The current #KWPrompts is #Seabird. (Find more info about the KWPrompts art challenge here.) My drawings of penguins inspired someone to talk a bit of trash about puffins, saying “Nothing that looks that much like a penguin should be flying. It is morally wrong.” Well, I'm not here to judge morality. I'm here to infodump about puffins & recommend bird art books. Lucky you!

Puffins Are Magic

1. Puffins, like the penguins they resemble, are amazing swimmers
2. Puffins, unlike the penguins they resemble, are decent fliers. In spite of looking like roly-poly stuffed animals, they can reach up to 55 mph in the air.
3. Baby puffins are called pufflings & they are every bit as fluffy & cute as their name implies.
4. Puffin bills are serrated, allowing them to hold onto fish they have already caught while grabbing even more. This is why you so often see pictures of puffins with beaks full of fish
5. Puffin beaks literally grow a more colorful outer shell during mating season. Afterwards they shed their brightly decorative layers & spend the winter with plain orange beaks.

Good Books for Birds

1. Painting Birds: Expressive Watercolour Techniques by Sarah Stokes
2. The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds by John Muir Laws (I linked directly to the bird books, but the whole John Muir Laws website is worth checking out. It has lots of free drawing guides & tutorials.)
3. I have heard good things about Drawing Birds by Raymond Sheppard but the wait list at the library is so long I have not managed to read it yet.

#NotSponsored

Join the art challenge!

Use #KWPrompts #Seabird & tag @KarinWanderer so I see it!

Pick your social & post your art Mastodon Bluesky Cara

This art challenge lasts until next Tuesday. You can submit a new picture every day, work on one picture the whole time, or post pics 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.

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, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled Tuesday post next week, see you then!

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• 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 #ArtABCs, a year-long art challenge!

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• 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 #LimitedPalette

Two colors

What counts as a “limited palette” is up to you! Will you limit yourself to only 2 colors? Only analogous colors? Only neon? Let's spend the next 2 weeks focusing on what we can do within these arbitrary boundaries. Would you like to learn more? Check out is Hazel Soan’s The Art of the Limited Palette (#NotSponsored)

Three colors

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

Pick your social & post your art! Mastodon Bluesky

Three colors

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

Three colors This duck was supposed to just use yellow & sienna, but then I splattered it with blue from another painting & didn't notice until it had dried. Always protect you work, friends, & be prepared to roll with your mistakes!

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 #ArtABCs, a year-long art challenge!

Find me

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

New #KWPrompts: #Birds

It’s that time again! A new prompt for my bi-weekly art challenge! I have been thinking a lot about birds lately. Join me!

I Had A Visitor Recently

This gorgeous friend came & peered in my window the other day. I have been drawing birds ever since! I think this is a Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk.

Put A Bird On It!

For the next 2 weeks my art prompt theme is birds. Show me your birds! Don’t want to draw a whole bird? That’s OK too

The Boy & the Heron

Starting this art challenge was one of my new year’s resolutions. Another resolution was to use art to motivate myself to leave the house more. This might sound silly, but I am agoraphobic so bribing myself to go out is necessary! This month my art excursion was going to a movie theater to watch the latest Studio Ghibli movie. It was gorgeous, & it had so many, many birds in it! I’ve never seen a Ghibli movie on the big screen before. I am so happy that I finally did! (#NotSponsored)

Show Us Your Birds

Want more birds? You’re in luck!I posted new pictures of birds with the art prompt at the links below. Check them out & share your own!

#KWPrompts #Birds

Tag me @KarinWanderer &/or #KWPrompts so I see your art!

Show me how you think! No AI, Yes alt text, CW as needed.

Mastodon Bluesky IG (IG users please be sure to @Karin.Wanderer, IG does not show me people who only use the #)

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 #ArtABCs, a year-long art challenge!

Find me

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

Last time, on King Ink: I insinuated that I was going to tell you which #ink was best, then left you with a cliffhanger about how ‘the ink an artist works with is a very personal decision.’ I have since gotten hate mail, death threats, & absolutely wild offers of ancient family secrets & firstborn children. “Karin,” you collectively sob, “Please! Don’t leave us in suspense! What is the best ink?!” I will now tell you, if only to stop the steady stream of infants being left at my front door. The best ink is…

Sumi

Why? Because it’s the one I use. I told you, it’s a very personal decision! Sumi is a traditional Japanese ink. How long ago was this tradition established? Well, long enough that the word sumi literally means black ink in Japanese! This undiluted ink is a glorious black, & when diluted it gives a lovely range of grays to play with. It is permanent, with certain types used for tattoos. This ink is preferred by my favorite artist (Stan Sakai) as well as my second favorite artist (me). What makes this ink unlike any other ink? Read on to find out!

I painted this with sumi & a single shade of blue watercolor.

Carbon Ink

There are many different kinds of carbon ink. ‘Carbon’ is also often referred to as ‘soot’ or ‘lampblack’. Sumi is a carbon ink. Other carbon inks include India Ink (which actually originated in China). ‘Carbon’ ink is a very literal name for it; the pigment for this ink is made from the soot of burned wood, resin, or oil. Collecting the soot is a painstaking process, & only the first step involved in turning that soot into ink! Ancient recipes for carbon ink involve mixing the soot with water & a binder such as gum arabic, which is also used in watercolors. While many modern ink recipes still use carbon black pigment, their recipes are much more complex. Every carbon ink is different.

Plum blossoms are a very popular subject for ink painting, & one of my favorites.

A Word of Warning!

One thing I would like to make clear: sumi is not vegan. Lots of ink isn’t. If this is important to you, always check thoroughly! Check the type of ink, the brand of ink, & the specific color of ink you are purchasing. I started using sumi because my favorite artist does, back before it ever occurred to me that ink wouldn’t be vegan. (While I am not personally vegan, I do prefer to know when I am using something that contains animal products!)

How Is Sumi Made?

Sumi is made from soot (often from pine resin or rapeseed oil) mixed with animal glue (often egg whites or fish skin). Sometimes incense or other ingredients are added, but they are not required. This makes a soft, claylike lump that is kneaded until it is a glossy, uniform black. It is then pressed into molds and left to dry. It can be used immediately once dried, but sumi sticks are believed to improve with age.

This was painted with sumi & a white gel pen.

Sumi Rumors I Keep Hearing But Can’t Prove… Yet.

• A 70-year-old stick is “perfect”, which is to say it is nicely aged but not so old it has become crumbly. A crumbly ink stick is not wasted, it can be mixed with new animal glue and re-formed into a new ink stick. The new stick will then need to be re-aged, as it is the animal glue partially decomposing that makes it “nicely aged.”
• The highest quality sumi is a neutral grey when diluted. High-to-middle quality sumi is often blue-grey when diluted. Low quality is brown in tone.
• The highest quality of undiluted sumi reflects the least light, both wet & dry.

This was painted with sumi & white ink.

Is It Always A Stick?

Today, Sumi can be purchased in many forms. The traditional ink stick required you to use a grinding stone to mix the ink with a small amount of water to create the ink. While I do have a few small ink sticks & a stone, most of the ink for my paintings come out of a bottle. (#NotSponsored but I love this ink so I’ll tell you about it anyway!)

This was painted with the sumi linked above & white gouache.

Books About Sumi & Ink Painting

(#NotSponsored but I love books so I’ll tell you about them anyway!)

• Sumi-e by Shozo Sato

• Japanese Ink Painting by Ryukyu Saito

• The Art and Technique of Sumi-e by Kay Morrissey Thompson

• Special Subjects: Beginning Chinese Brush by Monika Cilmi

• The Spirit of the Brush by Sungsook Hong Setton

• Art of Chinese Brush Painting by Caroline Self & Susan Self

Sumi-e

Oh no, this is getting way too long! This was supposed to be a short piece about my favorite ink! I guess this is Sumi: Part 1, tune in for Part 2 when I will talk about different styles of ink painting, as well as sumi artists whose work I admire. Have you used this ink? What did you think? Let me know on Mastodon & Ko-Fi!

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

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

Join us for #ArtABCs, a year-long art challenge!

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

Every 2 months or so on this blog, we take a break & share a #recipe instead of talking about art. Last time Wolfe3D shared his pizza recipe in my first collaboration. The time before that, I shared my favorite vegan cake recipe Would you like to share a recipe in a future blog post? Let me know!

This week, we’re making Plum Tea!

This recipe is delicious hot or iced.

Ingredients

• 4 ripe plums
• 1 cup sugar – any kind
• 1 cup water
• Lots of ice
• Your favorite tea*

*I used Apricot Medley (#NotSponsored) this time, but have made this recipe in the past with many different herbal & black teas. Part of the fun of this recipe is getting to experiment with whatever tea you like!

Directions

• Stem, pit, & quarter 4 plums. You do not need to peel them. If the plums are very small, you only need to cut them in half- but you may need 5-6 plums to get the same results.

• Put the plums into a tall pot with 1 cup of water & 1 cup of sugar.

• Bring to a boil, remove pot from heat, & let sit, covered, for 20 min.

• Uncover, remove plums, & let the simple syrup cool.

• Pass the time by eating the extra-delicious plums on fruit salad, granola, ice cream, etc. They will keep in the fridge for at least a day, maybe longer- but they get eaten so fast in this house I’ve never managed to find out how long!

• Fill ½ of a pitcher with ice, then fill ⅓ of the pitcher with syrup

• Fill the rest of the pitcher with your favorite iced tea.

I love that this one recipe makes both drinks & snacks, with minimal effort. The hardest part is waiting for the syrup to cool!

We’ll get back to talking about art next week. Is there an author or topic you want me to cover? Let me know on Mastodon or Ko-Fi!

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

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

Join us for #ArtABCs, a year-long art challenge!

Find me

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