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On the basketball court, VIS Mentor Rhyne Howard operates within clearly defined lines—sidelines, baselines, the free throw line, the three-point arc. Inside that structure, her smooth and versatile game comes to life. Off the court, the Atlanta Dream guard has found another set of lines to work with. This time, they’re drawn in pencil, ink, and paint.
“I’d say painting is definitely a hobby, and it really helps me. I like to think of it as another set of lines,” Howard said. “On a basketball court, you have the lines you play within—and painting feels like another set of lines I’m operating in. It lets me create my own flow, be inside my own mind, and do my own thing.”
A naturally quiet and reserved person, Howard finds comfort in the solitude painting provides.
As a three-time WNBA All-Star, Olympic bronze medalist in 3x3 at the Paris Games, and the 2022 WNBA No. 1 Draft Pick, Howard’s life is relentlessly structured and constantly visible. Painting offers her a rare chance to slow things down, step away from expectations, and exist fully on her own terms.
“It’s just me and paper and pen, or pencil, or paint—whatever the medium is—and just vibing,” Howard said. “Just having a good time.”
Cartoon characters like Lola and Bugs Bunny are Howard’s favorite subjects to illustrate, often drawn from reference photos rather than memory. In fact, Mickey Mouse is the only character she can sketch without looking at an image. That freedom to choose her subject—and her process—is part of why traditional art classes never really appealed to her. Howard has never been someone who enjoys being put in a box or told what to create.
While her sketches often start with quick, playful cartoons, her creativity doesn’t stop there. Recently, Howard experimented with spray paint for the first time, creating a series of animal portraits—an elephant, a lion, and a giraffe. Each piece uses vibrant color inside the animals themselves, while the rest of the canvas remains black, allowing the expression to come from within the subject.
“It’s kind of geometric, the color is all coming from inside,” Howard said. “I’m going to add more to those and hang them up in my house as living room decor.”
Howard’s creative curiosity doesn’t always stay confined to a canvas. While she doesn’t typically customize clothes, a pair of overalls that she started painting during the WNBA season now sits waiting to be picked back up. And her dream shoe collaboration? SpongeBob, another nod to the cartoons that continue to influence her creative world.
“It’s just me and paper and pen, or pencil, or paint—whatever the medium is—and just vibing. Just having a good time.”
That same willingness to explore and experiment shows up in Howard's game, too. Known as a three-level scorer, elite perimeter shooter, and high-IQ defender, she has built her game on versatility and adaptability. Whether it’s shifting between 5-on-5 play, full-court 3-on-3 in Unrivaled’s fast-paced style, or the tighter spacing and rhythm of Olympic 3x3, Howard adjusts seamlessly. Much like her art, her game resists labels—fluid, creative, and impossible to pin down.
Howard doesn’t see art as separate from who she is as an athlete. If anything, it’s an extension of the same creativity that defines her game. When asked what an alternate Atlanta Dream jersey designed entirely by her would look like, her answer reflected the same layered thinking she brings to both the canvas and the court.
“I’d put our area codes on the back, because we play for the city—we carry the city on our backs,” Howard said. “Include more about the state. Peaches. The blue. Shooting stars. Bring back complexity—something super creative, something only we can wear.”
“On a basketball court, you have the lines you play within—and painting feels like another set of lines I’m operating in. It lets me create my own flow, be inside my own mind, and do my own thing.”
Her instinct to create with meaning, and to share it, came to life in late January through Unrivaled, when Howard auctioned off her own artwork and sent each piece home with a handwritten note to fans. Fans didn’t just purchase art for their walls; they got to see a bit of who Howard is beyond her stat lines.
For Howard, sharing her art never changes why she creates in the first place. Painting is a space where pressure dissolves and creativity takes over. It's another court, another set of lines she colors with her own style and rhythm.
