An Elephant Family Strolls Gracefully Along the Edge of a Pencil in a Gorgeous Graphite Carving

Artist Cindy Chinn, whose work includes an amazing train and trestle, has crafted a gorgeous graphite carving of a family of elephants who stroll gracefully along the pencil’s edge. The piece was created for the Epiphany Elephant Museum in Chino, California.

This pencil was commissioned by the Epiphany Elephant. It was a challenge from the beginning, just the thought of carving an #elephant, ONE elephant. As I looked at reference, the design grew and grew into this family of #Elephants walking down a path through the grass lands. I stained a standard carpenter’s pencil to match the case and using gold foil, stamped the name on the pencil. I carved the individual elephants from the graphite of a similar pencil then placed them on the final pencil. I carved the landscape to set the scene, using the wood and the graphite in the #elephantart design.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.