Day 4 June 6th – Day four and the serious work began. Robert kicked off with few preliminary water color sketches which he finds indispensable in helping block out in the color formations and pre-set in his mind the directions his painting will take. From the previous day’s experience he knew he had a limited four-hour window of opportunity for perfect light conditions.

Preliminary Water Color Sketches

Robert started painting at 10:00 AM and the elephants were due to arrive at 12:00 noon, so no time to spare. Further, since elephants refuse to sit around posing for a couple of hours, he had decided to photograph them on digital camera, print out the shots on the spot and paint from them as a reference. So time was time was of the essence.

Taking Shape

Fortunately the elephants arrived on time, and the photos were taken. We handed out a few bunches of bananas as a thank you gesture and they happily left. Then it was back to the easel to rub out, add in the subject matter and complete the fine detail and finishing touches.

Getting The Subject Right

The clouds started to roll in, but Robert managed to beat Mother Nature with a little time to spare. Robert had completed the painting within the four-hour window of opportunity. He said, “Speaking as an artist, it had been a totally rewarding trip”.

Robert Getting A Grip On The Detail

With his signature and his spot of yellow for his Mom Robert signed off and the day finished on a happy note.

Property Owner And Crew

The owner of the property was a welcomed guest of the Executive Crew, Bob, Bill and Barry.

Day Three June 5th – This day was spent be Robert getting to fully understand his subject matter. This involved many hours spent at the camp observing and sketching the elephant in a variety of poses until he felt completely happy and confident that he fully understood its basic geometric shape, manner of movement and proportions.

Getting To Know The Subject

Photographing And Studying The Elephants

Day Two June 4th – We set off on foot, trekking for several hours along forest tracks beside stretches of river until finally the perfect location for Robert’s upcoming painting was discovered. We found a spot close by the Maetaman Elephant Camp where we were informed by the locals that elephants passed along the shallow section of the river with their Mahouts (trainers) on a regular daily basis.

Looking For The Perfect Painting Spot

A Beautiful River Setting

Sadly today, the South-East Asian elephant in Thailand has had to be classified as an endangered species. There are now little more than 2,000 left, but a century ago there were more than 100,000 of them roaming freely all over the country.

An Elephants Burden – Not Quite How Robert Had Envisaged

Elephants In Their Natural Habitat

Although a number  of wild elephants were known to be still be in close proximity to our chosen painting location Robert realized it would be ridiculously optimistic to expect a couple of them to accidentally wander into shot while we were filming. So, to be realistic, we arranged with the local Mahouts to bring three domestic elephants down the river the next day. The idea was to have them go past our exact location spot, which was well away from the usual tourist trappings and quite pristine and remote.

Day One June 3rd 2006 – Robert and the camera crew arrived in the ancient city of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand and immediately started filming the city’s golden temples, saffron-robed monks and ancient crafts. The idea was to capture some traditional Thailand atmosphere. When that was completed we moved several miles out of the city to film the colorful Hill Tribe people. Weather was perfect all day and it was a good start to the shoot.

A City of Handicrafts

Wood Carving

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For the first Thailand episode of Splash Of Color, it was the decision of what to paint that was my greatest challenge. Over the many years I have been returning to this country I have come to realize that Thailand is the painter’s Garden of Eden – always tempting the artist with its endless abundance of color and gentle, ever-smiling people.

But I wanted this introductory episode of Splash Of Color to be a special challenge and I finally decided to paint something that would try to capture the very symbol of the nation. In fact, a living symbol of Thailand’s spirit and strength. I chose to paint one or two of Thailand’s remaining South-East Asian elephants.