Karin Wanderer Learns

Every 2 weeks I post a new art challenge prompt! The new #KWPrompts is #Fall

It is the 24th of September & the temperature where I live is in the mid-80's (30° c). I am going to spend the next 2 weeks manifesting the spirit of autumn as hard as I can, & maybe the weather will take the hint. I hope you will join me! Let's spend the next 2 weeks making autumnal art! You can submit a new piece of art every day, work on one piece for 2 weeks, or post them randomly. This is the most laid-back art challenge on the internet, & that means you have plenty of time to make your art however you want. Just make sure you tag me @KarinWanderer so I see it!

Use #KWPrompts #Fall &/or tag me so I can see how you think!

Pick your social & post your art! Mastodon Bluesky Cara

All art styles & skill levels are welcome- beginner to expert, renaissance painting to rough sketch! No AI, Yes alt text, CW as needed. Have a fantastic day, draw something for my art challenge, see you next week!

Get my art on mugs & vinyl stickers in my Shop!

Donate to support my works & get cool perks on Ko-Fi

Join us for #KWPrompts, a biweekly art challenge!

Find me on Linktree

• All pictures posted are my own work.
• All reviews are my own unpaid & unsolicited opinions.

Every 2 weeks I post a new art challenge prompt! The new #KWPrompts is #Happy It's my birthday, & I want to know what makes you happy.

Painting makes me happy Sewing makes me happy Gardening makes me happy

I got this rosemary for my birthday! It practically fills my tiny porch. You can submit a new picture every day, work on one picture for 2 weeks, or post pictures randomly. This is the most laid-back art challenge on the internet, & that means you have plenty of time to make your art however you want. Just make sure you tag me @KarinWanderer so I see it!

Use #KWPrompts #Happy &/or tag me so I can see how you think!

Pick your social & post your art! Mastodon Bluesky Cara All art styles & skill levels are welcome- beginner to expert, renaissance painting to rough sketch! No AI, Yes alt text, CW as needed. Have a fantastic day, draw something for my art challenge, see you next week!

Get my art on mugs & vinyl stickers in my Shop!

Donate to support my works & get cool perks on Ko-Fi

Join us for #KWPrompts, a biweekly art challenge!

Find me on Linktree

• All pictures posted are my own work.
• All reviews are my own unpaid & unsolicited opinions.

Every 2 weeks I post a new art challenge prompt! The new #KWPrompts is #Waterscape We've done skies, we've done landscapes, it's time we stop messing about & make some waterscapes! Waterscapes are one of the top subjects in art throughout history & around the world. From watercolor to oil to woodblock print, everyone loves a good waterscape!

Don’t want to limit yourself to already existing waterways? You don’t have to! Make ones nobody has seen before, or ones nobody should ever see! Let’s spend the next 2 weeks thinking about waterscapes!

You can submit a new picture every day, work on one picture for 2 weeks, or post pictures randomly. This is the most laid-back art challenge on the internet, & that means you have plenty of time to make your art however you want. Just make sure you tag me @KarinWanderer so I see it!

Use #KWPrompts #Waterscape &/or tag me so I can see how you think!

Pick your social & post your art! Mastodon Bluesky Cara

All art styles & skill levels are welcome- beginner to expert, renaissance painting to rough sketch! No AI, Yes alt text, CW as needed. Have a fantastic day, draw something for my art challenge, see you next week!

Get my art on mugs & vinyl stickers in my Shop!

Donate to support my works & get cool perks on Ko-Fi

Join us for #KWPrompts, a biweekly art challenge!

Find me on Linktree

• All pictures posted are my own work.
• All reviews are my own unpaid & unsolicited opinions.

Every 2 weeks I post a new art challenge prompt!

This week I'm running a bit late...

I had 2 goals in mind as I headed into August this year. I wanted to find a new teaching job, & I wanted to participate in every day of the #AuGhost art challenge. Instead, I got COVID for the 1st (& hopefully only) time. On August 1st I felt a tickle in my throat. Since a family member had recently tested positive, we decided to quarantine even though we didn't have positive COVID tests. I am so glad we did- for the next few days I was barely able to get out of bed! I didn't get a positive COVID test until August 3rd. Nearly 2 weeks later, I am still unable to stand for more than 15 minutes without getting dizzy, I have to take frequent naps to get through the day, & in spite of all that I still get so tired I go to bed around 9pm. It's only in the last few days that I have been able to spend enough time out of bed to sit & paint. COVID is no joke, folks! I was a dedicated mask-wearer before I got sick, now I am annoyingly devout. People like to declare COVID is over like Michael Scott declared bankruptcy, but it is going to take work to get out of this mess. Y'all Masking?

So, what does this mean?

Well, I haven't been able to look for a new job. I'm a preschool teacher who can't stand for more than 15 minutes at a time, which means I'm not physically able to work in a classroom. I have degrees in ECE & Early Intervention so I've started looking into other educational options.

But what does this mean for the art challenge?

It's a bit late this week. I think I'm going to finish writing this in time to post on Tuesday like normal, but it's going to be late on Tuesday instead of 1st thing in my morning. Wait, it's already noon?! Ugh, I can't focus on anything these days. OK, here goes...

The new #KWPrompts is #Ghost

Am I essentially mashing up my art challenge with AuGhost? Yes I am. You don't have to! Any & all ghosts are welcome here, except for AI ghosts. Originally I wanted to do a different theme this week while participating in AuGhost simultaneously, but I don't have the energy. Instead I will be trying to fit a full month of AuGhost into 2 weeks. You can submit a new picture every day, work on one picture for 2 weeks, or post pictures randomly. This is the most laid-back art challenge on the internet, & that means you have plenty of time to make your art however you want. Just make sure you tag me @KarinWanderer so I see it!

Use #KWPrompts #Ghost & tag me so I can see how you think!

Pick your social & post your art! Mastodon Bluesky Cara

All art styles & skill levels are welcome- beginner to expert, renaissance painting to rough sketch! No AI, Yes alt text, CW as needed. Have a fantastic day, draw something for my art challenge, see you next week!

Get my art on mugs & vinyl stickers in my Shop!

Donate to support my works & get cool perks on Ko-Fi

Join us for #KWPrompts, a biweekly art challenge!

Find me on Linktree

• All pictures posted are my own work.
• All reviews are my own unpaid & unsolicited opinions.

Every 2 weeks I post a new art challenge prompt! The new #KWPrompts is #Bookmark I am new to making bookmarks, so far I only have these 2!

Dog-earing pages is sinful. Avoid evil temptations, let's spend the next 2 weeks making bookmarks!

You can submit a new bookmark every day, work on one bookmark for 2 weeks, or post bookmarks randomly. This is the most laid-back art challenge on the internet, & that means you have plenty of time to make your art however you want. Just make sure you tag me @KarinWanderer so I see it!

Use #KWPrompts #Bookmark &/or tag me so I can see how you think!

Pick your social & post your art! Mastodon Bluesky Cara

All art styles & skill levels are welcome- beginner to expert, renaissance painting to rough sketch! No AI, Yes alt text, CW as needed. Have a fantastic day, draw something for my art challenge, see you next week!

Get my art on mugs & vinyl stickers in my Shop!

Donate to support my works & get cool perks on Ko-Fi

Join us for #KWPrompts, a biweekly art challenge!

Find me on Linktree

• All pictures posted are my own work.
• All reviews are my own unpaid & unsolicited opinions.

I was going to write a whole article about how important it is to take breaks, but instead I’m going to lead by example. Please, take however long you were going to spend reading this week’s blog & take a break instead. Drink some water, breathe a little, relax your jaw.

We’ll get back to our regularly scheduled program next Tuesday. See you then!

Get my art on mugs & vinyl stickers in my Shop!

Donate to support my works & get cool perks on Ko-Fi

Join us for #KWPrompts, a biweekly art challenge!

Find me on Linktree

• All pictures posted are my own work.
• All reviews are my own unpaid & unsolicited opinions.

Every 2 weeks I post a new art challenge prompt! The new #KWPrompts is #Landscape Landscapes are one of the top subjects in art throughout history & around the world. From ink to oil to fibers, everyone loves a good landscape!

Don’t want to limit yourself to standard Terran environments? You don’t have to! Make Martian vistas, or ones nobody has seen before, or ones nobody should ever see! Let’s spend the next 2 weeks thinking about landscapes!

You can submit a new picture every day, work on one picture for 2 weeks, or post pictures randomly. This is the most laid-back art challenge on the internet, & that means you have plenty of time to make your art however you want. Just make sure you tag me @KarinWanderer so I see it!

Use #KWPrompts #Landscape &/or tag me so I can see how you think!

Pick your social & post your art! Mastodon Bluesky Cara

All art styles & skill levels are welcome- beginner to expert, renaissance painting to rough sketch! No AI, Yes alt text, CW as needed. Have a fantastic day, draw something for my art challenge, see you next week!

Get my art on mugs & vinyl stickers in my Shop!

Donate to support my works & get cool perks on Ko-Fi

Join us for #KWPrompts, a biweekly art challenge!

Find me on Linktree

• All pictures posted are my own work.
• All reviews are my own unpaid & unsolicited opinions.

Hello & Hello Again! We are talking about paints today. I usually avoid mentioning brands, because no one is paying me. Today I need to specify that I use Daniel Smith watercolors. Every brand has their own unique spin on a color- it may be a little cooler, or more transparent, etc, compared to other brands. If you love a shade you see from a specific brand, buy that color in that brand! If you really like a shade but think it could be better, check out that color in different brands! #NotSponsored

Welcome back to our ColorFull series!

Colors have great names. Paint colors doubly so.

Alizarin Crimson. Quinacridone Pink. Isoindoline Yellow. Some paint names make immediate sense, like Sap Green. Some make no sense whatsoever, like Elephant’s Breath. One color I have always wondered about is…

Payne’s Gray

Payne’s Gray is one of my most frequently-used colors. It is an absolutely lovely shade of blue-gray. At its most concentrated it is almost black, which shows more & more blue as you dilute it. It makes for lovely shadows, & nothing matches that blue-black you find in cats’ fur better. I use just a touch of it mixed with other colors all the time. I blend it with other colors so often, in fact, that I had a hard time finding paintings that actually show off the color itself.

Good thing one of the past #KWPrompts was #Monochrome!

Payne’s Gray was named after William Payne. Although he sounds like an old-timey vampire in a YA novel, William Payne was a watercolor artist. He supported himself by tutoring other watercolorists, & eventually gained a measure of renown. Landscapes were his specialty.

An alien mountain range full of giant butterflies, as Payne intended.

There are a lot of stories about why, exactly, Payne made his Gray. The most popular one is that he was trying to make a mixer that had a lot of the qualities of black, but was less overpowering. If that was the reason, he certainly succeeded. As I mentioned, I mix & blend with this color all the time! My favorite story is a bit different. It is said that Payne, in his work as a watercolor tutor who specialized in landscapes, got absolutely fed up with having to mix the perfect shade of blue-gray to portray mountains off in the distance. He solved this problem by inventing the perfect color for it! As a teacher, I empathize- anything to cut down on lesson prep.

Payne was a good artist. By all accounts he loved art & he enjoyed teaching others. His paintings are on display in many private & public collections. But his biggest contribution to art was definitely the Gray. Payne’s Gray plays beautiful games with the atmosphere & depth of a painting. It is important to remember that Payne’s Gray loses some of its cool as it ages & becomes a more neutral gray. If you look at his surviving original works, you may not see Payne’s Gray! While Payne’s Gray initially came out for Winsor & Newton watercolors, it is now available in just about every brand & type of paint I could think of to check. I love this color!

This Yellow Robin has Payne’s Gray in its feathers

What’s your favorite color name? Is it the same as your favorite color? Let me know! You can find me everywhere

Tune in on future #ColorFull Tuesdays to learn more!

We’ll be talking about how our ancestors made pigments & what they used them for. We’ll be talking about how we currently make pigments & what we use them for. We’ll be talking about how we physically see color, how we categorize it, & how we organize it. We’ll be getting down to brass tacks & talking about specific colors! It’s going to be a wild ride.

My 2-week #KWPrompts art challenge is ongoing!

We still have another week of the #Sky prompt Check out the #KWPrompts list for more info!

Get my art on mugs & vinyl stickers in my Shop!

Donate to support my works & get cool perks on Ko-Fi

Join us for #KWPrompts, a biweekly art challenge!

Find me on Linktree

• All pictures posted are my own work.
• All reviews are my own unpaid & unsolicited opinions.

Every 2 weeks I post a new art challenge prompt! The new #KWPrompts is #Sky

Your skies can be any colors you like!

Don’t want to limit yourself to already existing skies? You don’t have to! Make terrestrial skies, or ones nobody has seen before, or ones nobody should ever see! If you live somewhere that allows you to see the stars, please know that I envy you deeply. Let’s spend the next 2 weeks thinking about the skies!

I’m realizing I have tons of cloud reference & barely any cloud paintings…

You can submit a new picture every day, work on one picture for 2 weeks, or post pictures randomly. This is the most laid-back art challenge on the internet, & that means you have plenty of time to make your art however you want. Just make sure you tag me @KarinWanderer so I see it!

Join me in painting lots of clouds!

Use #KWPrompts #Sky &/or tag me so I can see how you think!

Pick your social & post your art! Mastodon Bluesky Cara

All art styles & skill levels are welcome- beginner to expert, renaissance painting to rough sketch! No AI, Yes alt text, CW as needed.

Have a fantastic day, draw something for my art challenge, see you next week! I'll save you a search: the title is from a poem by Emily Dickinson

Get my art on mugs & vinyl stickers in my Shop!

Donate to support my works & get cool perks on Ko-Fi

Join us for #KWPrompts, a biweekly art challenge!

Find me on Linktree

• All pictures posted are my own work.
• All reviews are my own unpaid & unsolicited opinions.

Every 2 weeks I post a new art challenge prompt! The new #KWPrompts is #Bears

I do not paint bears often

Don’t want to limit yourself to already existing bears? You don’t have to! Make traditional bears, or ones nobody has seen before, or ones nobody should ever see! If you live somewhere that allows you to safely photograph bears, please know that I envy you deeply. Let’s spend the next 2 weeks thinking about bears!

I practically never paint bears

You can submit a new picture every day, work on one picture for 2 weeks, or post pictures randomly. This is the most laid-back art challenge on the internet, & that means you have plenty of time to make your art however you want. Just make sure you tag me @KarinWanderer so I see it!

These may be all the bears I’ve ever painted

Use #KWPrompts #Bears &/or tag me so I can see how you think!

Pick your social & post your art! Mastodon Bluesky Cara

All art styles & skill levels are welcome- beginner to expert, renaissance painting to rough sketch! No AI, Yes alt text, CW as needed.

Have a fantastic day, draw something for my art challenge, see you next week! I'll save you a search: the title is from “Grizzly Bear Blues” by Corb Lund

Get my art on mugs & vinyl stickers in my Shop!

Donate to support my works & get cool perks on Ko-Fi

Join us for #KWPrompts, a biweekly art challenge!

Find me on Linktree

• All pictures posted are my own work.
• All reviews are my own unpaid & unsolicited opinions.