For our final October prompt of “Door,” I made a little sketch of a spooky house in honor of Halloween. When I was a kid, I never happened upon a house like this one, but I think my curiosity would get the best of me and I’d knock on that door. As we end this month’s challenge, a huge thanks to everyone who participated. I DO hope you’ll join us for our November challenge as we continue to draw and paint lovely things together. We’ve no special plans at our house for Halloween, but I did get Philippe to finally carve the little pumpkins that he bought a couple of weeks ago. So, I used his jack-o-lanterns as the models in this illustration. One looks a bit worried about the other one, which was a funny touch. And the seeds are drying so we’ll be roasting them later which is another lovely thing we do each year. Though things are certainly different in the world now, I still adore every moment during the autumn season and each of those littlest traditions that never fail to make me smile.
I had thought we’d watch one last spooky movie, but I think Philippe has had his fill and we’ve managed to watch quite a few already. This is the weekend that the clocks move back an hour, which means an entire extra hour of weekend to enjoy. Unfortunately, it also means that it will now be getting darker even earlier and the days in general will become terribly short. Well, there are still the same number of hours in the day, of course, but more of them will be spent in darkness which will make them feel shorter. While, I do wish the sun would stick around longer, I have to admit that I like going to bed even earlier. It means more time to play games, watch something, and read a good book. Though, last night I was a bit tired and think I only managed a couple of pages of my book before I was fast asleep.
We had a lovely video chat with our family in Paris today and got to show each other the pumpkins that we’d carved. Halloween is not as big anywhere else as it is here in the States, but it still appears other places. Our niece Alice took us on a video tour of their new house and our newest and youngest niece Juliette crawled toward the camera with a look of curiosity. It will be some time before we’re able to visit them again, so it was wonderful to connect virtually. Our dog Phineas was pawing at us and insisted that he sit on our laps during the call so he could be a part of it as well. I’m sure he was immediately regretting it as one of his gifts last year from Paris was a dog costume in the shape of a hot dog. So, of course, he had to model it, which he didn’t like at first, but realized it was plush and warm and then sort of enjoyed it. Now we’re off to have a Halloween dinner with Philippe’s glowing pumpkins to set the mood as we create our own happy version of a spooky night.
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About the DoodlewashDa Vinci Paint Co.: Hansa Yellow Medium, Yellow Ochre, Quinacridone Red, Opus (Vivid Pink), Cobalt Turquoise, Pthalo Blue, 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! |
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I Love it. There is still a young girl inside me that still loves books with pictures, fairy tales.
Thanks so much! 😃💕 Thrilled you enjoyed this!
One of my childhood favourite films have been remade and in cinemas Frances Hodgson Burnett the Secret Garden. But Won’t get to see it with the lockdown.
You speak to that with your art and words.
What a lovely compliment! Thank you! 😃💕
I love to draw and I’m getting better though struggled of late with having a nasty cough and cold.
Yay for loving to draw! And I hope your cold gets better soon!
This time of year I am prone to them, to cold, I have hypothyroidism people with hypothyroidism, one of the symptoms is intolerance to cold.
When I have a clear head, I do like draw, also trying different paper types like Bristol board, recyclable paper, using colour pencils, pencils, pens, colour pens.
My nephew just sent me a photo of his daughter dressed for Halloween, and they live in the Czech Republic. The monsters are everywhere! Thank goodness most of them are cuties!
That’s wonderful! Yeah, I’ll take cute monsters over the other kind any day! 😃💕
Charlie I hope your family is safe over there with those evildoers out there. I am surprised anyone would be going door to door. Terrifying.
There was an abandoned cabin on our street in Coquitlam (a Vancouver, BC metro) and I loved to go in there (my parents never found out). It was just outside walls and a roof, dirt floor, and no partitions and the entire thing was about the size of a tiny bathroom in a small apartment. They would have freaked out anyway. I could pretend I was an actress sidekicking The Rifleman, in those days of cowboy shows, whose house looked just like it. I even had a cap gun so I could help him get the bad guys. Those writer seeds are planted early you know.
Happy Hallowe’en evening.
Thanks so much, Linda! 😃💕 We’re all safe at home here. Oh wow! That abandoned cabin sounds like a kid’s dream indeed! Fun!
Spectacular house, Charlie. Doesn’t look a bit haunted to me, just quirky and most likely full of very creative residents. Happy Halloween!!
Thanks so much, Mary! 😃💕 hehe.. yeah, I don’t think I could make a scary house if I tried!
I absolutely LOVE this house, Charlie! It’s gorgeous! As someone with a life-long love affair with purple and any shade of color resembling purple, I would love a purple -y house like this. We have a historical neighborhood super close to us, literally steps away from downtown, called King William District. Large, gorgeous, old homes that are now guarded and protected. You need permission from the San Antonio Historical Society to do anything that may alter the original look of the house especially painting it. I don’t know if you are familiar with author Sandra Cisneros (The House on Mango Street), but she purchased a house there and decided to paint it purple/pink. Yeah, that didn’t go over well. They even took her to court. So, not everyone is on board with colorful houses. haha haha I would live in your purple house. I just see color, not spooky. 😋😋😋 Super cute how the mouse is looking up at the imposing scary house.
Oh my goodness, what I wouldn’t give to see Phineas dressed like a hot dog. Like how you and Philippe imagine Phineas talking and thinking, I think he would say, “A hot dog costume? I don’t care where it’s from, this is SO beneath me!” 😂😂😂 haha haha
Have a wonderful evening, Charlie! Bon soir! Buenas noches! 💜
Thanks so much, Marisela! 😃💕 Oh wow! Imagine going to court over a purple/pink house! I think it’s crazy sometimes what we try to preserve and how we try to do it! Yeah, Phineas would far rather eat a hot dog than dress up as one! lol
Happy blue moon! I’m eating a Twix bar in honor of the holiday. All day long I thought Halloween was tomorrow, so I didn’t even wish my yard girl a happy one. She raked a huge pile of leaves and bagged them up for the garden. Usually we just put them right on, but it was so windy today that we had to save them, otherwise she’d be raking twice. No Trick or treaters because we are in the country, and Covid. Wisconsin is bad!
A Twix bar sounds perfectly lovely! Yeah, we never get trick or treaters here even on a normal year. Stay safe my friend! 😃💕
This is a lovely spooky house. The type I wouldn’t be afraid to walk up to. It’s a quiet night at our home. We are watching Ford vs Ferrarri right now. It even seems to be quiet out on the street too. We don’t hand out candy anymore. Too old and tired to keep getting up. Haha! Happy Halloween!
Thanks so much, Lori! 😃💕 Sounds like the perfect Halloween to me! Yeah, I prefer a quiet night most nights actually! hehe
Great spooky house, Charlie. We watched Goosebumps, in candlelight.
Thanks so much, Gary! 😃💕 That sounds like a lovely night!!
This is an amazing haunted house Charlie! Here’s to a great November! Positive thoughts!
Thanks so much, Karen! 😃💕 Yes! Positive thoughts indeed!
Hello Charlie,
That’s a lovely Doodlewash and I love the two carved pumpkins. The tiny trick-or-treater looks overwhelmed with that house. And I imagined that as he went through the door, he found himself amidst his friends and family who had thrown him a surprise Halloween party – with loads of cake. 🙂 Yaaay for an extra hour of sleep and weekend!
Love,
Mugdha
Thanks so much, Mugdha! 😃💕 Aww I love your interpretation. I think that’s exactly what happened next! And yay for that extra hour indeed!
Spooky house, I love when a buildings windows kinda look like eyes. There was an old school in my neghbourhood that kind of looked like it had eyes when I was a kid. lol. I had a weird dream about it one night and it came to life.
Oh wow! That sounds like a spooky dream indeed! Yeah, those kind of buildings are so cool! 😃