Hey First name / friends!

 

Exciting news! I have a free art licensing Q&A session happening this Friday as part of The Profitable Artist Summit! 

 

It's happening Friday, June 12th at 7:30pm Eastern time! 

 

In addition to the Q&A, there are a bunch of other amazing artist talks to help you grow your business

 

The theme of the summit is Skills That Sell – meaning each talk will be filled with practical strategies and tutorials – no fluff 😄

 

The speaker lineup this year is preeettttyyyy incredible and I'm honored to be included!

This week's #CreateWithCatCoq drawing challenge is based on one of the trends from my 2026 Trend Report – Charms!

 

Charms are having a moment. Bag charms, enamel pins, brooches, patches,

and tiny sewn in badges are becoming a fun way for people to express their

personality. These little objects reflect our interests, tastes, hobbies, and the

things we find cute. They are small, bold, and highly customizable.

 

In surface pattern design, this trend shows up as the rise of the spot illustration.

A spot illustration is a simple, stand alone drawing that is not part of a repeat.

It usually has no background and is meant to sit on its own. These small motifs

are perfect for stationery, cards, product packaging, stickers, gift tags, and any

design that needs a tiny focal point.

 

Spot illustrations don’t need to be detailed or complex. In fact, their charm

comes from keeping them simple and clear. This is a great way to break out

of the mindset that every piece in your portfolio needs to be a full pattern or

a large hero illustration. Sometimes the strongest commercial pieces are the

smallest motifs.

 

You can even build entire themed collections of these little illustrations. Think

travel icons, hobby themed motifs, seasonal symbols, food and drink charms, or

playful mini objects like dice, tickets, or game pieces. They are quick to create,

fun to use, and incredibly versatile across product categories.

 

The coolest part? She's been pitching it to her dream companies and recently heard back from a potential licensing partner who loved the collection and wanted to see more of her work! 🎉🎉🎉 Just goes to show the power of creating stunning, intentional collections like Karina did!

Karina started by using traditional charm motifs as you'd see them on jewelry. She also included some lettering to make these instantly marketable as greeting cards and products.

 

She utilized mockups to show what the artwork could look like on products (I personally love the “Charmed and Dangerous” makeup bag 💄). And she also incorporated some more generic jeweled motifs, trendy checkered patterns, and some spot illustrations featuring bag charms which were one of the main sources of inspiration for this trend from my trend report. 

 

All in all, it's a breathtaking, marketable collection. I'm not at all surprised that it's getting the attention of the companies she's pitching to! Fabulous work, Karina! 🤗

 

I can't wait to see your take on the charm trend! Make sure to share using the hashtag #CreateWithCatCoq and tag me @catcoq in the post (not just the caption) so I can see what you make! I can't wait to see your take on this prompt! ✨

Here are a few of the amazing submissions from our last challenge! 

 

Make sure to click on the photos to see each artist on Instagram and give them some love! When we help each other grow, we all rise : )

 

And here's a fun bonus feature! A member of our community, Cassie (@cassandraeclark12)  shared that she and her daughters watercolored together last week and that her daughter painted an axolotl as part of the challenge!

 

They also followed along with my blog post where I share four watercolor techniques to try! Check out that blog post here!

 

Have a fabulous week!