"Silverback" Western Lowland Gorilla 16 x 20 Colored Pencil Black Canson Mi-Tiente Paper "Award Of Excellence" winner in the 2009 Society of Animal Artists' 49th Annual Exhibition. A finalist in The Artist's Magazine 2007 Art Competition. 2007 United Kingdom Colored Pencil Society 6th Annual International Exhibit: Picture Of The Year & Staedtler Award, People's Choice Award.
© 2009 All colored pencil images on these pages are the copyright property of Leslie Evans, All Rights Reserved and not to be used without permission of the artist.

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Leslie H. Evans on the plight of the critically endangered Mountain Gorilla:

"There’s an undeniable hubris among humans when it comes to other primates. Humans like to believe that they alone own the rights to self-awareness, abstract thought, and emotion. Accordingly, apes are man’s evolutionary punching bag: comic relief sidekicks who never quite made the grade. Perhaps because their appearance intimidates us the most, gorillas have endured the brunt of man’s scorn and unreasoned loathing the longest, from the ridiculous machinations of Hollywood spectacle to the genocidal campaigns of poachers, developers and warring armies. I want my art to demonstrate a different point of view. Gorillas are sentient beings. They do matter…

"If, like man, a gorilla’s eyes are the windows to its soul, then perhaps there’s much to learn from the subject of this colored pencil portrait. Let this animal’s gaze take you to the gorilla habitats of Rhwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now try to sense his despair as he tries to avoid the warring humans who would turn his forest into a bloody battlefield. Is it too difficult to imagine this gentle creature leading its family members away as men with machetes and chainsaws hack the jungle canopy to pieces? Will you be strong enough to stomach his torment when he’s ambushed by poachers lying in wait? Look into his eyes now and test your sensibilities…

"Today, gorillas in the wild face extinction not only from bloody civil conflict and poaching but from peaceful human activities as well. Expanding human settlement, agricultural development, illegal logging, and an ever increasing need for charcoal as a fuel source all contribute to the gorillas’ problems. As populations of both lowland and mountain gorillas dwindle, only time will tell if enlightened humans can intervene in time to save mankind’s most misunderstood and persecuted primate relative."