Art Blog: Cream, Coffee, Sugar Cubes & Scones

A few days ago, I painted another picture. This time, I wanted to paint something really interesting. Food is usually fun to paint, so I thought I’d narrow it down to a type of food.

I brainstormed and drew a bunch of thumbnail sketches of people holding ice cream cones, a sundae, breakfast foods, but the idea of painting coffee really appealed to me more than anything else. I’m not sure why, really, because I don’t drink too much coffee and think of coffee as more of a treat than a daily ritual. That could be why…

I started my painting off by blocking out a warm pink background and brown table. I wanted to create a cozy atmosphere that would appeal to someone waking up early in the morning.

I made the coffee mug a creamy beige to accent the creamy coffee inside, and I added sugar cubes and scones just to look pretty. But they could suggest that the coffee is sweet…and good to eat with scones.

My brother said that after looking at the painting, he went to get some coffee. That could be a good sign...?

Something interesting to note is that there are different surfaces pictured in this painting. There are glass containers, a wood table, a paper napkin, a metal pitcher and spoon and a ceramic mug and plate. There are certain techniques artists can use to make each of these types of materials appear ‘real,’ but I was not striving to make my picture look completely realistic. That can be very painstaking! And time consuming!

Also, see the poor dead flower on the table? Well, I really wanted to get a flower from the vase in the painting somehow, and this seemed like my only option.

I’m not sure what the brown rectangle at the top left corner of the painting is; I put it there to add balance. But it could be part of a picture frame or a windowsill. It’s all up to the viewer to decide.

Horray for coffee! :)