It’s play time~ Sometimes one of the most important things an artist can do is simply play~! Learn your materials and tools~ A new brush changes pressure, movement, and line quality. A new paper changes how water flows, blooms, lifts, and settles. Every material has its own personality, and before mastery comes exploration. Not every session needs to produce a finished masterpiece. Some days are for testing, experimenting, making a mess, discovering happy accidents, and learning how your tools want to move with you instead of against you. Play is not wasted time~! Play is research~!!! Play is relationship building between the artist and their medium. So if your desk is covered in swatches, brush marks, strange color combinations, half-finished florals, or experiments that “went nowhere” you may actually be learning more than you realize. 🌿🎨

To all the mothers, grandmothers, chosen mothers, caretakers, mentors, and guiding hands out there~ Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at The Art Collective International. 💐 Today is for the people who nurture quietly behind the scenes. The ones who hold families together, encourage creativity, offer warmth during difficult seasons, and somehow continue giving even when exhausted themselves. Art, in many ways, is often born from care. From recipes passed down through generations. From gardens lovingly tended year after year. From songs, stories, traditions, fabrics, photographs, paintings and laughs~ and especially memories kept alive because someone chose to preserve them. Thank you for all the ways you help shape the world around you. 🌸

I just participated in my first Saturday call in ACI! It's always so fun to reconnect with friends and just as special to meet new ones! Such a gift to meet you @Brenda M and @Maizi. Exe🥰 Saturday mornings are usually filled with rush, rush - getting my son to parkour / gymnastics class, but today was a wonderful, slow morning filled with art, drawing, learning again, and giggles about creative learning! I look forward to next time! Thank you @Hansheng Lee and @Christopher Foster opening space for us to play and share art! Such a blessing!

What are you in the middle of right now? Not the finished piece~ Not the polished version~ Your current work as it is~ Drop your WIP below 👇 Sketches, drafts, half-finished pieces, experiments~ all of it is welcome here. If you’re stuck, even better~ tell us where you’re at. Sometimes all you need is a shift in perspective from a different point of view~ ^_^ Let’s see what everyone’s building this week~ 🛠️✨

I’ve drawn some new ideas that I want to multi-facet it. I plan to make the chibi character as a reactive PNG to use and maybe make a pixelated version of everything. The mouse, keyboard and controller I think it’d be better if it’s more detailed. Some of these can be black and white or colored. Maybe even a repeatable pattern! What do you all think would be a good start?