Falling Berries Mouse Watercolor Illustration Painting
By Charlie

Raining Berries

Written by Charlie O'Shields

For our prompt of “Berries” today, I was running short on time, so I just started doodling. I’ve been enjoying sketching little mice lately, so I sketched one enjoying a shower of berries. I’m sure any little mouse would love this to happen, though I’m not sure that it ever would in real life. We have phrases like “raining cats and dogs” for a heavy rain, but I’m rather sure that would completely terrify a mouse. As for berries, I adore them in all forms. Yet, my dog Phineas, hates all versions of berries except cranberries. Even bananas, technically a berry, gross him out and he won’t touch them. Blueberries are supposed to be quite healthy for dogs and some of those are hiding in his treats. But when we added blueberries to his food once he managed to eat the entire bowl and leave ever little blueberry miraculously still intact. That’s quite a skill indeed, and I was suitably impressed by his effort.

I actually had the day off from work today so one might think I had a bit of extra time to sketch. This likely would have happened had I not come up with a thousand things to distract myself with during the day. I didn’t even look at a clock, which was a nice break, but then I realized I had better sketch something quick! It’s Friday and that means pizza night, after all, so I have to zoom ahead quickly and finish everything before the pizza arrives. This was one of those days were I thought it might just be impossible, but I’ve learned that nothing is truly impossible if you forget about whether it is or not. My inner child believes that anything can happen and though I tend to question him about that most of the time, I’m beginning to believe he just might be right. Okay well, maybe not everything, but lots of really cool things that seem a bit impossible at first.

I’m so ready for another weekend! My favorite bit is lying in bed a bit longer on Saturday and Sunday mornings to play games on my Switch or read a bit. Phineas has decided that this is not the way to start the day and demands to have his breakfast as soon as he senses that either of us has woken up. Philippe is usually the one who gets up to serve his majesty before returning to bed. Phineas will usually come back and lie down as well, but there’s apparently no excuse for delaying his food. Not even when two dads would like to enjoy a bit of extra lazy time before starting the day. I love lazy time, because most of the time my life is just the opposite. So when I get that moment where I can actually hang out and do whatever comes to mind, even for a few minutes, it’s a fabulous feeling indeed. It’s one of those wonderful nothing bits of life that ends up meaning so much more in the end. I’m not sure what you call that feeling, but if I were a little mouse, I might just say it’s raining berries.

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About the Doodlewash

Da Vinci Paint Co.:  Hansa Yellow Medium, Quinacridone Red, Pthalo Blue, Cobalt Turquoise, Terra Cotta, and Indigo. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with black ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? 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!
 Falling Berries Mouse Watercolor Illustration 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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25 thoughts on “Raining Berries”

  2. I’m quite miffed that scientists haven’t yet invented a Time Stop button, where you could just hit the button, and everything around you would come to a halt and you could do what you needed, hit the button again and join the world again. On the other hand, it’s probably just as well. People like me would hit the button, start researching or doing art and totally forget to ever push the button again. And using the button would probably give you cancer. So, okay. No Time Stop button. I still want the transporter beam, though.

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  5. Such a sweet painting, Charlie! Cute little mouse. 💜 Monster was the opposite. He was “flojo,” which means lazy. He loved to sleep in and he always looked so comfy and cozy. He was very finicky about his food. He ate our food, but dog food was another thing. Dry dog food was the main problem. I mixed dry dog food with can dog food. He would eat his food, somehow he sucked the soft food off, and then would SPIT the hard food out of his mouth. We had little balls of dry dog food everywhere! They are funny little creatures, who lack the ability to speak, but somehow still tell us what to do. Oh, but what would we be without them? 💕💕

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  7. Hello Charlie,

    You’ve probably made a mouse’s dream come true today! Your Doodlewash reminded me of a ritual followed in my community. It’s called “Bor Nahaan” that literally translates to “Berry (Bor) Shower (Nahaan)”. It is performed for a baby who is just beginning to crawl and sit up. Little kids from the neighborhood gather and gently release a handful of assorted fresh berries and sugar pearls over the baby’s head, while the rest of the kids gather the berries as treats. The berries and sugar pearls showering on the baby symbolise a sweet abundance for the baby, and having so many kids around, is a way of slowly introducing the baby to others outside of his/her familiar family circle. I hope you’re able to witness this event someday. It’s a lot of fun.

    Love,
    Mugdha

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  10. Cute! I’m a mouse fan, though not in the house. When I was little I got the mumps and my mom caught a mouse in a trap, but just by the foot, so she put it in a big jar for me to watch while I was sick. It had babies and was really very cool. We let it go when all three of us kids got better.

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