Written by When it comes to landmarks, I don’t really have a favorite. Since I’m currently on holiday, my favorite landmarks become whatever is around me. Right now, I’m typing this while looking at palm trees, but earlier this afternoon I was looking at a really delicious blackberry mojito. It’s not large enough to qualify as a landmark visually, but the flavor was memorable enough to qualify emotionally so that’s were we landed today. It was amazing! Perhaps the drink was perfectly ordinary in some ways, but when served with a view of the ocean and the sound of crashing waves it rises up to a new level. The weather has been a bit cloudy while we’ve been here, so there’s been a haze that makes it difficult to see the ocean properly. Just as we were finishing this little drink, the sun made an appearance, bringing with it blue skies and the view went from lovely to amazingly perfect. All of this happened just as we were finishing this little drink, so it’s now part of that memory.
As I mentioned before, we’re just doing things as they happen on this trip. Yesterday, we had a blast doing one of the things I always loved to do as a kid. Going on a field trip! As it turns out, we’re just 20 minutes away from Da Vinci Paint Co., which are the same paints that I’ve been using for the last several posts! Marcello was kind enough to meet with us and give us a tour, showing us how the paints are made. I’ve been loving these paints, which have a vibrant and consistent quality to them (they also have a special rewetting agent that works as well as honey, better if you want to lift color a bit on the paper), so it was so cool to see a bit behind the scenes. The amount of care and control that goes into these paints is astounding and, at the end of the process, each tube is hand-poured. No large factory floor with robots. Just a small group of passionate people who really want to make something perfectly fantastic. My inner child was giddy seeing all of this happen and the adult in me had a brand new appreciation for these fabulous artist quality paints.
I love little trips like this one. The kind where you don’t do all the things that a tourist might, but all the things that are specific and wonderful to you! That said, I will be doing both tomorrow as we head to the San Diego Zoo! I’ve never been, so I’m excited to see it, and yeah, my inner child is pretty much in charge of the itinerary this trip. I’m simply in charge of ordering drinks to celebrate. I love seeing new sights, making new memories and finding new things. It’s wonderful thinking that there are so many things still out there waiting to become my new favorite. It’s an interesting journey going through these prompts. The answers are not always what I’d expect to see from myself and others. Sometimes, it seems like the thing you choose has to be some monumental object of great importance. For me, it’s just the current shiny thing that is glowing brightest at that moment of my journey. Today, in lieu of sun to flicker across palm trees, even an unassuming blackberry mojito could fill the function of my favorite landmark.
Join Us For The August Art Challenge & Paint Your Favorite Things
Click Here To Learn More!
About the DoodlewashDa Vinci Paint Co.: Da Vinci Yellow Leaf Green, Perylene Maroon, Quinacridone Red Rose Deep, Ultramarine Violet, Cobalt Blue, and Payne’s Gray. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with sepia ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. |
 |
|
Oh yum! Looks so refreshing, Charlie!
Thanks so much, Susan! 😃💕 It was delish!!
Enjoy!!
Thanks so much, Jodi! 😃💕
Oh Charlie!!! How wonderfully fun to hear of your field trip today. Gosh how I envy you that visit!! The sun will come out tomorrow and you will love everything about that zoo – guaranteed!!! So excited for you! Have fun and take one picture just for me – I miss California!
Thanks so much, Von!! 😃💕 It was such a fun zoo visit and yes, the weather was perfect!! hehe… for you… I dedicate a picture of a meerkat! lol… I didn’t take many photos there, as I was too distracted just looking at the animals. The meerkats, however, always pose, so you have to take a few shots.
Sounds and looks delicious! Have fun at the zoo 🙂
Thanks so much, Nicole! 😃💕
I read the title of this post on my email, was wondering what place you’d chosen, and burst out laughing when I saw it was a mojito! Landmark, indeed. But what a gorgeous drink you painted. And what a neat adventure you had at the Da Vinci Paint Co. – I’m a bit jealous. You’ll have a wonderful time at the San Diego Zoo tomorrow.
My favorite landmark is the Statue of Liberty. My family would have seen her when they came to the United States in the early 1900’s. I turn to mush when I think of this.
Thanks, Sharon! 😃💕 Yeah… my responses to prompts are often not very literal! hehe… but what a wonderful landmark to love and beautiful story to go with it! I think if I had to chose, mine would be the Eiffel Tower, but I was in SoCal this time and not Paris.
Have a wonderful trip to the zoo. Your landmark looks delish.😊
hehe… Thanks, Mary!! 😃💕 My landmark was soooo tasty! A phrase that makes one sound perfectly crazy. lol
Nice looking MOJITO. It’s a wonderful landmark. Glad you got to go to see how the paints are made. That had to be a great field trip. Have fun and enjoy your vacation.
Thanks so much, June! 😃💕 It was amazing!! I love learning how things are made. And of course… I got a little paint for a souvenir that I’ll be using in the coming weeks!
Looking forward to receiving the DaVinci paints I won during watercolor month. It was so nice of them to be a sponsor. Glad you are getting to try them too…..a great souvenier. 😊
Cheers to a vacation!! 🌴🌊🍹 Enjoy the zoo – it is a fun one! Hope you take your paints along and stop to paint an animal! 🦍
Thanks so much, Jill! 😃💕 Yeah, I can’t ever get even 30 minutes of dedicated sketching time on these trips, without being rude to my fellow travelers. Guess one day I’ll have to take an artist tour!
What a fantastic field trip for you to go on. It must have been fascinating to see the process. Have a wonderful time on your vacation and I hope there are many more delicious cocktails ahead.
PS Thank you so much for the paper. I was excited to open the parcel and can’t wait to try it out once I have a deserving project in mind. I was thrilled to win a competition. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Laura! My trip was wonderful! 😃💕 And yay!! So thrilled you received the paper. You’re going to love it!! Just go for it!! hehe
Hi lie hope you are enjoying the trip n coloureful majito . And so the paint making . Now u are feeling fresh.good luck to u.takecare.
Thanks, Snehlata! 😃💕 It was a wonderful trip and truly tasty mojito! hehe
I bet that was an interesting place to see! Nice cocktail too.
Thanks, Tom! 😃💕 It was such a cool field trip. I really loved it!
Sounds fun… near home home home — and Mitchell’s home was up the road.
Yeah, it’s a beautiful part of the world. I could definitely live there. 😃💕
I just received the davinci paint sampler yesterday, 24 colors! Thank you so much, can’t wait to try them out.
Yay! Awesome! So happy to hear it Janet! 😃💕 And you’re going to love them… I used just that sampler to make around 18 of my paintings this month. It’s amazing paint!! Love it!!
Charlie, this sounds like the perfect trip to me: colourful and delicious drinks, visit to a few landmarks but most especially, that tour of the Da Vinci factory. Enjoy the rest of your holiday!
Aww thanks, Louise! 😃💕 Yeah, I thought so too… it was the best kind of vacation for a doodler like me! So fun!
Ooh, that tour sounds kinda awesome! HOW did you not just start putting half pans in your pockets?? LOLOL It’s as good as taking kids to the Hershey’s factory! Artists in the paint factory should be the start of some hilarious joke. Have a wonderful time in the Zoo, maybe you’ll meet a parrot or two.
Thanks so much, Jennifer!! 😃💕 Yeah, it was crazy to see every single color available! Most stores carry a subset. I wanted them all! I almost broke out into song like that horrible little girl, Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory singing, “I want the world… I want the WHOLE world!!!…”
I would have been exactly the SAME. Overwhelming to be in the artist candy store. :o)
OMG! A blackberry Mojito, now I have to find a place in Berlin that will serve me one of These 😛
You DO, Phil!! They are sooooo good! 😃💕They had other mulled flavors, but this one had the prettiest color, which, of course, is also important! Lol
Your field trip sounds like so much fun and brought to mind school field trips with all their new adventures and the excitement of new discoveries.
Yeah, it was totally amazing! 😃💕 I’m still like a little kid when it comes to field trips. Every museum, every new place, I turn into that kid again, wanting to learn about everything in sight!
It cracks me up that a mojito is your landmark. Like, snorted out loud at that.
Also, I didn’t realize Platinum Carbon made a sepia ink until this. very. minute.
It may also be in my Amazon cart, thankyouverymuch.
Just reading this(being a doodlewash newbie) beautiful color in the landmark drink..I too love field trips and what an interesting one to go to the paint factory…I just got the DaVinci pan set and I have to say they are really wonderful,I love how they respond.
Thanks, Pamela! 😃💕 And yay to getting Da Vinci! I know you’ll love them!