Mayur Gajendra.

This is the first of two elephants I painted for a sponsor, BlackRock Investments, as part of the Elephant Parade. Both designs were created in collaboration with the company.

Here the elephant is combined with that other wildlife emblem of India - the peacock - and this is reflected in the name too. "Mayur" means peacock in Sanskrit, while "Gajendra" is the King of the Elephants according to Hindu folklore.

Rather than creating a symmetrical design I thought it would be more interesting to have a different focus of interest on each side. So the fan of feathers sprouts from one ear while on the other side an eye becomes part of a feather.