Pileated Gibbon - Animal Art Painting

This delightful animal art painting in oils by London artist, Elle Smith depicts the endangered species, of the Pileated Gibbon in full colour. Red is used to emphasize the nature of this animal artistically, as we see the gigantic smile and endearing ears peering at us.

Despite being a very compact piece of animal art with dimensions of 8 inches high by 10 inches wide, this is animal art painting has big impact as the animal zooms into your focal point. This artwork was produced to celebrate Valentine's Day as the Pileated Gibbon smiles intently whilst waiting under a twig of mistletoe. Artist Elle Smith is great at capturing personality in her artwork, and she has definitely captured the spirit of this duet-chanting primate, who holds rising notes sometimes for up to 18 seconds. This animal art painting is a delightful piece on many levels.

The Pileated Gibbon is endangered to the point of extinction in several regions of South East Asia. The decline in numbers is due to deforestation, hunting as the gibbon is often traded in the pet trade or used as a source of food. It is estimated that for every baby gibbon sold, another 10 animals will die either in capture, or in transit. This clearly has a tremendous impact on numbers, and the very noticeable decline to the point of extinction in some regions. The Cardomom Project was set up in the Cardomom mountains in South West Cambodia as a deterrent to hunters, and to preserve habitation. 

This species is mostly found in Eastern Thailand, Western Cambodia and South West Laos. The pileated gibbon is diurnal and arboreal, so they mimic human with activity in the day but tend to stay in the trees. The male and females of the species tend to have distinct colour differences in their furs. These primates travel at lightning speed in a "locomotion action" as they swing between the trees. This system of travel is known as asbrachiation, and can be conducted over distances of 10 metres. The pileated gibbon has somewhat of a "sweet tooth" as they consume high-sugar content fruits, and supplement this with leaves, insects and flowers.

This animal art painting of the Pileated Gibbon is certainly stunning with a red background, and love seemingly all around in the air.

Oil on canvas, 8 by 10 inches