Written by For our prompt of “Carving” today, I made a sketch of a kitten discovering a Halloween pumpkin carved to look like a cat. I love seeing all of the various Halloween decorations that appear this time of year. One of my neighbors has a large spider web that stretches down the side of the house along with a giant snake that appears to be burrowing through the grass. At night, there’s also a ghost that glows in different colors and appears to float in the air. Nothing is particularly scary, and it reminds me of when I was a little kid. Any real scares came from the stories we would make up and tell each other, and even those would simply end with silly nervous giggles. As an adult, I adore seeing all of the creativity that people express through decorating each season. Even though Philippe and I don’t really decorate much, we did get some new cute ghost candle holders this past weekend, which immediately filled me with joy!
One of my favorite decorations that I see this time of year is actually quite natural. There’s a tree in the cemetery next to our house and it turns an impossibly red-orange color for just a few weeks out of the year. It’s currently blazing outside my window as I type this and it’s so incredibly beautiful. All of the other trees surrounding it are mostly green with bits of yellow, so it’s quite the scene-stealer. As the evening sun hits it, the glow becomes more intense and it looks like some sort of color filter you might see applied to a photo instead of something that could actually exist in real life. That makes it seem all the more magical and so it’s definitely my favorite tree of the season. However, when that blustery autumn wind picks up, there’s always that one day where every leaf seems to fall overnight leaving bare branches, but also a beautiful blanket of leaves in its wake.
We left our city to visit the country this past weekend, and visited many little shops. But, beyond the ghost candle holders, we just got a glass votive holder with a fake LED candle inside. It has etched trees on the side, so I thought it would be something we could leave up throughout the winter as well. These past couple of days were way more wintry than fall as the temperatures suddenly dropped below freezing. Our pup Elliott doesn’t understand why we aren’t going outside to play all of the time. Thankfully, he’s perfectly obsessed with a red laser light we bought so he gets plenty of exercise when it gets dark as well. He has a red glow color so it’s like watching two unidentified objects dancing around in the night, which seems to be quite appropriate for the Halloween season. I’ll be happier when the cold turns back into a chill later this week and we can walk more and see the remaining colorful leaves before they’re all gone. Even though it’s a short period of time each year, it’s always an incredible experience to enjoy those extraordinary autumn curiosities.
My NEW “One Little Ghost” Book is Out – Perfect Gift For Halloween!
About the DoodlewashSketching Stuff Coloring Set – Da Vinci Watercolors: Charlie O’Blue, Yellow Ochre, Hansa Yellow Medium, Benzimida Orange, Leaf Green, Quinacridone Red, Terra Cotta, and Ultramarine (Green Shade). ZIG Cartoonist Mangaka Pen with black ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? Send me a note and I’ll add it to my shop! |
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Fabulous 😊
Thanks so much, Brenda! 😃💕
Oh my gosh that is the cutest ever Charlie – love it 🙂
Thanks so much, Zoie!! 😃💕
Between the record-breaking high temps (low to high 80’s) we’ve been having and all the smoke in the air from forest fires, our trees aren’t turning the usual brilliant colors but going straight to dull, dead leaves. I usually enjoy the wind, but have to avoid it due to the smoke. It makes me sad that we’re missing out on Autumn!
Oh no! Yeah, I honestly wasn’t sure what autumn would look like here this year. The one red tree is back, but most everything around it is a dull green. They were actually worried about tourism in New England this year because of a duller season.
Charlie the look on the cat’s face is priceless!!!
Thanks so much, Linda! 😃💕 Glad ya enjoyed this one!
You do the best and sweetest cats, Charlie! Those beautiful Fall leaves are one of the things I miss down here in FL. Ole hurricane Ian did a job on most of the trees in our neighborhood (nothing more serious thankfully) high winds ripping the leaves from the branches and I’m still finding a lot of leaves floating to the ground. Every once in awhile I find a bright red or yellow one among the brown ones and hose colorful leaves always make me smile.
Thanks so much, Mary! 😃💕 I’m glad you’re managing to find a few colorful leaves in the midst of everything. They do bring those smiles!!
Hi Charlie, great little kitty and a fine carving job on the pumpkin too. And I enjoyed your description of the tree in the cemetery. We have a red maple across the street which is ablaze for a few days, with so many shades of purple, red and orange it’s almost blinding! I’ve been taking photos for the past 10 years and each edition is a bit different, but always glorious. This is truly my favorite season!
Thanks so much, Robert! 😃💕 Aww that’s awesome that you’ve been capturing that tree each year. It is such a magical time… in spite of everything in the rest of the world… those trees are full of colorful hope!
Great pumpkin doodle, Charlie. There’s a tree at the end of our road which has gorgeous red/orange leaves at the moment.
Thanks so much, Gary! 😃💕 Yay! I’m glad you have one of those red/orange wonders. They are so beautiful!!
Love it!!
Thanks so much, Varsha! 😃💕
Such an adorable painting, Charlie! I love the changing colors of the leaves as well!
Thanks so much, April! 😃💕 Yep… this is definitely my most favorite time of year!
Hello hello Charlie,
The Doodlewash is, as usual, super cute. You must’ve been a cat in your past life – you capture their expressions so well! And I so envy you the delights of autumn. Where I am is green and very wet right now but the butterflies and dragonflies are beginning to appear. And I’m finally going home!!! I’ve still gotta share images with you – I haven’t forgotten! – and you’ll see them soon.
Much love to you,
Mugdha
Thanks so much, Mugdha! 😃💕 Your world there seems just as magical… though that’s awesome that you’re finally going home!! Yay!! I can’t wait to see the photos! Much love to you my friend! ❤️
You had me at “cemetery near the house.”
Awww I’m glad you enjoyed this one, Laura! 😃💕 Yeah, it’s kinda of cool to live next to a cemetery during Halloween month. hehe… at least my Inner Child thinks so!
Charlie, you got me with “the cemetery next door.” 😂😂😂 I hope are keeping warm!
Thanks so much, mi amiga! 😃💕 It was warm here this weekend, but now it’s soooo cold… hehe… hope you’re doing well! Much love! ❤️
Nice sketch of Kitty with my Jack O’Lantern. I really like the look you captured in the kittens eyes. Very whimisical.
Thanks so much, Shawn! 😃💕 Happy you enjoyed this one!!