Caterpillar Watercolor Painting
By Charlie

Inch By Inch

Written by Charlie O'Shields

For our prompt of “Caterpillar,” I chose a little one of the monarch variety. I love these caterpillars and find them beautiful even though they can’t quite compete with the beauty of what they will soon become. My mother loves monarchs and butterflies in general so even the caterpillar version always makes me think of her. Today was a rather quiet day as Philippe and I just spent the day relaxing. In the midst of current events, we’re staying close to home and not going out much. It was cloudy and cold here today and certainly felt more like winter, rather than spring. We went for a walk with our dog Phineas and thought he’d give up quickly, but he was in the mood to explore so it was a long chilly walk indeed. But great to get out of the house for awhile and stretch our legs a bit. And it was quite lovely to have a little extra time to sketch and paint!

The world seems to have slowed to a crawl a bit these days. It’s a very strange moment to live in, to be sure. When we went out for our walk, the streets were mostly empty and only other people with dogs were out walking. Phineas has never been social, tending to lunge at other dogs in a rather rude way. We normally get glances as we constantly avoid people, but these days, it’s just normal behavior so it doesn’t seem quite so impolite. Once home, of course, Phineas parked his butt on the heater vent in an effort to warm up, while undoubtedly questioning his choices. I actually got too cold on the walk, wimped out and came home a few minutes early. In my defense, it was also a super windy day which always makes the cold even more unpleasant. For a brief moment, I considered joining Phineas on the heater vent, but that would probably have just been too weird.

Tonight we’re awaiting our groceries which we ordered online from Whole Foods and I just received a message that some items were out of stock. Pretty much anything in a can is no longer available. But, I snuck in a key lime pie at the last moment when Philippe turned to check his phone, and it appears that will still be in the mix. So, I’m rather excited. I’ll be getting dessert this evening at least! As ever, it’s always the little things in life that make everything a bit better. Though truly, life has gotten very, very different for everyone at this moment. It’s not at all the same as it was at this time last year. So much has changed. But, we’re all in this together, so together we can make our way through it. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s going to happen. And when we’re on the other side, I hope we’ll remember what it took to get there. That collective reasoning and love for one another that wasn’t quite as prevalent before all of this. Side by side, we’ll tackle all of the problems before us head on and make strides to to improve the world, inch by inch.

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About the Doodlewash

Da Vinci Paint Co.: Hansa Yellow Medium, Vermilion, Leaf Green, Cobalt Turquoise, Terra Cotta, and Indigo. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen (Extra Fine Nib) 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!
 Caterpillar Watercolor Painting 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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28 thoughts on “Inch By Inch”

  3. Beautifully done Charlie! It has been a different day today. A lady and her husband came and picked up the loom which I sold online to her. I was going to weave when I retired but painting happened instead. That freed up a large amount of space in my studio which helped me organize better. We went out for a sandwich and a beer this evening as I refuse to totally become a recluse. We were careful. I worry about the local economy. Enough rambling.

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  4. We had snow today! It didn’t stick but was still a bit of a shock as we hadn’t had any all winter. Of course, that meant a big drop in temperature, so all the more reason to stay at home! I’m so glad I paint. I could self-quarantine for months and not feel too bad about staying at home.

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    1. I know right? Philippe said… “is that snow?” as though it weren’t possible. I’m ready for warmer temps though. That said, yep.. if you told me I had to stay indoors and paint all the time, I don’t think I’d be too sad about that. 😉

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  5. So beautiful!!!! 🙂 Yes we are all in this together. Time to see what we all have in common instead of what we do not and unite!! lol I feel laughter helps too so a dose of laughs a day keep the grumpies away lol. 🙂

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  10. Nice caterpillar.
    Yes, the rat-race has stopped.
    Many of us have been begging for the world to slow down, to take time, to prioritize the real important things, like health, family, mindfulness, caring, solidarity… over ratrace and money
    I wish everybody a lot of strenght. Take good care for yourselves, your health etc. Shakespeare wrote King lear during The Plague, it is said. Let’s all make fantastic art.

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  11. What a lovely little sketch. You just reminded me of a happy moment from last year. I planted a milkweed plant. (It was not a cheap plant.) When it went to seed, I saved all it’s pods and shared with numerous people. It’s heartwarming, when you explain to people that this is the only plant Monarch’s caterpillars feed on and they immediately want to plant some. Our Monarch population has dwindled dramatically here, so I feel if I can share my seeds, I am helping them. 🙂

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