Year of Wildlife - Week 18: KOALA 🐨
What do you mean I'm not a bear?! I have all the KOALAfications!
✨1st attempt in dipping my pinky toe (not the full foot 😝) into abstract art with only using Yellow, Magenta, Blue & White as the paint colors to practice color mixing. I also worked on putting more faith into the brushes used to create the image vs controlling each brush stroke. ✨
🎨 Acrylic Painting + Palette Knife on 8x10 canvas
✨ Swipe for the inspiration
ALL 🐨 FACTS:
1. Koalas are a national symbol of Australia's unique wildlife.
2. While they may be referred to as "koala bears", they are actually NOT bears, they are marsupials!
3. They have 5 digits on their front paws, 2 of which are opposed like thumbs.
4. They have a very strong cartilage on the end of their spine allowing them to perch high in eucalyptus trees making them a comfortable home.
5. While eucalyptus trees are poisonous to most, Koalas have a special fiber digesting organ (caecum) that detoxifies the toxins found in the leaves.
6. While tasty, these leaves are so low in nutrient that koalas need a lot of leep to conserve energy - up to 22 hours!
7. Baby Koalas are called "Joeys" & stay in Mom's pouch after being born for up to 7 months drinking only milk.
8. Koala chlamydia is not the same strain that affects humans - usually manifests when in stressful situations, causing blindness & reproductive tract infections.
9. Their fur which is more like coarse wool, was highly sought after in the late 19th & 20th centuries causing a steep decline in their population.
10. Many koala populations are being forced out of their habitats due to deforestation - more time on the ground means being more vulnerable to cars, dogs, & stress-induced diseases than being safe high in the trees.
- Subject Matter: Wildlife
- Created: May 2021
- Collections: Wildlife