Day 26 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"TILLY!"

Today's painting takes us down under to the continent of Australia!  A few years ago my husband and I went to Australia, and one thing I wanted to do was to hold a Koala.  Well, first place we went was the Taronga Zoo, in Sydney (later Princess Kate and Prince William went there).  But you may not hold Koala's in that "state" or "Providence" of Australia.  (What the big deal is I haven't a clue, but somehow Kate and Wills got to...they must have connections...haha.)  

Here's the actual photo I worked from...taken at the Taronga Zoo.  (I know I made a ton of mistakes...I'm pressed for time and yes, I'd like to paint a Koala again!)  

Here's a pic of me at that zoo.  In fact, this may be the same Koala, I'm not sure, there were so many!

And yes, you guessed it, I LOVE Koalas.  

It was hotter than hot that day as you can tell.  This was in the gift shop, and I was determined to get a picture TOUCHING a Koala if nothing else.  So I opted for a stuffed one.  Little did I know what was to be in my future!

So when we went to Melbourne, we went to the Melbourne zoo, but they didn't have a petting area for the Koalas but we learned a lot about them.  I think if I come back I'd like to be a Koala...for many reasons.  

So now we go to a small city named Kurunga...went on a train ride, which was cool, saw "Baron Waterfalls" which were very photographable, but I wanted to pet a Koala.  (When I have my mind set on something, I have my mind set.)  Well, guess what?  Yup...I got to hold a Koala and so did my husband and her name was "Tilly."  

Again, a super hot day, and remember I live in Florida and I love heat, but the weather down under was horrendous.   My husband also got to hold Tilly.

He loved her so much he wanted to take her home.  (Thank goodness the animal controller reminded him she wouldn't get through customs.)  But she was adorable...she would look right at you and she was gentle and very loving.  Although we heard different from the Australians, the contact we had was in a controlled area and it was fun.  This little Tilly didn't want to leave my husband's arms...I think it was love.  Haha!

You'd think we'd have ended there with zoos...after all, we'd been to three already on our trip...nah...we had ONE more to go to...the Australian Zoo, home of the crocodile hunter!  And this is where I got to pet animals I never DREAMED I'd get to pet...like this Bengal Tiger...and yes, it's real.    Ever hear that expression "Eye of the Tiger"?  Well, I got to see it and experience it.  The reason I could get so close and pet the tiger (I even held it's tail), was there was a zebra off in the distance and well, as nature takes it, Tigers love Zebras...yum...(Yuk!)  

I also got to pet...

a Kangaroo!  (Oh, they are so soft!)

...and I got as close as I could to an emu.  Everyone told me I was crazy...like as if that would stop me...haha!

I've fed giraffes!  (Same place Kate and Wills did...isn't that cool?  But we did it first!)

I once petted a cow in Ecuador...well, actually I fed him carrots...and he was such a piggy!

My husband's a big animal lover too, as you can see, pets and their people do start to look alike.  This was my Shar-pei named Carmella.

While in Australia, Ken stopped to pet a cow.  To his surprise, the cow WANTED to be petted, and petted and petted!

No matter where we go, the animals flock!  (Get it...flock?)

No, we really weren't pointing to penguins, it's a fake photo (the only one I have), but we did see them on Philip Island in southern Australia for their nightly Penguin Parade (google that...it's so cool).  We were forbidden to take photos as they are the smallest penguins there are, about the height of a Barbie doll.  Very unique...but...I did get pics of penguins at the Taronga Zoo...swimming, and at the Melbourne Aquarium walking around on snow and ice...pretty cool animal!

When we were in Australia at the Taronga Zoo (yes, that is the real background, isn't that a great shot?), Ken got to hold this gigantic bird.  The handler told us its eyesight was so good, it could see a rodent all the way over at the Opera House if it was there.  Simply amazing!

In New York City, we took a horse and buggy ride around Central Park.  I'm not much of a horse lover, but this one was nice...I think he really new how to pose!

At the Australian Zoo, we got to pet the oldest living tortoise.  Wow, are they ever unique, when you touch them, they feel you, even on their hard shell.  (Needless to say, we love zoos while vacationing, but the best ever was the Australian Zoo, by a long shot, and trust me, we've been to a lot of zoos.)

This was one of my favorite animals of all times, it's called an Echidna.  We got to pet it (in one direction only), and feed it a mixture of raw hamburger meat with fillers.  It's little tongue tickled my hand, I giggled like crazy.

Okay, one last photo...taken close to home at the zoo in Tampa called the Lowrey Park Zoo.  

For those who know my family, know who this one looks like...hahahaha...

I'm so bad...accurate, but bad...haha.

Hope you enjoyed my journey of zoos I've been to.  I just had to paint a Koala...very unique and soft and fuzzy, but quite heavy, far heavier than I ever dreamed they'd be.  Oh, by the way, at the Australian Zoo, we had free reign to the hospital Steve Irwin designed to see all the hurt Koalas...some were just coming out of surgery and were zonked out...they get his by cars all the time.  So sad.

I highly recommend if you ever get to Australia, don't leave without going to the Australian Zoo.  Even if you're not an animal lover, the place is amazing.  And go all out...get the biggest "Grand Adventure" like we did so you get insider access to pet animals only others can watch you do, get driven around in a golf cart so there's no long walks (trust me, it's the size of a good sized city), you get your own tour guide, and best part, they give you a photographer for the day and they print out some photos for you to take home immediately and the rest are put on a disc...and they even feed you all day, it's so worth it.  Pricey, but it's one of those once in a lifetime experiences.  I hope you get to go sometime.  

To return to my website, click below:

www.kathleenevekelly.com

But...if you wish to know what colors and brushes I used, read on!

The colors I used for "Tilly" are:

Permalba White and Permalba Black

Indianthrone Blue

Burnt Sienna

Cadmium Yellow Light

Vermillion

Red Rose

The brushes I used to paint Tilly are:

3/8th Angular Shader

#4 Filbert Bristle (it was ratty)

5/0 Round (small)

#2 Round

Liner

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed painting this and long to paint it again.  Larger though...and as a landscape style canvas.  I think it makes such a difference when you like what you're painting.  

See you tomorrow!