Learn The Basic Coffee Painting Techniques For Beginner

Basic Coffee Painting Techniques For Beginners

Basic materials required for a coffee painting

- - Instant coffee
  - Water
  - Watercolor paper
  - A set of brushes
  - Paper scotch
  - A color palette for mixing

Techniques and tips to watercolor are used in coffee paintings

USING TREATED PAPER

Treated paper such as waxed paper will modify the behavior of the coffee mixture and offer a new set of textures and possibilities at a slower drying pace.

CREATING GRADIENTS

Gradients are easy to obtain and, similar to water-coloring, you can use a wet surface technique which is easy to control or the dry paper technique which will require more attention from your part.

THE BLEED EFFECT

Allow the coffee mixture to drip on your design and create vintage looking backgrounds.

THE BLOOM EFFECT

Use coffee of different intensities and allow the drops to mix in an incredible bloom effect.

ABSTRACT PAINTING

Splashes, flicks of the brush will create very modern, abstract creations that can beautifully contrast with a classical in between the lines creation.

ADDING DETAILS WITH A NON-WATERPROOF PEN

Finish off a piece by adding contrast with a non-waterproof pen and add a touch of water in the end for an interesting unique appeal.

1. Start by arranging your working space

Set all of your required instruments and materials on the working space and at your disposal. You can use instant coffee to create different intensities for your solution and add more water until you reach the optimum medium. Acquire a variety of brushes varying from the classical flat brush you are going to use to cover large surfaces faster to delicate slim pointy bushes for inserting precise details. Have a pencil and an eraser near for sketching your future creation and a role of scotch tape to secure the watercolor thick absorbent paper to prevent it from wrinkling.

2. Take a glass of clean water and a flat brush

You can take any size of paper, depending on what you are about to create, a glass of fresh clean water and a rather large flat brush. Set your working area somewhere in the sun for faster drying or if you must work indoors use a blow-drier to speed up the process. Coffee painting, similar to watercolor painting is all about adding more and more wet layers and having the patience to allow each layer to dry and the color to set.

3. Prepare the paper and fix it to your working ground

Take the piece of paper and secure it in place with scotch tape. Then take the flat brush and water and fill the paper until it is glistening. This technique is called the wet surface watercolor wash and can be used for coffee painting as well. You could start with a coffee layer applied uniformly to use as your background and construct your design from there on.

4. Use clean water to create splashes on your colored ground

After having applied the first coffee layer as a background you can create texture by applying water drops and splashes. The clean water will dilute the coffee and push it to the corners of the created shapes. The same principle can be applied to coffee drops used for accents.

6. Create a basic raw sketch

You can start the hole process by sketching your future design before fixing the paper or you can improvise and get creative step by step. We have sketched a basic undetailed scene on which he have added several layers of coffee mixture and water.

7. Add colorful accents to make everything stand out

We have added turquoise watercolor accents that complement the hues of the coffee mixture. We have used masking fluid to preserve certain areas clean and white.We we are not interested in preserving a clean contour of the drawing ad allowed the solution to float over edges and merge but, as a beginner, you should master the technique of coloring in between the lines before trying more liberal approaches. One great advantage of using coffee mixtures is the fact that you can always correct mistakes with more clean water and a piece of paper tissue.

Coffee Painting Ideas And Projects

Now that we have gone through the rather simple process of coffee painting, delight your senses and allow yourself to get inspired by a few wonderful professional coffee painting creations.

Create urban landscapes using coffee

A delicate fairy scenery

A surreal coffee portrait created on a vintage piece of paper

Reviving the natural from a cup of coffee

Leaving your fingerprint with a twist

A superb representation of a romantic city

The geek in you brought to life in coffee

With one swift motion you can bring things to life

Beautiful depiction of textures and depth

What do you think about the creative idea of using coffee to paint? Is it something you have tried or would dare try? We would love to hear your opinion on this topic in the comment section below.

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