“Sunset Millie” My first time-lapse

Watching time-lapse videos is always fun; it makes everything look easy. Haha! This was my first and I found it a bit distracting as it felt like someone was always looking over my shoulder. I kept telling myself “if you don’t like it, you don’t have to share it”. Of course, once the piece was complete and I played it back for myself, I was quite chuffed. The cool thing about time-lapse is that it makes all of your movements appear so confident.

I do love how the layering process evolves in the video, as I skip around the kangaroo depending on how dry or wet the paper/paint is when I want to be working on it. This may have been my first, but it certainly won’t be my last.

As for my subject - this young lady has a full pouch and I’m looking forward to meeting her little joey in a few month’s time when he/she starts poking his head out to have a look around. It was a little after 4pm; she had come out of the bush and simply curled up in the grass to relax in the gentle warmth of the setting sun on this cool autumn day while we watched her and the rest of the mob from our veranda. We moved to this picturesque farm a little over six months ago, and this was the first time one of the kangaroos laid down in front of us. She looked so content and peaceful.

Over the same weekend that I began working on this painting, Paul and I made our first visit to the Cobargo Wildlife Sanctuary. Sarah and Gary have been rehabilitating and caring for young joeys for release into the wild for many years now. That morning they had lost one of their most beloved roos, so in her honour, I’ve named this portrait “Sunset Millie”.