I Was Walking With #AuGHOST

September 5, 2023

Hello & Hello Again! I absolutely refuse to apologize for any puns used in this AuGHOST postmortem. Even that one. Enjoy! ~KW

Watercolor & ink on brown cardboard. A smiling, blushing ghost is wearing a flower crown. Such ghastly humor!

What Is #AuGHOST?

AuGHOST is a ghost-themed art challenge for the month of August. There is a different art prompt for each day. AuGHOST is billed as a “all-skills, all-inclusive, no-pressure art-event” & that’s exactly what it was! Draw one ghost, draw all the ghosts, make it a scribble or a fine oil painting- anything goes. If you’ve been haunting this blog long, you know how much I love art challenges. It probably won’t surprise you to find out I did all 31 Days of #AuGHOST!

Watercolor & ink on brown cardboard. A black cat sits happily on the ground as a ghost pets it. The ghost's typically compact form is being stretched & distorted, but she still looks happy to be petting the cat.

Let Me Introduce You To My Boo

Here are 31 pictures & 2 animations featuring the best little ghostie in town: Milly!

This video does not feature descriptive audio. A thread where each picture & animation in the video is posted with alt text can be found here

Last Time I Did All 31 Days of an Art Challenge…

…I made many grave mistakes. In an effort to push myself to expand my skills, I put so many restrictions in place that I got in my own way. I learned an important lesson that changed my approach to these challenges. This month was much more fun than MerMay because of that difference in approach.

Watercolor on brown cardboard. A happy ghost holds up a basket of glass gem corn in one hand & ear of glass gem corn in the other. Behind her, the corn has been grown to make a maze.

What I Did Differently This Time

I focused on challenges, not rules. Instead of saying I couldn’t use certain media or colors, I challenged myself to incorporate something new. This led to my using cardboard from cereal boxes & embroidery thread scraps. It resurrected my love of upcycled materials, which I had not worked with much since I stopped making collages a lifetime ago. I also challenged myself to create a new character like I did for #HippySheepFest, only more in-depth since I would have 31 days instead of 4. I think we can all agree this worked, as in my totally logical & objective opinion Milly is the greatest ghostie who ever was.

Watercolor & ink on cardboard. A smiling ghost knits a web for the spider sitting on her head, waiting patiently. The knitting is embroidery thread stitched through the cardboard and the thread ball sits at the ghost's feet. Eat your heart out, Casper!

How Changing Things Changed Things

All these changes were for the better. I think it probably helps that I like painting ghosts more than people. It helped me see that I’ve grown, not just in terms of artistic ability but also mindset. I’m still getting used to gouache & am a bit inconsistent with transparency levels, but most of the time I would sit down to paint a prompt with an idea in my head & end up with pretty much what I imagined on the paper. More importantly, to my mind, is the change in mindset. I am always very critical of my work. (If I waited to share only the paintings I loved, I would share maybe one a month.) I am still very critical, but in a better way. Now instead of oh, that’s terrible I’m more likely to think oh, that’s the wrong color or the wrong proportion or something else that’s much more constructive. All in all, these changes have definitely made a positive impact!

Paint & ink on cardboard. A happy ghost is holding a coffee & reaching out toward a falling leaf. Other leaves swirl around, in the air & on the ground.

It’s The Magnificent Milly Announcement We’ve Been Waiting For!

I have spent the month of AuGHOST being absolutely amazed to see that other people love Milly as much as I do! I am finally doing it- opening a TeeSpring store! This is your chance to have your favorite Milly on mugs, notebooks, & even stickers, in case you want to put Milly on something that isn’t a mug or a notebook!

My Spring Shop is Officially Open!

Follow me on Mastodon or Ko-Fi to be the first to hear about updates as I add new watercolor designs- more Milly as well as watercolor flora & fauna!

#Inktober Inspiration

4-panel comic, watercolor & ink.
Panel 1: A smiling Milly the Ghost, in top hat & bow tie, holds a magic wand in one hand & a curtain in the other.
Panel 2: The curtain is raised to hide Milly.
Panel 3: The curtain is covered by a cloud of smoke that says "POOF".
Panel 4: The curtain falls to the ground, revealing a sign which reads "The Amazing Milly will return, #Inktober".

Karin Wanderer Learns