Green Daily

There are many artists who donate some of the proceeds generated by their work to charities all over the world, from musicians and dancers, to sculptors and painters. Did you know that some of those painters are elephants?

The video above may seem incredulous, but I assure you that it's true. Many elephants in captivity drew with sticks in the sand in their boredom, especially after they lost their physical labor jobs, before many were recruited to art sanctuaries.

These days, rather than hauling logs, many elephants are wielding paintbrushes, their creations being sold to help keep sanctuaries like theirs up and running. It takes up to a day to teach the elephant about painting. Some elephants even nitpick over which colors they'd like at any given point, in a specific order.

National Geographic profiles several elephant painters, and indeed, puts much of the artwork up on Novica, along with information about each painting and each elephant's style and personality. If you would like to support the elephants, many of the pieces are available for under $300.

Novica.com allows people to purchase beautiful art and give money to a worthy cause at the same time, said Milk, adding: "Our rallying cry is 'An elephant painting in every home.'"