Beyond the Gray: Why My Elephant has Purple Shadows by Nandita Kamalakannan

 Beyond the Gray: Why My Elephant has Purple Shadows  by Nandita Kamalakannan

I recently decided to paint an elephant, which sounds like a great idea until you realize they are

basically just giant, walking mountains of wrinkles. But the hardest part wasn't drawing the trunk

—it was figuring out what color to make it. Since I can't show you the canvas in person, you will

just have to picture it in your head, but I promise it looks absolutely nothing like the gray

animals you see at the actual zoo.

Everyone paints with gray. Gray is safe and predictable. But after spending more than two years

taking art classes, I've learned that standard gray is a trap. It can get muddy, flat, and boring

incredibly fast. When I looked at a reference photo to sketch out the massive form of the

elephant, my first thought was: how do I make this look huge and luminous, instead of just heavy

and dull? That is why I made a single, non-negotiable artistic choice: absolutely no standard

black-and-white paint.

Instead, my elephant is a creature painted entirely in the cool tones of a deep jungle shadow. All

the deep wrinkles are filled with rich indigo and dark purple. The lighter parts of the trunk and

ears are layered with lavenders and blues. Using those cool tones makes the animal feel massive,

but also mystical and alive, like it is reflecting a completely different kind of light. To make the

contrast even more striking, I painted a vibrant, bold, almost fluorescent green jungle backdrop.

That bright green isn't there to look realistic; it is there to make the cool purple tones of the

elephant pop right off the canvas.

The point is, art isn’t about copying a photograph exactly as it exists. It is about deciding how

you want to see the world. It is taking a giant, stereotypically "gray" subject and finding the

secret colors hiding inside of it. Taking art classes has taught me to pause and find the vibrant

colors that everyone else walks right past. If you ever feel stuck on a flat, boring project, my

absolute best advice to you? Try painting it purple. You will never look at things the same way

again.