Elephants on parade

A commissioned oil pastel drawing exploring movement, color, and density in a herd of young African elephants at a watering hole.

Oil pastel on paper, 30 × 22 in.

This piece began as a sketchbook drawing I shared on Instagram—a looser study of African elephants in oil pastel. A collector who had previously purchased my Red Rocks drawing reached out after seeing it, and this larger commissioned version grew from that initial sketch.

Original drawing in Royal Talens sketchbook

I was drawn to the subject for its shapes and movement. The curve of the trunks, the overlap of bodies, the way everything compresses and pushes forward. There’s a frenetic energy in young elephants gathering at a watering hole—playful, chaotic, but still rhythmic.

I chose to work in the same medium as the piece the collector already owned. Color became a central part of the exploration, with a palette of saturated violets, ochres, oranges, and blues pushing the scene away from realism and into something more expressive.

As the drawing developed, I focused on building density without losing the immediacy of the original. Marks stay visible, color layers stack, and the underlying structure remains present throughout. I wanted it to feel active, like everything is still shifting, elephants are tumbling over each other for access to that watering hole.

Back in 2020, I made a series of drawings using this same medium and surface, including Red Rocks, which the collector owns. Coming back to it five years later, the shift in the work feels clear—more movement, more depth, and a stronger sense of how the forms come together.