Cupcake With Sprinkles Watercolor Painting
By Charlie

Just One Cupcake

Written by Charlie O'Shields

For our prompt of “Sprinkles” today, I chose a cupcake with some littered across the top. As I get closer to my birthday next Monday, I find myself craving cake. Granted, there won’t be a party or gathering of any kind due to the current state of the world, but I’m still insisting that I get some cake anyway. By that, I simply mean that poor Philippe has had to endure my constant checking to make sure we have enough flour and all of the ingredients. I’m not sure if it will be a full cake or several cupcakes yet, but I’m really not picky by that point. I just want cake! For this sketch, I chose a sort of buttercream frosting, but I imagine Philippe will go with something a little less dense and bit healthier. In truth, I’ve asked for no presents this year, and so the cake is pretty much the main event. And though it will be a very tiny celebration, I’m still looking forward to marking the occasion. I’ve already hidden a bottle of champagne in the back of the refrigerator so everything should be ready for the big day.

Philippe suited up in his mask today to brave a trip to Costco to get some additional groceries. When he got home, he informed me that yes, they were still out of toilet paper, and that he “almost” bought a cake as well. My response was simply, “why did you bother to tell me that?” I’ve never quite understood the point of telling someone you almost got something for them. Like, when a friend mentions that they saw something in the store that they almost picked up for you, because it was just so perfect. It’s nice to know someone thought of you, of course, but what a torturous tease! Just buy it already! Philippe’s reasoning was that the cake was Costco-sized and therefore too large for the two of us. I reminded him that it’s my birthday month, so we have days to complete the eating of the cake. He just stared at me blankly as though I had lost my mind. Perhaps I have. I’m not sure eating cake all week would be a smart choice, but these days, treats can never be underestimated.

For now, each little day is taken one step at a time. The future is harder than ever to predict and it was never really predictable in the first place. And though things are quite different now, I’m enjoying some of the new little rituals. Philippe and I are enjoying a few more shows together on television and playing games together as well. Though we still separate during the workday as he’s upstairs and I’m downstairs, we come back together for our evening ritual, which isn’t that much different from how we lived every day. Our dog Phineas is able to spend some time outside on our back terrace and looks notably cheerier. At least, as much as he’s ever willing to reveal to us. The weather is warmer and the flowers are insisting that the world celebrate that fact along with them. The sky is blue and the sun is shining. There’s so much to be grateful for indeed. But, that won’t stop me at all from wanting a touch more during my birthday month, like just one cupcake.

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About the Doodlewash

Da Vinci Paint Co.: Gold Ochre, Quinacridone Red, Opus (Vivid Pink), Leaf Green, Cobalt Turquoise, Terra Cotta and Indigo. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen (Broad Nib) 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!
 Cupcake With Sprinkles Watercolor Painting

 

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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40 thoughts on “Just One Cupcake”

  2. I really can’t wait until they invent the transporter. It was well established on Star Trek that they could use a person’s pattern to beam them back as they were at an earlier time. So you could eat like a pig, and then just beam yourself back to before you ate. Although … maybe that wouldn’t work because then you probably wouldn’t remember eating the cake the either. But then againg, maybe you could just eat the whole cake, beaming yourself backwards after every slice. Even if you didn’t remember it, you’d still have the joy of eating it and the anticipation every time you beamed. Yeah. I think that would work. The transporter beam as a weight control method.
    Philippe’s a scientist right? Tell him he needs to invent this for your birthday, lol.

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    2. haha!! Now there’s the ultimate birthday gift indeed! Love it! 😃💕 Yeah, I’ll tell him to set to work on that immediately. Though, yeah, if you beamed yourself back to before you ate it, I guess you’d always lose the memory of eating. Wouldn’t help with immediate future cravings though! lol

      Reply

  4. Charlie, I don’t think your Birthday will be tiny! Think of all your fans who love you and are grateful for what you have shared. We all will be thinking of you and wishing you a very special Birhtday!

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  8. Love, love, love it Charlie! Reminds me of a cupcake I painted in a class. But best of all, thank you for the laugh I got from your post! Totally relate to the “ almost picked this up for you” comment. I get it- but don’t tell me 😆😆 Life is short- eat cake!

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  10. I have ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, or oatmeal raisin cookies, or cake. But tomorrow is lasagna making day, so no dessert because I only have energy to make one big thing a day. My friend next door has cancer and he is finding it hard to eat much because the drugs have changed his tastebuds. Lasagna sounds good to him, so I’m making a double batch to send one up to them. I hope he likes it. Food is really a comfort in times like these.

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    1. Aww…. I adore that you’re making an extra batch for your neighbor, Lisa! That’s wonderful! 😃💕 And truly… lasagna is fantastic, it’s actually a bit like having dinner and dessert all at once!

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  11. Oh Charlie, my fellow Aries cake lover. I, too, get irritated when people tell me what they “didn’t get me something”. So my pouting causes guilt and they go back and get it. A trick I’ve mastered! I am being somewhat facetious, but wanted to suggest a wonderful cake I found a few years ago at Whole Foods. Chantilly. And you can buy it by the piece, so no whole cakes from Whole Foods! It’s incredibly tasty, has about 150 ingredients, and if you’ve not tried it, I highly recommend it fellow Aries! (and doesn’t everyone celebrate “birthday month?”). My husband gifted me most generously with a diamond solitaire necklace, a tasteful size, since it’s a landmark birthday (I won’t say which, but I am young appearing for my age, so say I), and gave it to me very early, days before covid19 became serious.

    Anyway, hope you’ll give Chantilly a try! It has that marvelous cream cheese/buttercream frosting, lots of fruit layers, and other things that push it way over the edge of deliciousness! Safeway also sells it, and I must admit, that if my feet were held to the fire, and I was blindfolded, I couldn’t tell the difference. But it’s Safeway, so my snob self will wait for the Whole Foods plastic container.

    Happy happy birthday, Charlie! And you absolutely have the right to tell people to stop ALMOST buying you something, and just BUY IT!

    Fanna

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much, Fanna! hehe… glad you enjoyed this post! 😃💕 And I think I might have had Chantilly cake from Whole Foods before as it’s the same as what you’ve described. And it was awesome! It was just a slice, as that’s all I could smuggle under the watchful gaze of Philippe. Alas their delivery is overwhelmed these days so we don’t shop there anymore. I’ll have to check our regular grocery and see if they have it… or better, challenge Philippe to make his version! lol 😉

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  13. Bon Anniversaire, Charlie! And may God grant you many more years! That’s a tasty looking cupcake, sprinkles and all. The metal cupcake cup looks familiar, as you showed us your technique in the Karen Abend sketching video – many thanks for that! My favorite “gateau de fête” is yellow cake with real butter cream chocolate frosting, right from the Betty Crocker box! But it never stays around long enough to pose for a painting!

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    1. Merci beaucoup, Bob! 😃💕 And yay! Glad you enjoyed the Sketchbook Revival video! Yep… you know exactly how I made that shine now! 😉 And I’m now drooling over your cake description! YUM! I want that! But true… I rarely sketch dessert from life… it’s meant to be enjoyed immediately!

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  15. Simple little cupcake. I would eat it! I think we have so many personality similarities because we are both Aries. 😉 I am with you regarding, “I almost bought you something.” It’s like giving someone a balloon and popping it(even though I don’t like balloons because they may pop). Instead they should say, “I saw something that reminded me of you.” A softer blow.

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  16. So this is the secret of your such wonderful food Sketching practice…that you love your treats so much…may I say to the point of obsession..😉
    …like many flower painters love gardening as well…and that’s the reason their flower paintings are so beautiful…🤔

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  19. Delightful, Charlie! May you have a dozen of these for your birthday, calorie free! Hey, my birthday is usually overlooked because it is so close to Christmas, but thankfully my loved ones are good about recognizing it, even if they give me a birthday/Christmas gift. Be well, my friend!

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