A giraffe and its martini

The approach taken in this painting is what makes it one of my favorites! Because, let’s be honest, a dark setting and a mysterious tree aren’t exactly screaming “originality”! And if you look closely, you’ll spot a silhouette leaning against the tree, right at the tip of the giraffe’s hoof. Well, that little character used to be much less inconspicuous; he was all alone, in the spotlight, reading a damn book! Seriously, who in real life would go out into the middle of a disgusting, muddy swamp just to read a book “comfortably”?! The answer is a show-off who knows full well that people are watching him! The subject of my painting was already cliché enough, so when I realized that this little show-off pretending to read could be compared to Edward in *Twilight*, I knew a reworking was in order. First, I took the book away from him. Next, I made him look slightly worn and hunched over. And finally, I stripped him of his star status by adding this giraffe sipping a martini in her bath. From my perspective, the absurdity of this giraffe almost completely erases the cliché aspect of the painting. Take away the giraffe, and the composition falls apart.