Day 25 - World Watercolor Month Farm Life Pigs - Doodlewash
By Charlie

Day 25 – #WorldWatercolorMonth – Farm Life

Written by Charlie O'Shields

During the summers when I was a kid, I would often spend weeks at my grandmother’s farm. Though there was a lovely garden full of vegetables and acres full of hay bales, my favorite bit was always the many animals that she had there. There were primarily cows, goats, chickens, and pigs. The last of which I chose for today’s prompt, because I used to love the little pigs when they were born. I always thought they were so cute. They later, of course, grew insanely large and didn’t resemble their cute baby selves at all. I really can’t fault them as I think this happens to me virtually every winter. The goats and cows were there for the milk and the chickens, primarily for the eggs. Unfortunately, the role of the pigs was quite singular and meant ending up as food on someone’s plate. I never actually knew this the whole time I was growing up. When I asked my grandmother where Rosie, or some other little piglet I had helped named went, she simply told me they were with someone else now. Which wasn’t actually a lie at all. I only assumed this meant they were adopted by new loving parents and now had a wonderful new home. I was happy for them at the time.

Later, of course, I learned the truth about pigs, but it was so much later that the fact somehow still didn’t apply to the ones I’d actually met. They were forever in my mind living out a life on some new farm, enjoying their slop, basking in the mud, and falling asleep peacefully at some point when they were too old to enjoy it all properly anymore. The idea that any of those lovely farm pets were potential food never occurred to me until the one time I caught my grandmother wringing a chicken by the neck. This was a horrific experience and I refused to eat dinner that day, opting for a bowl of corn flakes instead. I realize now, that living on a farm meant making income and those animals were often part of that income. In whatever form they proved profitable. But for a kid, it’s just a playground and miniature zoo that I got to visit on those joyous summers away from home. I got pet, feed and milk goats! That latter of which they never let you do at a petting zoo, for good reason I’m sure. It was a perfectly magical time and I’m so thrilled that I got to experience it growing up.

These days, you’ll find me in the city, far away from farms, but those memories are among the most wonderful times in my life. Walking down gravel roads, through the red mud, and wandering down to a creek hidden amongst the trees. This was the area my grandmother always referred to as the timber. I miss those days wandering through the timber as hours passed without even knowing they had happened. My life can now often get so busy that it feels impossible to pause in that way and simply be amazed by the world around me. That’s why I’m so thankful for my sketching habit. It’s takes me back to those times when time stood still. A frozen moment that gets more attention than any other moment of the day. A bit of “me time” that happily becomes “we time” when I share whatever happened on paper that day along with the thoughts that leapt to mind.

If you actually read my full post of these rambles, thank you so much for joining me in this moment. I never thought that keeping a daily diary would be easier if you made it public, but that’s exactly what has happened here. And while I have nothing hide, I hope you enjoy what I share each day. I certainly enjoy sitting down to sketch stuff and paint, and reliving memories of those glorious moments during summer when I got to visit my grandmother, and experience a bit of that wondrous thing called farm life.

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About the Doodlewash

Da Vinci Paint Co.: Opus (Vivid Pink), Benzimida Orange, and Cobalt Turquoise. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with sepia 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!
 Day 25 - World Watercolor Month Farm Life Pigs - Doodlewash

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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33 thoughts on “Day 25 – #WorldWatercolorMonth – Farm Life”

  1. I always read your rambles to the end! They’re one of my relaxing moments of the day. You must have missed reading Charlotte’s Web or seeing the movie as a child – or perhaps you did and there was a disconnect. Sometimes we don’t want to know something. Love your pigs (and feeling guilty because pork is my favorite meat).

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  2. These pigs are adorable. The colors you used to mix the pinks and purples are great. It’s wonderful you got to spend time on the farm with your grandmother. Farming was hard work then, still is even with all the new air conditioned tractors, etc. But the rewards are worth it with all the good food they produce.

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    1. Thanks so much, June! 🙂 💕 Glad you liked these colors… totally playing with just 3 that I’ve never used alone before! And, I agree, farms are wonderful things in life that with all the packaged goods tend to be forgotten.

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  3. Such adorable piglets. Unfortunately, pigs have little value except to be companion to scrambled eggs or spiders, so when they’re on a farm, their habitation is temporary.

    What a wondrous childhood you had. I hope you’ll paint more of your childhood farm experiences.

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    1. Thanks so much, Sharon! 🙂 💕 hehe.. yeah… pigs always end up food first. And yes, you can always count on more paintings inspired by my childhood. Mostly because my inner child is the only way I’m able to paint each and every day. hehe 😉

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  4. Charlie 🐖 are really adorable and more over colours selected nicely.farm house
    Memories are valuable.that time will never
    Come again.u remind me , the same story
    But difference was no pig no money matter. Only enjoy your animal s.
    Love the story.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  5. I love reading your daily rambles in full, every day! Your experiences on the farm sound wonderful, and it’s sweet that you not only carry those memories, but that you share them with all of us. I love pigs of all sizes and do not eat them, although I do eat limited amounts of other meat. Just seeing a pink pig or two always makes me smile.

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  6. I read them all the way through. You never know when there might be a gem at the end that you would be sad to have missed. I grew up in a farmette. We had lots of pigs with babies that I loved too. But they were pretty squealy when I tried to pick them up. We also had a beef cow. Dad named him T-bone so we wouldn’t get too attached. Never fall in love with something you might eat some day!😂😂

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    1. Thanks, Lisa! 🙂 💕 hehe… yeah, sorry if sometimes you do actually have to wait until the end for a gem. My mind does tend to wander a bit! lol And “never fall in love with something you might eat some day” is definitely a gem in itself!! LOL

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    1. haha! That’s so alarmingly true! 🙂 💕 Yeah, so much of what we consider meat comes in plastic these days. We only got to our butcher for meat on the off chance we have it. Still old-fashioned and think meat should only be wrapped in paper. 😊

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  10. I love reading your ramblings. There is always something in them, that brings a memory to the surface for me. Today, it was our annual trips to my grandparents home in Upper Michigan. They had a home, but they also had a cabin, which was always referred to as “camp”. I never knew why, until I started thinking about it this morning. It probably was called that because the place did not have running water and it had an outhouse in the my early years. It wasn’t until years later, it was plumbed with water, but still no inside toilet. Oh the memories you have stirred! Keep rambling!

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    1. My favorite outcome to my ramblings is getting to read other people’s stories! Love your story! 🙂 💕 hehe… my grandmother on my dad’s side never had anything but an outhouse. Plumbing was not even a thing her entire life.

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  11. Such wonderful little pigs, Charlie! And, of course, the story that goes with them is great, as are all of your narrations. We all should “ramble” a bit more!

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    1. Thanks so much, Ellie! 🙂 💕 I’m so thrilled you enjoy my rambles. I do think we should all ramble a bit more. Sometimes, we choose our words far too carefully and end up saying nothing at all. 😉 I’m all for rambles!

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  12. Loving the suggested themes this month & even more so your take on them. I love your narrations as well and actually flag them to enjoy one after the other as time permits – often brings a smile to me at the end of a long day. Thank you 🙂

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  13. What a great childhood you had! My uncle had a farm but by the time I was growing up they only had horses, but they had previously had cows and fields when my siblings were growing up. My sister is 10 years older and my brother is 15 years older.

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  14. I think that pig is whispering a secret to the other pig. Precious little piglets!

    I grew up on a farm. It is as you point out…a super place to grow up but it
    has a lot of harsh realities.

    Reply

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