Another watercolour landscape painting. This one has a dirt path cutting through large evergreen trees. I'm practicing painting loosely and not focusing on details.

 
This small landscape painting isn't of any particular place, I just kind of made it up as I went along. Originally I painted a 7 x 5 inch in acrylic some years ago, and decided to paint a watercolour version to see how it would come out, and this is the result.

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.

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.

Here is a small 5 x 7 inch watercolor of a Blue Jay. Bluejays hang around all year round in southern Ontario, although I don't recall seeing one in winter. They are loud, at times they don't even sound like birds, I thought the noise I was hearing was of a rusty clothes line wheel!

But what they lack in musical talent they make up in beauty, these large birds are stunning to look at. It is no wonder they are often the subject of many wildlife artists and other nature painters.