Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Coffee and Love


If you know me at all, you know I love coffee!  I've loved it since high school.  There is no other scent or flavor that signals the morning for me. In college, my coffee maker was continuously brewing for me and my podmates. We didn't care what brand of coffee we used, we were only interested in the liquid fuel.

When I became a teacher, I started out taking a thermos of coffee. When that wasn't enough, I brought my own coffee make for my classroom. I remember my Chem 2 students were concerned for my health, so I assigned them to extract the amount of caffeine I was consuming a day. Needless to say, it was more than what was recommended.

The only time I quit drinking was during my pregnancies and during my nursing period. Most were shocked that I had more than one child. I rarely drank decaf because I thought the residue from the chemicals used to decaffeinate the coffee would be more harmful than the actual caffeine.  

Today, I use the Keurig. But I stopped buying the pods because you can't easily recycle them. So now, I use my handy attachment to make my own pods. I actually like making my pods because I can adjust the intensity of my brew. So with all this love for coffee, I was somewhat surprised that I had only done one art piece with a coffee theme before the one you see above.  Here's my previous one.


I think I'm going to do a series of these coffee-themed art.  Should be fun!

For today's piece, I used my new favorite art supply - Derwent Inktense Pencils.  These look like colored pencils, but they activate with water-based media and when dry, they are permanent because the pencil is ink-based.  One of my favorite techniques I use with Inktense is to activate with gesso, which produces a softer look.


If I had activated this with water, the color would have been much more intense.  Gesso, which is an acrylic base, is milky and gritty.  It's almost like using white paint with ink. 


Now it's time to add details and depth. I wasn't really going for realism, just to make it look plausible. For this, I used colored pencils.  Because I used gesso, the colored pencils go on darker. And I blended them with rubbing alcohol.  What's nice about using rubbing alcohol is that it has enough water that it will also activate the remaining Inktense. The result is what you see above.  

The quote is a German Proverb. I chose this after reading my friend, Brad's blog post on Wednesday. When the relationship is new, the spark is always there. And when you've been married for 17 years sometimes you have to stoke the embers to get the fire going again. 

Time for another cup of coffee.



19 comments:

  1. Very nice, Ms Kari. I've been drinking coffee since I was twelve years old. I was in charge of brewing my mother's pot every morning. This was back when you cooked it on the stove. After several burnt pot handles, I finally got the hang of it. I'd drink the day old coffee before making a new pot. My mother caught on to what I was doing and told me I may as well drink the fresh :) . One of the few fond memories I have of my childhood. I make my own half-caff now. Half Folgers Black Silk and half anything decaffeinated. I do like that proverb. After forty years our fire has settled into a comforting warmth with an occasional flare up or two :D .
    Terrific pictures, Angelcake. I think a series is a wonderful idea!
    Deedles

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    1. Thanks, Deedles. You must be doing something right if you are both still in love after 40 years.. Must be the coffee.. ❤️

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  2. Loved how you engaged your students when they were concerned about your caffeine intake. That learning style is so perfect!

    And the colors you used in your coffee artwork are so perfect. :)

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    1. Ms Yukari, you have such a great way of illustrating your storyline. They are so perfect together and once I see/read it is hard to imagine them apart. Well done

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    2. Matt, I was probably a second year teacher when they did the experiment. It took two weeks and a lot of broken glass tubing but it was so much fun!

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  3. Gorgeous painting. I love the technique of blending weather soluble media with paint or gesso. I am a tea fiend myself... But understand the sentiment :)

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    1. Thanks, Shel.. Maybe I'll try using some vibrant neon colors like you next time!!

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  4. Oh wonderful. I love blending and drinking coffee. hehehe. my favorite things. :)
    hugs

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    1. My coffee cup is never too far from whatever I'm creating. 😊

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  5. I'm a huge coffee fan too. This art would look great in a kitchen or in a cafe. Don't you think?

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    1. What an excellent idea, Mia

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    2. My kitchen is full of my art... Maybe in your kitchen, Mia..

      Matty, I would say your kitchen, but that wouldn't be right... It's Brad's kitchen.. 😊

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  6. Mmm, coffee, yes but I wanted to talk about the pencils! :D I have something similar although I really have no idea what I'm doing with them. I love the effect though, it's like creating water colors out of pencils or at least that's what it makes me think of. I have no drawing skills but I still like playing around with arts supplies.

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    1. Allison, you don't necessarily need drawing skills to create art! Playing with color and lighting can create gorgeous images.. Definitely go play!!

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  7. Love how you explained the steps. I may just get some of those pencils. They sound pretty neat. :)

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    1. Lili, the Inktense pencils and blocks are wonderful. They are not cheap but worth every penny!

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