This year, I’m a repeat offender in the Boulder Open Studios Fall Tour, and I’ve decided to create a series of artwork that falls into the $25-$50 price range. Only Elephant Journal readers and Deadwilder FB fans will get an exclusive preview on the artwork that will be up for grabs, so be sure to check out what’s new every week, and please give me suggestions on how you’d like the artwork to be used (i.e. jewelry, stationary, prints, clothing, etc.).

This week’s sketch is of a Bonnet macaque (Macaca radiata),  a primate in the family Cercopithecidae that is found in the forests and urban areas of India. I felt compelled to draw this portrait of a young Bonnet macaque after reading about their mating behavior.

In general, Bonnet macaques are promiscuous little beasts – especially the women. Females mate with all male members of the troop, so males can never be sure of paternity. Sounds pretty venereal, but let’s be honest…it’s totally awesome. Mom still cares for and nurses her young for approximately a year, but here’s the bonus: males usually choose a single young macaque to care for, spending time grooming, protecting, and playing with the young, even though it may not be their own offspring. And here’s the kicker…you know the males who participate in this way are totally getting more booty out of the deal, I mean what lady doesn’t find an “involved” father totally irresistible.

I think I would even fall for that crap. I mean, even in my thirties, the thought of having a child makes me want to gag a little bit, but  if I  could depend on a herd of random males to pick up the slack in child rearing, I would definitely reconsider my personal ban on procreating.

About the Artist: Erin King has experience in scientific, anatomical, and technical illustration, web publishing and graphic design. She received a BFA in Studio Art from Texas Tech University in 1999, and a MS in Museum and Field Studies from the University of Colorado in 2005.

From 2001 – 2006 she served as the Staff Illustrator/ Office Manager for Global Response, an international environmental advocacy organization based in Boulder, Colorado.

After completing a graphic design internship at Moxie Sozo in 2008, she decided to focus her art career in the fields of natural history/medicine by starting Deadwilder Design & Illustration, studio dedicated to bio-visual communications . She has been a teaching assistant in the human anatomy lab at the University of Colorado, and has a long term goal of illustrating a book on comparative primate anatomy.

When enough artwork accumulates, she enjoys opening her studio to the public during the Boulder Open Studios Fall Tour and actively pursues opportunities to show her artwork in galleries and other venues around the country.