Eggplant On The Vine Watercolor Illustration
By Charlie

Fresh Thinking

Written by Charlie O'Shields

For our prompt of “Eggplant” today, I doodled a few of them hanging on the vine from my imagination. I love fresh eggplant, though we primarily only have it in ratatouille, which also makes me think of one of my favorite Pixar movies, so it’s all good. Each year, as the weather gets warmer, Philippe and I transition to a new menu that consists of lots of lighter dishes. Today was very warm and started to hint of summer after being cooler than usual for most of spring. But it was a gorgeous day and I spent it listening to music and taking breaks to walk or just sit and do nothing much at all. In other words, the perfect kind of day. The only thing about days like this is that they always seem too short. Before I know it, the evening has arrived and the day is ready to end. I think I could use a week or two more of days like these, but it was nice at least to experience this one.

For lunch today, Philippe and I decided to get food from our favorite Mexican restaurant again. This time, however, we switched to lettuce tacos rather than our usual selection. It was a much lighter choice, but it was so delicious that we had to wonder why we hadn’t always ordered them. But there’s something about cooler weather that doesn’t inspire eating light. I just want warm and toasty comfort food, often drenched in cheese. That said, I did sneak in the jalapeño cheese dip and chips into our order. Okay, and snuck in an extra order of cheese dip so we could have it later this weekend as well. So yeah, my transition to a fresher diet is a slow and steady process. In my defense, it is a long holiday weekend, and there wasn’t anything particularly special waiting in our refrigerator to celebrate it. But, I’m excited for the warmer weather as it also comes with lots of wonderful sunshine.

Our dog Phineas loves the sun and the heat, but doesn’t like to walk far in it now that he’s getting older. We went for a little walk and he came back and laid on the cool floor of our house. Moments later though, he was up again and at the door wanting to go outside on the back deck. He’s now lounging outside and looks perfectly content. I love watching dogs relaxing as they seem to know exactly how it’s done and know how to do it better than their human counterparts. Indeed, I have trouble shutting off my mind long enough to fully enjoy that level of relaxation. But today, I decided I’d be more like Phineas and shut out those thoughts and just let the moment wash over me. It was wonderful. When I let my mind start running again, new ideas popped into my head. Beyond eating a bit better, I think my mind could use more break like this one, so I can also enjoy those magical moments that can only come from fresh thinking.

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Da Vinci Paint Co.: Hansa Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Red, Cobalt Turquoise, Leaf Green, and Ultramarine (Green Shade). 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!
 Eggplant On The Vine 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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22 thoughts on “Fresh Thinking”

  2. Beautiful eggplants, Charlie. Summer has arrived and I figured it’s now or not until next January for the last chicken pot pie that was in the freezer…speaking of comfort food. It did taste delicious but it’s definitely time to change the menu.

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  3. très belles aubergines – incroyable ! comment après de longues années à vous lire – vôtre sujet favori est la nourriture – et que 80 % de vos dessins sont de la nourriture – comme un enfant qui aurait été maigre, et a manqué pour bien manger – Dites à Philippe que les aubergines se coupent en tranches, les mettre dans de la pâte à beignets – les jeter dans l’huile – vous aller aimer – la même recette que les beignets de pommes

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  6. I love the look and feel of eggplant, but in the end, I just don’t care to eat it much. When I was a little girl we had a neighbor named Madeleine. She was Italian and liked to cook Italian food. I’m guessing that eggplant was hard to come by in our small town grocery store, so every summer she grew her own. I have a strong memory of those big purple fruit looking ready to burst at the seams. I think that I’m a gardener because of Madeleine and her aubergine.

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