The Eyes Of An Owl

Taking a break from food today, as I couldn’t pass up a chance to doodlewash an owl for today’s prompt. I love owls, and I think their eyes are particularly beautiful. Large and full of wonder or wisdom or, perhaps, simply a healthy dash of both. A quality that I always think is rather wonderful in people as well. Not the large orange eyes as that would be weird and unsettling, but the wonder and wisdom bit. They say that when you get older you get wiser. Perhaps, simply from a lifetime of hopefully learning from mistakes. But, I’ve always wanted to maintain a bit of wonder as well. No matter how much I think I know, there’s still so much yet to be discovered. And often the thoughts I once believed to be the truth, I question like a child. Why on earth should it have to be this way or that? That’s when I think real creativity shines. When we can stop pretending we have any knowledge or control over what might happen next. Just a fabulous sense of wonder that drives us to try new things. Things that surprise and delight our inner child while the wise adult simply looks on with amazement.

I have to admit that I’ve been attempting a lot of crazy ideas lately, on this site alone. I have a vision for what could happen on Doodlewash, and in my head it’s amazing! In reality, of course, it’s far more challenging to make those things happen, but I keep on trying each and every day. While the wise adult tells me to leave well enough alone, the meddling child just won’t be contained. He just needs to know. What if this were to happen or what if that were to happen? In his childish mind, the only way to really know anything is to actually DO it. The adult mind makes a stern face and says that’s too ambitious or simply not possible. That’s when my favorite part happens. The childish mind wins out and I can hear a fainting farting noise made when one sticks their tongue out and blows. This child is defiant and he simply won’t settle for pretending to understand everything. Maybe one day, he’ll actually grow up. But today, he’s on a journey to make something amazing happen, so there’s simply not time for that now.

I hope each of you are making time to pursue your dreams while letting your inner child take over as you go. Mistakes should definitely make us wiser, but they should never make us shy about trying again. There’s always a very slightly different way to do something, and that difference can make all the difference in the world. Back when I worked in a large corporation, my ideas were often met with the line, “we’ve done that before.” I can assure you, that what I was describing was nothing like anything that was done previously, but any faint resemblance made them blind to other possibilities. Sometimes, having wizened eyes isn’t always the best thing. It can often be the thing that holds us back from achieving something amazing and new! So, each and every day I strive to mix that impossible concoction of endless childlike exuberance and fearlessness, with my often too overly adult eyes of an owl.

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About the Doodlewash Da Vinci Paint Co.: Da Vinci Yellow, Bezimida Orange, Da Vinci Red, Terra Cotta, Ultramarine Blue, and Payne’s Gray. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with sepia ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book.

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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