Written by Though I’m quite sure the gardener who’s growing these carrots wouldn’t appreciate this little visitor, I felt like sketching a bunny visiting a garden today. I imagined the bunny perfectly mesmerized by the amazing view of food to be found there. While I truly love gardens full of flowers, as a kid I was most fascinated by my grandmother’s vegetable garden. When you’re a city kid, you often think that vegetables only come from the supermarket. To see all of those fresh vegetables and berries growing right out of the ground instead was amazing. I loved walking down the rows and rows of vegetables. The entire garden was encased in a fence and I’m quite sure it was a modest in size, but at my very young age and therefore very small size, it seemed gigantic. It was filled with opportunities for endless exploration and I took every moment I could to do just that. Though I loved carrots, for some reason the strawberries always excited me most. Perhaps because I knew they would be part of a strawberry shortcake at some point and so they achieved a special prominence in my heart. Whatever the reasons, the experience inspired a life-long joy of nature that’s followed me all the way into adulthood.
Yet, I should be clear that I was still very much that city boy only vacationing with nature. I could handle a few spiders in the barn, but a few dozen sent me running in the opposite direction eliciting a very unmasculine scream in the process. Like all little boys I thought poop was funny, if not for the sound of the word alone, but stepping in some made me cringe and want to go home and shower immediately. But, I could spend the entire day climbing trees and staring at caterpillars. And I actually had an entire day back then to dedicate to doing so. I’ve not had a full day to do any one thing in quite some time. Well, in the case of the farm, it was the time between dinner, also known as lunch, and supper. It was six hours of summer that I could dedicate to exploring anything I wanted to explore. And though I would always end up in a forest of trees, I loved starting by exploring the garden. I’d been trained, of course, to simply look, but not touch. Though it took every bit of willpower I had to avoid snapping off a strawberry and eating it.
I miss those days because these days, I’m mostly in the city and rarely if ever get to venture out to a farm. There were days long ago when I used to ride horses for an entire afternoon and then sit perfectly still on them to walk the sun set. Now, I’m usually just trying to meet deadlines by working indoors on a computer. Philippe and I experienced car problems with our one and only car this week and it’s now in the shop until Friday. Rather than order up a rental car, we did the unthinkable. We carved out a bit of extra time and walked to work instead. Philippe’s journey is more impressive at 3.5 miles, while mine is only 2 miles. I had to wonder why I didn’t choose to take this path each and every day. Then I realized it was simply a question of time. Those 21 extra minutes were precious and I needed them in order to complete everything I had to get done that day. Yet, I was still able to complete everything I wanted to get done today. That’s the funny thing about time. We think we need more of it than we actually do. When, in reality, we’ll take whatever time we’re given to complete the task. Most of the “extra time” is spent simply being distracted by various things that catch my interest, like a bunny in a garden.
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About the DoodlewashDa Vinci Paint Co.: Yellow Ochre, Leaf Green, Quinacridone Red, Cobalt Turquoise, Opus (vivid Pink), Benzimida Orange, Terra Cotta, and Cobalt Blue. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with black ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? Send me a note with a link to this post, and I’ll add it to my shop! |
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Your bunny is cute! I don’t care what the farmer says, lol. I’m impressed with your walk. It’s even possible that a daily walk like that could make you more productive, allowing you to use your time to better effect. Of course, once the weather gets too hot, or turns colder again, there are other reasons to drive.
Thanks, Sandra! 😃💕Yeah, I impressed myself with my walk. And so true! I did it again today and was thinking… yep… this working now and only now. The moment it gets hotter, I’m out! Showing up to work in a pool of sweat is not a good start to the day. 😉 hehe
I love bunnies, when I first started back to watercolor painting I spent a year mostly painting bunnies, wonderful learning experience. I haven’t found our garden bunnies to be very destructive. They seem to prefer the tops to carrots and occasionally pull them up to eat, but then they usually need thinned anyway. Good memories.Thanks
That’s awesome to hear! 😃💕I’m glad to know bunnies are a bit considerate. And so cool that you spent a year mostly painting bunnies. What a fabulous learning experience. I would love to do that but my attention span fails me. I figure it will just take me much longer to get better at painting them and I’m cool with that.
When I started I’d never thought about the fact that bunnies eyes are on the sides of their heads not forward like Bugs Bunny, the artist ( a bunny breeder) that encouraged me to do that also informed me about that. I had to unlearn 10 years of Decorative cartoon like painting to do realism or at least my impression of it.
Yeah, that’s the funny thing about our brains. They’re filled with years, or decades, of knowledge that may or may not be true. I like to think I paint a bit “brainless”… hehe… trusting my eyes over anything else. 😉
Adorable garden rabbit. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all walked more often? I don’t think parking at the furthest corner of the grocery store parking lot and walking to the door counts. Sigh. So much to do and too few hours in the day.
Thanks so much, Mary! 😃💕Yeah, truly, it’s mostly just a time issue… we always feel like we don’t have enough of it these days! But I say walking from the furthest corner of grocery store parking is a wonderful first step!
Such a cute bunny! Love it!
Thanks so much! 😃💕 So thrilled you liked this one!
What an adorable little bunny 🐰I love them 💕 You reminded me of my grandparents garden too…I grew up with them and I loved spending my time and playing in the garden. And seeing that little seeds germinate and transform in beautiful plants with veggies or fruits was something incredible at that age. Honestly is incredible also now 😊 So much satisfaction 😊 I wish I could have a garden ☺️ I would love to be able to walk too to work but beside the fact that is more than 6 miles is also too hot, 29-30 degrees Celsius morning and evening ☺️ But weekends definitely we’re out and about enjoying the nature 😊
Thanks so much! 😃💕So thrilled this brought back memories of your grandparents garden as well! Yes… it’s still really incredible isn’t it? And yep… I would go 6 miles… for that it would definitely be an Uber! lol
Love those carrots and bunny!
And I realize I’m lagging behind a bit, but I truly look forward to learning more about your creative approach and process in creating your watercolor sketches. I admire so many styles and approaches to creative watercolor art that I sometimes have a hard time settling on how I want to proceed… which sometimes leads to quite a scatterbrained set of little pieces of art. Maybe my problem is one of artistic bunny trails! 😂
Have a great evening.
Thanks, Karen! 😃💕 hehe… you and me both! It’s easy to get lost in all of the approaches to watercolor. I couldn’t decide so I just pulled bits of all them into my approach. But, as to how to proceed, that bit is the simplest. Whatever makes you happiest is always the right answer no matter what! 😉
I love that bunny! I watched him for a while, and I declare, I think I saw him breathing.
As for that walk, I’m gasping for breath just thinking of it. I have promised myself I will
go back to the pool (at the gym) beginning Thursday, and will swim 3 days a week from
this point forward. I bet you didn’t think a cuddly bunny and a walk to work would be
such a good influence on your fans. Thank you again!!
Thanks, Sarah! 😃💕 Oh my gosh, once Philippe make my barn owl turn and move in a 3D program… it was wild! And fun, I watched the video like 20 times. lol And as for fitness, I’m certainly no guru there… though I was rather good at yoga once in the day. These days, I just think walking farther than you think you should can take you farther than you think it should. 😉
I befriended a bunny last summer. Our neighbors bunny down the street got loose. He loved to hide in our bushes. I started leaving him a plate of food. Then I started sitting out there while he ate. Day by day I moved the plate closer to me, eventually having him climbing on my legs eating. I videoed him the last day I saw him. It was so cute. I named him Bob. Eventually the neighbors caught him and gave him away. 🙁 For a few short days, Bob brought a lot of happiness. He loved strawberries too! Your bunny is so sweet and brought Bob memories back to me. Thank you!
AwwI I love hearing about your bunny friend, Lori! 😃💕 So happy this brought back memories of Bob… Bob sounds awesome!
This is really a cute little scene. Love the way you sketched the carrots. “Look and don’t touch” or should I say don’t eat?Reminds me of my dad’s garden and the time my sister and I, pulled up, hosed off and ate all the baby carrots. By the time dad got home we had our little red wagan filled with just the carrot tops. He was not happy and punished up by making us spend the evening with the baby sitter from h@#…I still remember her name….Mrs. Schultz!!! 😲
Thanks, June! 😃💕 To me, horrible Mrs. Schultz sounds like a small prize to pay for such a fun adventure! But, then again, I’m a touch rebellious. What a great story!
Those carrots are not going to last long, I think. (K)
Nope… going to be gone shortly I would assume! 😉 hehe
Stop and smell the roses!! Time is interesting. It is both finite and infinite. It moves in only one direction and once past, you can never get it back, except you can in your memories. Schrodinger’s cat really lives outside of time between dead and alive. And everything I say or have said, may or may not be true or become a lie or truth over time. I love this shit! In another life I am a theoretical physicist. I study time and time travel. And my personal favorite, time is an artificial construct, invented to tame the masses so that we all feel it’s imperative that we get to work on time, and put in our hours. If you can get yourself into that buzzy headed state known as Flow, you can experience the absence of time for yourself!
I very much enjoyed your comment, Lisa. Schrodinger’s cat caught my eye, so I had to read the whole thing. I love thinking about these things, too.
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haha!! So true, Lisa! 😃💕 I think that buzzy head state is what all artists hope to achieve. And in another life, I’m quite sure I’ve figured out how to succeed at what I really love to do. In this one, I’m still flailing about, but having a glorious time in the process! At least once a week I experience true Flow, so I feel like I’m doing pretty good so far! 😉
Adorable bunny! We have wild bunnies in our suburban (actually suburban bordering on wild space) backyard! Many of our neighbors have special fencing to keep the rabbits out, but we enjoy watching them ruin our lawn. It’s always a thrill to see the very young ones.
Thanks, Sharon! 😃💕 Adore that you love watching bunnies ruin your lawn! Spoken like a true naturist! hehe That’s so fun!
Nice doodlewash…Yes, plucking fresh strawberries and eating it, is a temptation. I have grown a few vegetables and flower in my balcony garden. Apart from eating my home grown vegetables I have also painted them in my sketchbook and those paintings have turned out better.
Thanks, Anita! 😃💕 Nothing like fresh vegetables. And so true… awesome to paint them from life. A totally different perspective. 😉
great idea to walk! And Awesome doodlewash!
Thanks so much, Jodi! 😃💕 hehe.. yeah, it was only a 1.5 miles, but it felt like a marathon! lol
love the bunny!!! Looks like the one in our back yard 🙂
Thanks so much, Gaeyle! 😃💕 hehe… bunnies are the best! Love it when they visit!