang and securely packaged with certificate of authenticity.