TUTORIALS & TIPS WILL NOT

IMPROVE YOUR COLORING

"Hello, Cookie", intermediate adult coloring with alcohol markers + colored pencil. Color Wonk lessons in realism from Amy Shulke. | VanillaArts.com

You don’t need more coloring classes,

You need art lessons.

Fine art lessons for artistic colorists

COLOR WONK

INTERMEDIATE COLORING

MONTHLY MARKER + COLORED PENCIL INSTRUCTION WITH AMY SHULKE

You’re tired of just coloring.

There are lots of amazing marker artists and you want to be one of them!

  • Everyone said "learn how to blend", so you did!

  • They said "practice, practice, practice", so did that too

YouTube videos, tutorials, coloring classes— you’ve tried ‘em all.

But it’s never enough information to color the way you want.

WANT TO DO MORE THAN BLEND?

It's not like you want to be a great artist making art for museums...

You just want to color better than you do right now.

Previous Color Wonk Projects:

  • “Sushi Heart”, intermediate alcohol marker + colored pencil. Realism adult coloring lessons. | VanillaArts.com
  • “Candy Color”, intermediate alcohol marker + colored pencil. Realism adult coloring lessons. | VanillaArts.com
  • “A Little Something”, intermediate alcohol marker + colored pencil. Realism adult coloring lessons. | VanillaArts.com
  • “Acorn Variations”, intermediate alcohol marker + colored pencil. Realism adult coloring lessons. | VanillaArts.com
  • “Giant Allium”, advanced alcohol marker + colored pencil. Realism adult coloring lessons. | VanillaArts.com
  • Strawberry Toast, intermediate alcohol marker + colored pencil. Realism adult coloring lessons. | VanillaArts.com

Professional Illustrator, Amy Shulke shares a fine-arts approach to coloring

Color Wonk combines my love of simple and effective coloring…

with lessons I’ve learned in years of art school and my work as a technical illustrator.

I’m not teaching tricks I read about yesterday. I teach coloring the same way artists learn to draw and paint.

Improve your coloring by improving how you think about color

  • Intermediate Level

  • Copic Markers & Prismacolor Pencils

  • Minimal Supply lists

  • Maximum Impact

Good coloring happens between your ears - it's not about your hands

Color Wonk focuses on:

  • Form

    Stop collecting fake-looking novelty techniques. Color Wonks learn to sculpt realistic forms with color. Never be stuck waiting for instructions about which colors to use and where to shade.

  • Creativity

    It’s easy to follow step-by-step instructions but what about the projects YOU want to color? Color Wonks learn the process for choosing and using color to develop your unique artistic voice.

  • Confidence

    There’s more to beautiful coloring than blending combinations and shading. Learn the same skills artists have used for centuries to color anything, any time, any way you want.

Join Anytime - Non Sequential Lessons

We mix it up every month, so everyone is always new to every lesson.

We also repeat similar concepts several times a year, with a fresh project and new approach — you’ll receive a well-rounded education no matter when you join.

Join when you’re ready. There’s always something new and something worth practicing again.

Starting at $25 a month, choose your level of participation

Already a Blend, Point, or UP student? Log into your Mighty account and use the PURCHASE page here.

How Color Wonk works:

Enroll today for instant access to this month’s lesson. Print the line art and gather your colors from the supply list. Read through the guidebook to color on your own or wait for the livestream demonstration.

Every month, join Amy live for a real time demonstration + Q&A. You’ll see the entire coloring process but Amy also shares details about how the colors work, tips for success, plus honest talk about the artistic process. Can’t make the live broadcast? No problem! Wonkstream recordings are available for 12 months.

Share your project in the community forum, ask questions, get feedback, and chat about art supplies. We’ve also got a year’s worth of videos in the archive, just waiting for you to watch and learn.

Color Wonks say:

  • I love florals but always found them too complicated...

    After a year of training with Amy, I am confident and love analysing references and interpreting color schemes for my own projects. Basic tips brought my work to a whole new level. I can do this for any project i work on!

    - Diane V.

  • Color Wonk has deepened my understanding of colors and coloring techniques.

    I appreciate how each project focuses on a different skill or concept. Having always viewed myself as someone with no artistic skills, I'm in awe of how Amy’s classes have enabled me to color projects with realism.

    - Lyris X.

  • I look forward to each Color Wonk project.

    There's always something to learn and build from in the projects. The members of the group are supportive in the forum. I’ve gained new skills [which] spill over into other areas of my life… like putting an outfit together, decorating, as well as nature. It’s also a great way to reduce stress.

    - Jacqueline S.

  • Thank god for Color Wonk, the perfect solution!

    Useful, informative, no-nonsense, and exactly the type of art that finally felt like home to me: realism. It is so wonderful to see my finished project come together. And every project focuses on an extra, different skill. Thank you Amy for teaching and guiding us!

    - Nakita H.

  • Amy incorporates art concepts with practical advice…

    Color Wonk classes provide fun technical challenges each month that continue to grow my abilities as a colorist. Her advice, patience and humor make the lessons enjoyable as well as informative. I will continue to recommend Amy to anyone I talk to about the art of coloring.

    - Carla H.

Starting at $25 a month, choose your level of participation

Already a Blend, Point, or UP student? Log into your Mighty account and use the PURCHASE page here.

This month in Color Wonk:

March 2025

Do you automatically reach for white to highlight everything?

It probably works but it’s not very realistic. This chocolate cookie isn’t shiny or wet, so white highlights definitely send the wrong signal.

Hello, Cookie! explores how artists create natural depth and dimension without an over-reliance on highlights. We’ve got better tricks up our sleeve!

Our monthly Wonkstream broadcast covers the entire coloring process.

Cookie printables are available for download in March. Watch the livestream recording any time over the next 12 months.

INTERMEDIATE COLORING SKILLS REQUIRED

Beginner techniques like blending, layering, and underpainting will not be covered.

To master these skills before joining Color Wonk, I have two beginner courses. More info here.

 Quick Questions:

  • Color Wonk is for intermediate colorists— but to be honest, most colorists consider themself intermediate no matter how great or small their skills.

    Wonks must be able to smoothly blend Copic or Olo markers without mentally coaching themself through the entire blending process.

    I’m not as concerned about shading. Artists shade differently than colorists and we cover the artist version in every demo.

  • I understand. If you look closely, we don’t use black outlines. Simply by removing the heavy outlines, projects instantly look less like coloring and more like a painting.

    You also have to remember that I’m an artist with a BFA in illustration and 30 years of experience. I keep the techniques simple but sometimes they turn out photorealistic even when I try not to.

    That’s okay, we all color at our own level. I’ll show you my exact steps and even though you’re skeptical, many of your projects will turn out realistic too!

  • No problem. Colored pencils are much easier than markers!

    I don’t do anything fancy with pencils, anyway.

    We cover the pencil technique in every demo and most marker people pick it up easily in just a few projects.

  • Life gets in the way sometimes. It happens to us all. Don’t worry, at the beginning of every month, simply download the printable materials because they expire at the end of each month.

    I record every livestream and they’re kept in the Color Wonk Video Archive for 12 months. Many Wonks print older projects and catch up on missed streams months later.

    Note: You must be a current Color Wonk member to access the Archive. Videos are not downloadable; you must be logged in to watch.

  • Sorry, but no. We’re doing fine art techniques which require artist grade alcohol markers. Despite what you’ve heard or read, inexpensive markers are not the same as Copic and Olo.

    Inexpensive markers can not handle the kind of heavy layering and color mixing we do in Color Wonk or any of my other classes/groups.

    If you absolutely must use student or craft grade markers, then I’m the wrong instructor for you. There are other instructors who can teach you to use them.

STILL NOT SURE?

I get it. You want to color better but you’re iffy about the whole membership thing.

To be honest, I am too. For a 12 years, I offered monthly intermediate classes and sold them individually.

THAT’S 12 CLASSES x 12 YEARS = OMG!

And darn it, that’s just the intermediate stuff! I also teach beginner and advanced classes. My school site was a tangle of classes. Nobody could tell which class to take next and everyone was afraid they’d miss something fun…

Membership makes it easy— for both of us.

OR MAYBE IT’S ME?

Unless I’ve bumped my cart into your’s at the grocery store, you don’t know me.

So here’s a solution: Hop onto my newsletter list.

Every Saturday, I send a fresh FREE lesson. Usually it’s about color theory but we also cover techniques, creativity, and supplies— from a coloring perspective.

Try it out. Try me out. I think you’ll like it.

Join our Amazing Family of Color-lovin’ Wonks

Lessons are non-sequential. Join any time.

Starting at $25 a month, choose your level of participation

Already a Blend, Point, or UP student? Log into your Mighty account and use the PURCHASE page here.