An Elephant Paints a Picture
Here's an interesting video: please watch it before you read on.
The elephant begins to paint and paints - - an elephant.
A self-portrait, perhaps? Another elephant?
There's something about it that doesn't ring true for me. I don't think it's painting an elephant's view of an elephant. I just don't believe that an elephant would give itself that flower to hold. And, further, it's not painting, it's drawing. I don't think an elephant would do a line-drawing.
But (as quite often, I hear you say) I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know how I would set about teaching an elephant to draw like this. But what I'd do, I'd guess, is give it something to copy and give it a reward of something it really liked every time it copied a bit correctly.
Now I don't know whether that would work. I don't know much about elephants. The only creatures I have handy to experiment with are one cat, three leopard geckos and a snake.
I have taught the cat to find the warmest place in the house and sleep in it. I have taught the leopard geckos to walk onto my hand and to eat waxworms that I hold for them. I have taught the snake - - well, not much really, its learning skills are distinctly limited. I haven't taught any of them how to paint, I know.
But if you gave me an elephant, and something that elephants really like to eat, and quite a bit of time, and a couple of easels, and some paper, and some paint - - well, who knows?
What do you think? I'd love to be told that this elephant, quite spontaneously, painted its own self-portrait. But my suspicious mind tells me it very probably didn't.
The elephant begins to paint and paints - - an elephant.
A self-portrait, perhaps? Another elephant?
There's something about it that doesn't ring true for me. I don't think it's painting an elephant's view of an elephant. I just don't believe that an elephant would give itself that flower to hold. And, further, it's not painting, it's drawing. I don't think an elephant would do a line-drawing.
But (as quite often, I hear you say) I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know how I would set about teaching an elephant to draw like this. But what I'd do, I'd guess, is give it something to copy and give it a reward of something it really liked every time it copied a bit correctly.
Now I don't know whether that would work. I don't know much about elephants. The only creatures I have handy to experiment with are one cat, three leopard geckos and a snake.
I have taught the cat to find the warmest place in the house and sleep in it. I have taught the leopard geckos to walk onto my hand and to eat waxworms that I hold for them. I have taught the snake - - well, not much really, its learning skills are distinctly limited. I haven't taught any of them how to paint, I know.
But if you gave me an elephant, and something that elephants really like to eat, and quite a bit of time, and a couple of easels, and some paper, and some paint - - well, who knows?
What do you think? I'd love to be told that this elephant, quite spontaneously, painted its own self-portrait. But my suspicious mind tells me it very probably didn't.
posted by Daphne at 4:51 pm
4 Comments:
Oh go on, teach the snake to paint. I bet if you dipped it in paint and got it to move across a blank piece of paper it would paint a snake.
The elephant has been taught to paint a single picture. There's another elephant's picture carried across the screen partway through - just flowers, that one. I gather that elephants can be taught to paint pictures, and everyone teaches their elephant a different one, so that tourists who go to The Square Where The Elephants Paint can see and buy lots of different paintings.
And I think that's pretty damn impressive. The PRECISION was amazing.
It's sad that an elephant can paint, or even do line drawings better than I can!
I suspect foul play. I bet there was a monkey on its back telling it what to paint.
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