In Southern Ontario there is no lack of those majestic Canada geese, especially near the lake. At the end of summer they can be heard honking away as they make their way south for the winter.

They migrate to Mexico and the southern United States, then head back up to Canada in the spring. But there was a time when some would stay through the winter because of people feeding them. This led to some geese getting stuck out on the iced lake and needing to be rescued. So for years now it's been illegal to feed them.

A member of an art forum I visit mentioned that he used a gel pen for some of his pen sketches so I gave it a try. This small landscape of a waterfall was made with a Sharpie gel pen, nib size .05 nib.

I wouldn't recommend gel pens for finished pen art because they don't use archival ink, and the point sizes they come in are limited, but for quick sketches they are great. I really enjoy sketching with the gel pen

I have been practicing drawing directly with a pen, no pencil or eraser used, and to tell you the truth, I'm actually surprised I can draw without using my eraser. It's not as accurate but maybe with practice I will get better and feel more at ease  not having an eraser standing by to fix my mistakes.

This pen sketch was drawn with a Micron pen, size .05 nib. Micron drawing pens are my favorite, they replaced the technical pens I used to make my pen and ink artwork with.

This is a sold painting, it's a small 5x7 inch acrylic painted on canvas board. It's not of any particular place, I made it up as I went along, of course with the inspiration of nature. 
 
Many people love the fall season because of the spectacular color of the leaves, but I'm not one of them. To me autumn looks messy and sad once all the leaves have fallen off the trees and I look forward to seeing summer again.

If you are not using a watercolor block you more than likely need some way of securing your
watercolor paper so that it doesn't buckle when wet. Let me share with you how I make"backing boards" out of the cardboard backing of used up art pads.

It's really simple, cut a piece of vinyl kitchen cupboard lining about the size that's around 1 1/2 inches larger than the cardboard backing on all sides. Lay the lining down flat, peel away the paper backing on the vinyl sheet and center the cardboard on it.

Overlap the protruding edges neatly over the back of the cardboard and smooth out. Turn the cardboard over and smooth out to get rid of any air bubbles, and that's it.

Watercolor paint cleans up easily from the vinyl lining and masking tape comes off easy too. I have several of these backing boards, one for small paintings and one for larger watercolors.