Canada Goose in Watercolour

A while back my son and I went down to our local river for our Covid exercise period. He pushed me in my wheelchair along the tow path for a little way and then went off to have a walk while I sat and painted. There were loads of narrowboats waiting to get through the lock and one was just moored up a bit further down. It was wonderful because the guy inside was playing this gentle 1970’s folk/rock music. Normally I prefer silence and the sound of the river but somehow his choice of music felt just perfect for moment.

I’m afraid I didn’t take any process photos and I didn’t quite finish by the time we were ready to go home either. But I got the basic colours and shapes blocked in.

Here’s what it looked like when I got home…

And here is a photo of the goose in question…

He was with his lady by the looks of things and the pair of them were hanging out with a pair of swans who were quite definitely courting. I know swans are regarded as more beautiful but I just loved the look of the geese (despite their tendancy to chase me when I was young!)

A few days later I painted in all of the details and repainted his eye which looked wrong to me. Here’s the finished painting…

He was a very handsome chap!