Sherlock Holmes And Watson Beagle And Squirrel Watercolor Illustration Painting
By Charlie

The Game Is Afoot

Written by Charlie O'Shields

For our prompt of “Walk” today, I really had no clue what to sketch. Then I thought about clues and the whole mystery of figuring out what to make each day in the first place. This made me think of the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I loved those books when I was younger and read all four novels and many of the short stories. So, I cast a beagle as Holmes and then decided that a squirrel would become my Watson. I picture the beagle waking up the squirrel and uttering lines from the book, “Come, Watson, come. The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!” In this case the clothes are just a couple of hats and a cloak, but our friends are soon off for a brisk walk on their way to solve a mystery. I’ve no idea what crime has been committed, but I’m sure that together they’ll soon figure it all out.

My own dog Phineas is a basenji and not a beagle, but he’s always walking like this with his nose to the ground. Philippe and I like to think he’s always on the hunt for a mystery. While that’s a wonderful thought, as far as we can tell he solves them once found by simply peeing on them. This is a technique that I’m quite sure Sherlock Holmes never employed, though had he done so the books would have likely been a huge hit with all little boys. Phineas does have a squirrel friend who visits our back deck that we’ve named Michael, so I could see those two going out on many mysterious adventures together. But I often choose a beagle to sketch as it’s easier to play with the ears. My own dog’s ears are always pointing straight up and it makes it harder to wear hats properly.

Tonight, Philippe and I are going to watch a spooky movie as we’re in the final countdown to Halloween. Of course, the movie will be one made for children as anything more grown-up makes Philippe scared. And now I’m sort of wanting to rewatch an Agatha Christie movie as well since I have mysteries on the brain. We’ve been watching tons of movies lately as we try to fill the time that would normally be reserved for seeing friends and being out in the world. Though with the pandemic, there’s going to be a lot less new movies introduced over the next year or so. And it’s wild how many new movies choose a setting of last century. Perhaps, it’s simply nostalgia, but one has to admit that it was definitely tougher to solve mysteries prior to the internet. I really miss those days, actually, when all of the answers or so-called answers weren’t simply a click away. As a kid, I’d make up stories to fill in the gaps of those mysteries. Today, I still do it, just for fun. While it’s wonderful to have all of the answers at my fingertips, it’s equally awesome to use my own powers of deduction and come up with my novel answers when the game is afoot.

 

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 Sherlock Holmes And Watson Beagle And Squirrel 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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39 thoughts on “The Game Is Afoot”

  3. I do think that is one of the ways that we are different from every other generation before us – there’s no where left to discover, no mysterious continents to spur the imagination. No new places to explore. And even, where there might be, we now feel the need to leave it be, so we don’t change it as we have so many places. I used to think we’d take to space to make up for this lack, but that doesn’t look very likely.

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  6. I always love your beagles and you know why. 💕💖💝 He looks so cute dressed like that. And you made me laugh out loud about Sherlock solving mysteries by pee-ing on them. Yeah, that would be a book series for boys, for sure.
    Charlie, did you guys watch “The Monster Squad” afterall?? I think Philippe would like it. AND there’s a cute Beagle to boot. 💜

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    1. Thanks so much, Marisela! 😃💕 I figured I’d stick with beagles so I could practice one type of dog more! hehe Glad you enjoy them. We didn’t watch that one yet. Truthfully, I may have worn him out with all of my spooky movie craze! lol

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  7. Ah Charlie and here Iove the 1800s in fact my novel manuscript takes place in part in the 1890s. Talk about peeing on the problem, I wonder how women of that era, the 1800s, managed to do anything with all the bulky clothes they had to wear.

    Tell Phillippe to be unafraid, the spooks cannot come out of the screen. Nope. Think of them as a place memory, really not there.

    Great sketch!

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    1. Thanks so much! 😃💕 hehe… yeah… I think peeing would have been difficult enough for women back then with those clothes! Philippe has been doing better with the spooky movies, but I think he’s hit his limit this season!

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  12. When I traveled to England for a semester, I bought myself a deer stalker hat. Over the years, it has mysteriously disappeared, but I do have fond memories of that hat. There’s just not much call these days for special detecting clothes. And mores the pity on that. Though, I am perfectly happy that we no longer have to change for dinner! I think I read somewhere that Doyle based Sherlock on his friend, Oscar Wilde. I hope that’s true because its a great piece of trivia.

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    1. That’s so awesome that you had a deer stalker hat… too many it disappeared. That’s definitely a mystery worthy of Homes! And the entire idea of changing for dinner is more than I can bear. These days, just getting out of my robe after breakfast is enough! 😉

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  14. Lovely! They are definitely on a mission! The only Hallmark channel we get all the time is Murders & Mysteries. Need I say more? 😉 I have really enjoyed them because they aren’t violent and the plots aren’t so twisted that I can’t follow (you know our brains, if they aren’t kept busy, we drift off to somewhere else.) Main reason why I never got into the Harry Potter stories…..too many things I had to remember to understand. Haha!

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    1. Thanks so much, Lori! 😃💕 Yeah, I loved the first Harry Potter books most… then they kept getting bigger and I kept forgetting who was who! lol I do like Agatha Christie though, as she’s good at tricking you in a way that still feels satisfying. hehe

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  18. Hello Charlie,

    I can feel it in my bones… someone from Disney is gonna see this Doodlewash and soon we’re gonna have a brand new Sherlock Holmes Series starring the two friends you’ve sketched above. Am sure of it. And Phineas seems to be the perfectly-behaved puppy if he has made friends with a squirrel instead of chasing it away. Either that or you’ve trained him to be gentle and kind. Speaking of mysteries, am watching the whole Murder She Wrote season 5 and loving it!
    Love,
    Mugdha

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much, Mugdha! 😃💕 I liked how these characters turned out. And Phineas is just really bored with any creature that’s not him. lol Never had an interest in chasing after anything except treats. Yay for Murder She Wrote!! I LOVE that show… it’s still so fun even today!

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