The Aromatic Style in Painting: Using Instant Coffee
By Rey mos
30 Oct 2010
Sketching/painting is only a past time to complement my interest in photography. With photography, I can now capture my artwork and share it online.
Inspired by a Filipina artist/painter, few days ago I decided to try if it will work. An ordinary sketch pad, brush and diluted instant coffee, I transformed my favourite subject, Trees into shiny sepia looking images.
One of the challenges to make it work is to get the right blend between water and the powdered/granuled instant coffee. The shades and textures can be controlled by the amount of water added to the coffee granules. I just use a tap water or re-use water and even the left-over from your cup to dilute the pure coffee. But maybe in the future, I will try to use warm/hot water and find out what will be the "old-look" effect on paper.
It is also interesting to blend or mix with other medium. For example, I tried to blend (not mix) coffee with choco powder but the latter does not provide a strong shiny brown effect on paper. I did try the Hershey's choco flavour which is quite effective despite its stickiness, it provided an added volume and luster on the surface of the subject.
Coffee painting is easy and the materials are affordable. It does not require a studio or a special place to do it. Even while sipping your favourite latte o cappuccino inside a coffee shop, with your brush and paper, you can paint instantly.
For an 8X12 paper size, I can normally complete my painting between 20-30 minutes, depending on the details of my subject. If I wanted a densely landscape, then it would require additional details and shades of the background.
It smells good while doing it! Have a try...
2 responses
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Joan C Samuelson gave props (11 Nov 2010):
I love this idea and your pictures are beautiful.
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Robin Perkins gave props (27 Nov 2010):
VERY COOL, got my vote.
