Red Starkrimson Pears Watercolor Illustration
By Charlie

A Tale Of Two Blushing Pears

Written by Charlie O'Shields

When met with our prompt of “Fruit” today, I knew exactly what I was going to sketch. Sitting on our dining room table is a little blue carton with two Starkrimson pears. These are delicious crimson pears that show up at the end of summer and announce the beginning of autumn. They’re sweet and very juicy with a wonderfully smooth texture that makes them one of my favorite fruits. I adore pears, but have a penchant for the extra special varieties, which is a running joke that Philippe and I have. Once, a couple of years ago, Trader Joe’s was selling a 5-pack of Harry & David pears that cost almost 6 dollars. I squealed with delight upon seeing them, and Philippe grudgingly allowed me to put them in our shopping bag. Upon trying them, however, he scrunched up his nose and said they were good, but certainly not worth the “exorbitant” price. Then when we were in Whole Foods this past weekend, I saw my prize pears. As ever, I didn’t even look at the price because I had already determined that they would be coming home with me. As I grabbed them, Philippe appeared out of nowhere as he’s prone to do, and asked me how much they cost. I replied, “hmmm… it looks like they’re on sale today and marked ‘priceless’.”

Actually, they were a bit more expensive than the pears in the bag, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. And then the most amazing thing happened. When we were checking out, I noticed that because I’m a happy Amazon Prime member, I got a discount! It was awesome, because the only thing discounted on this trip were the pears. I flashed the receipt in front of Philippe, who just shrugged and and smirked in that way that admits neither victory nor defeat. It’s equal parts irritating and frustratingly cute. I didn’t need validation at that point, however, since I was just too excited to sample the wondrous pears. When we tried them the next day, Philippe wholeheartedly agreed that they were far superior. Okay, he agreed they were better and I might have embellished a bit there. Either way, I felt vindicated, but then had to wonder if he would have felt the same without the discount. Only two are left and they sit on the table like a little trophy that’s almost too good to eat. That’s silly, of course, as they’ll be devoured shortly after I post this, but I simply had to sketch them before they disappeared.

I’ve already made plans to return and get more this weekend, but since we only have one car and the store is a bit farther away, I’ll have to wait and see if Philippe agrees. Yet, a couple with only one car, even when they live in the city, has already figured out quite a few tricks when it comes to getting along well. While Philippe is much more hot-tempered than I am, I figure my happy-go-lucky approach tends to balance things out. And even if a rare argument manages to occur, we’ve never once gone to sleep angry. One thing we can both agree on consistently is that life is short and only the little things really matter along with ensuring the big things are well cared for like health and financial stability. Everything else sorts itself out in time and isn’t worth worrying over. And even in the moments when we’re arguing over the value of fruit, I know I’m with the exact person that I’m meant to be with in this crazy life. And though we’ll continue to go on many adventures together and do lots of notably fun things, the reality of what makes everything work can be entirely summed up in a tale of two blushing pears.

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About the Doodlewash

Da Vinci Paint Co.: Yellow Ochre, Quinacridone Red, Cobalt Turquoise 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!
 Red Starkrimson Pears Watercolor Illustration Sketchbook Detail

Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world!

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31 thoughts on “A Tale Of Two Blushing Pears”

  2. Such a wonderful tale, and I love the imagery! I have the same thing with my husband and ‘figs’. Figs are such a short season and if I can get my hands on them – fresh – well, let’s just say we eat figs until they are coming out of our ears! I’m sure hubby would agree that it’s a good thing the season is short – HA! Will have to try and paint them the next time they are in the house (if I can manage before we devour them!)

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    1. hehe! Love that Mariam! 😃💕 Yeah, Philippe just remarked as we ate our last pears that they ripen too quickly! So we had to gobble them up right away! You should totally paint those figs! But I agree… I often end up working from my photos when it comes to food… food is meant to be devoured! lol

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  3. Great post Charlie and I’m glad that you got your pears! Your blue box makes me chuckle. I have been buying yummy little tomatoes from the farm stand and keeping those blue boxes. Blueberries and peaches have also come in those boxes I now have a stack of them in my studio as they are handy for putting under my wood panels when they are drying. There are usually watercolor paintings in various stages of completion as I mount them to the wood panels. It is quite a colorful state of creative madness. Who knew how useful those little blue boxes could be.

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    1. Thanks so much, Karen! 😃💕hehe! Yay to those little blue boxes! I think they’re awesome! I just had to sketch them! And yay to lovely watercolors in various stages of completion. I’m determined to try that one day… hehe… but these days I just keep right on sketching stuff. 😊

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  4. Love the story about the pears — we have grocery store discussions about apricots. They are always expensive here and are hard to come by so I buy them when I can without ever looking at price. That creates some serious eye rolls from my husband. Love your sketch of those wonderful pears.

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  7. I love pears too. But I’ve never had these. Since Joe does the shopping that might explain it. He is notoriously cheap in some areas. Fruit being one of them. Plus, he doesn’t eat much fruit, so he doesn’t get the attraction. Since we have to go to town tomorrow and Thursday, maybe I can get him to pick some up while I’m at the doctor.

    I painted pears this summer. They turned out nice and I didn’t have any models.😂😂

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    1. Yeah, I think Joe need to pick up some of the more exotic fruit! 😃💕 hehe… these are SO delicious, if he ever tried them he’d never care about the price. Okay…. that’s going a bit far as I’m quite sure if they weren’t on sale Philippe would stop me, but still! 😉

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  10. I love the little basket. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen red pears. ?? I don’t like to eat pears, gritty, so I don’t pay much attention to them. Bahahwa! I agree, most things aren’t worth arguing about. I guess that is why I’ve been married 29 yrs this month. 😉

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    1. Thanks, Lori! 😃💕 Yeah, these aren’t gritty at all, so that’s why I like them! And why I demand the pricey pears! But I can’t quite convince Philippe of that. Yay to 29 years!! That’s certainly a tribute to saying, “argue? screw it! Let’s just be frickin’ happy!” lol

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