Even if you’ve never seen an elephant in real life, you know that they’re giant animals. Naturally, then, you might expect elephant art to reflect their large size. Carpenter Cindy Chinn, however, disagrees with the idea that reality controls art. When she was commissioned by the Epiphany Elephant Museum in California, she created a piece so unique that pictures of it nearly takes our breath away.
View in gallery
View in gallery
“Elephant Walk” is a graphite pencil carving. It depicts an entire family of elephants strolling through the trees, all upon the end of a simple sketching pencil. The piece contrasts and simultaneously highlights the sheer size and magnitude of a real elephant herd by existing in a space so tiny that Chinn must use a magnifying lamp and a trinocular microscope just to see her own handiwork!
View in gallery
View in gallery
View in gallery
View in gallery
Of course, we’ve seen other pencil carving art before. You might remember posts about the beautiful work of Bosnian artist Jasenko Đorđević about a year ago. His work is awe inspiring as well, but Chinn’s “Elephant Walk” takes the concept of minute detail to a whole new level!
Despite the miniature size, the carving is extremely intricate and realistic
Each tree has dotted with leaves and each elephant, including the extra tiny baby, has unique wrinkles across its back and legs. The effect is astounding, even if you don’t have a magnifying glass with you to take a closer look.
View in gallery
View in gallery
If you’d like to see more astounding work by Cindy Chinn, you can find pictures on her website. You can also follow her on Facebook and on her personal artistry blog to keep up with her latest pieces and new, innovative designs.
Are you interested in actually purchasing art by Cindy Chinn? You can browse her available pieces or consider commissioning her for custom art through her Etsy store!
