Sweet Dreams

For our prompt of “Serene” today, I sketched a little cat sleeping happily. Indeed, it was Saturday, so I slept a little bit later than usual which is always a lovely thing. Truly, I don’t like to actually sleep in too much since weekends are my favorite time. So, I like to be awake for the experience as much as possible. Though, yes, I usually always nod off to sleep more midnight. And, since I spend the afternoon doing only little things I love, it’s always quite serene. Often when I’m sketching, my mind will wander a bit. Well, in all truth, my mind tends to wander pretty much all of the time. But in these moments, I like to just dream about things I wish would happen. Things that probably never will in reality, but it’s fun to visit that little utopia that I create in my mind. It’s a magical place that’s, yes, totally invented by my inner child and it’s always happy and fun! This kind of whimsical place changes ever time, so it’s one of my favorite ways to travel.

This afternoon, I had music on in the background while making this sketch. Well, to be more precise I had a show called Sing On! playing on Netflix. It’s a karaoke challenge show that sounded a bit ridiculous and so therefore rather perfect. It was not a disappointment at all. The songs were all hits that I enjoyed and so it was really fun. Not paying attention to the screen, however, made the experience extra comical. Some singers were really good and consistent while others were a lot less so. The effect was jarring as I was enjoying listening to a song and almost forgetting it was all amateurs. Until that one note that made me look up to see if a cat had actually crawled into the studio and started crying for food. In all fairness, it’s a technical challenge more than anything and the stress is a little high to be absolutely perfect. What was wonderful to watch was that they just owned the screen, even if they were missing a few notes. I loved seeing that level of creative confidence.

I’ve sung karaoke before when I was younger, but only had a few songs I would sing with confidence. I realize now, that’s not the same as having to sing anything that was thrown at me and doing it with the same confidence, whether it was perfect or not. That’s why I’ve loved my sketching stuff habit. I’ve been challenged to make all sorts of things and, especially when I started, it was always out of my comfort zone. These days, I keep trying to push myself to try different things just for fun. I have to admit that I was once scared to sketch tabby cats as they seemed really complex. Now, they’re one of my favorite things to make and fun to practice. Sometimes, when you imagine doing something it can seem a bit impossible. Like that imagined utopia that’s simply not ever going to jump outside of your mind into reality. And, even if those outcomes aren’t completely perfect, they’re always the product of sweet dreams.

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About the Doodlewash Da Vinci Paint Co.: Yellow Ochre, Opus (Vivid Pink), Cobalt Turquoise, Ultramarine (Green Shade), and Terra Cotta. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with black ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? Click here!

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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