Our readers responded by sending in ideas for new animal art stories but because many of them did seem to be rather confused about the very idea of animal creativity, six years ago we set some rules around what we would cover.
1. Sock puppets cannot be animal artists or, in the case of elephants, part of an animal artist. Animal artists cannot be stuffed or mechanical.
2. Animal artists cannot be ridden or physically controlled by a human being. The result of riding an inked-up horse over a canvas is about as animal art as a bicycle tire print. The same goes for something like a couple of guys holding up a seal with paint on its nose and using it like a pencil.
3. Human beings holding up canvases for animal artists to work on is marginal and if the canvas is moved by the human it is not animal art it is human assisted animal art, a category we try not to cover.
4. Human beings wearing animal costumes, no matter how convincing, are not animal artists.
5. The jury is still out on zoo animals as artists.
6. Children, no matter how talented, are not animal artists while ironically, flies are.
Looking at recent submissions it has to be said no one even glanced through those rules. If you are a regular reader you will know that we have threatened (and then feebly reneged when another great animal art story came our way) on never doing another post about animals making art. No more Woma the painting snake and Zeppy the creative cockatoo. Sad, but this time, true.
The best of OTN animals making art
Paw relations
Chimp can chimp do
Horsing around
Monkey photography
Bacon…the pig
Brent the painting chimp
Chooks paint
Chimp champ
Camera cat
Squirrel goes nuts on art
Pony painting
Maggots make art (seriously)
