Art Supply No Buy: Autumn check-in (baby scribbles edition!)

September 26, 2022February 2, 2026 ~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment

I have to admit that I actually bought some art supplies recently, although they are not meant for me! That being said, I haven’t been able to resist using them a bit. I’m fairly certain you all will forgive me considering the circumstances!

My 11 month old daughter recently discovered the joy of scribbling when she got hold of a ballpoint pen. So despite wanting to hold out till the end of the No Buy to introduce her to drawing, we caved and bought her a few art supplies. She tends to hit milestones early, I shouldn’t have been surprised!

“First Scribbles” *Ballpoint pen on wall, collaboration between my daughter and partner, September 19th 2022. Frame by me, gold acrylic paint pen.*

It turns out we might not have needed to buy any art supplies though, as she has figured out the Boogie Board and primarily uses that for her scribbles! Oh well, what’s done is done. She really loves the erase button, she often scribbles just to press it and see it disappear!

We bought her a very cheap pad of paper and a set of 8 larger washable crayons, all for about $5. She mostly bites the crayons and tears the paper, but she’s enjoying the new toys so that’s what matters. I can’t resist a good crayon, so I doodled a sweet Australian pup in my daughter’s sketchbook…

We also found a dinged up magnetic drawing board at the thrift store, admittedly we have gotten far more use out of it than she has! It’s gotten my partner drawing a lot more, so I’m really happy about that. I may still upgrade to a less broken one next year.

*Fun and adorable doodles by my partner,*
*Jasper Rae*.

So while this may be considered a “slip up” in terms of my No Buy, I’m perfectly content with that. No regrets here, only happy memories made! Thanks to this No Buy the purchases were made with intention, so that still feels like a win for me.

I have been feeling a lot more tempted lately, and I’ve occasionally found myself looking forward to the end of this experiment. Overall though I feel an abundance of gratitude towards this No Buy, I feel like I have been extremely productive this year and learned a ton of valuable lessons.

That’s it for now, I have another post very close to ready though, so I’ll see you again soon! Take care, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Collaborations with an Angel

September 5, 2022February 2, 2026 ~ Ari October ~ 2 Comments

My mom’s art alias is Angel. I love when we collaborate! She’s more of a crafter than an illustrator, and I’m more of an illustrator than anything else, so we make a great team!

She traced some of my digitally-drawn coloring pages with acrylic paint pen onto clear plastic sheets to create these “stained glass” crafts. She’s actually the inspiration for the frame mandalas, so seeing her use them in the exact way I envisioned is so satisfying!

*This one has been modified for privacy, obviously.*

Thank you mom, for making such beautiful art with my art! Being a part of collaborations with fellow creatives is one of my greatest joys in life.

Hope you all are having a wonderful Labor Day, thanks for tuning in! Take care, and I will see you in the next post!

A little reminder from Momentum

September 27, 2021February 1, 2026 ~ Ari October ~ Leave a comment

_{(Momentum is a browser extension I use to make the new tab page prettier, lol)}

"Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the best." (Quote from Henry Van Dyke.) — *Such an empowering message, and much more eloquently written than #MAKEBADART! or #ArtIsForEveryone*

I aspire to inspire as many people as possible to pursue creative endeavors.

I hate that so many people feel like they’re “not allowed” to draw/paint/write/sculpt/play an instrument/sing/dance/etc. just because they feel like they weren’t “born talented”. The thing is, “talent” doesn’t matter very much. Talent is just a natural inclination toward certain skills, it’s not truly a natural proficiency toward a specific hobby/craft/art. Drawing and painting are SKILLS that practically ANYONE can learn, given enough time and determination. People without arms have learned how to draw and paint, so I don’t like to hear silly excuses! Practice is what allows artists to become good at their crafts, whether they have “natural” talent or not. Frankly, calling people “talented” when they show you their work is a little insulting, because they worked really hard to get to where they are and you shouldn’t discount that. It’s something most people say though, because most people don’t know any better, so don’t worry too much. We know you just meant to be flattering!

Another thing is that art doesn’t have to be “good” to be worth creating. I love “easy” art, such as paint pouring and throwing, even though many classically trained artists stick their nose up at these mediums. Art should be accessible to people from all walks of life. This is part of why I create coloring pages, I consider coloring to be an artform in and of itself, and I like that providing the line art makes the act of picking up a crayon or marker a lot less intimidating for a lot of people. Every time someone colors one of my coloring pages, it’s a collaboration between myself and them, and I think that’s beautiful. An extra bonus is that I get to be lazy and not color it myself, while still considering the artwork finished! Win-win!

That all being said, you don’t HAVE to pursue anything artistic that you don’t want to. I’m not trying to pressure anyone into picking up a pencil if that’s not a way they genuinely want to spend their time. I just want to empower anyone who’s been longing to do so but is held back by fear. You don’t have to show anyone your work if you feel embarrassed about it, you can keep it all to yourself like a private journal. (I do encourage you to share your work though, in communities of artists around the same skill level as yourself!) Don’t spend so much time worrying about how old you are and how long you could have been at this craft, because until you die it’s NEVER too late to start. I promise!

I’ll leave this off with another quote…

"There is no 'right' way to make art. The only wrong is in not trying, not doing. Don't put barriers up that aren't there - just get to work and make something." (Quote from Lisa Golightly) — *Thanks to My Modern Met for providing the image*… ***see the full article I swiped this from HERE***! *It’s full of all sorts of inspiring quotes like this one, I really enjoyed reading it.*

(Literally nothing in this post was sponsored, I just like to give proper credit to things, sorry if anything came off as advertisement-y lol!)