What's in your cup?

 Sunday usually involves taking a little time out to slow down, reflect, enjoy a cup of --------(fill in the blank). And then enjoy an art break. Whether it's the contents or the cup itself, why not make a sketch of your favorite?

Art in a cup! Make it, paint it, drink it!

 Coffee or tea? Cappuccino or Darjeeling? A cozy white mug or a delicate heirloom china cup?

Section of my sketches from last Friday. See full two page spread here.

Tip: Make two: one to use as your model and one to sip while you paint. Otherwise, trying to wait for your treat while you paint is just too much to ask on a Sunday!

Checking out our own sketchbooks

Jennifer, Tina, Michele and Judy

We made it! Judy Gowdy and I got to the Sketchbook project around 1pm today. I drove from Marysville and Judy from Bellevue. We met Tina Koyama, of USk Seattle, who walked up from Pioneer Square after sketching with the ad hoc group this morning. Tina is lightning fast, and posted her account way ahead of me. :) (see link with her name)

We also met someone new, Jennifer Smith, an artist with a studio at Inscape Arts, the former INS building. She walked over to see what the Sketchbook Project was all about and struck up a conversation with us.
Here we are with our own sketchbooks that we all checked out, plus a random one apiece. We found a nice bench in the shade and traded them around. That way we got to see 8 sketchbooks! Jennifer's were chosen by the librarian, since she doesn't have a book in the project yet.

We would have gotten more books, but the check-out system is a bit challenging. So if you get over there before it ends tomorrow, give yourself a generous amount of time.

One book, that Judy got, was from a New York artist who illustrated the history of the handbag. The sketchbook was beautifully hand bound, with 3-D attachments and patterns for the construction of classic handbags on some of  the pages. At the end, there were tiny drawings of over a dozen classic bags, all in gold ink! Artists are phenomenal, aren't they?

PS I didn't see the food truck today, but I did see a school bus.

Where is the Sketchbook Project Tour now?

From my Sketchbook Project 2014
"The other side of the jungle."

I posted the left side of this two page sketch here.
My challenge was to show both sides of the tropical landscape at a coffee plantation.

I am used to a lot of green here in the Pacific NW, but this landscape tops it! Follow this link to see where the tour of my book is now.

All Perked Up

All Perked Up used to be the name of this coffee stand. I remembered the cute coffee pot shape while reminiscing about those restaurants shaped like milk bottles, teepees, dinosaurs, etc.
It was a fun part of traveling during my childhood.

This coffee stand has changed hands and been repainted. The whole idea of drive through espresso has taken a turn in recent years, too, but that's another subject. :)

Big Foot Java

"Big Foot" drive through
Original Watercolor by Michele Cooper
From the 2014 sketchbook project

They have had these "Big Foot" chain coffee stands around here for quite awhile now. SO very Northwest!
I think the one in my town has taken over two years to finally open. Guess I ought to try it out instead of  just lurk nearby sketching and taking photos from the car! Java!

Coffee Cherries

Coffee Cherries  (7x5")
Original Watercolor by Michele Cooper

Are you dying for some color about now? Me, too!
Here's a page from my 2014 Sketchbook Project with more than grey for color.

We've been taking our crisp, cold, blue skies for granted this past week, and now we're suffused with the usual wet, grey winter atmosphere.

Kualoa Ranch

Three-section foldout from 2014 Sketchbook Project
Original Watercolor by Michele Cooper

I finished my sketchbook and mailed it from Hawaii this year. For those who've been asking, I'm finally posting a few of the sketches from "Michele's South Pacific Studio." :)

Cold Weather Coffee Break

Sketchbook page from 2014 Sketchbook Project
Original Watercolor by Michele Cooper

Last November, I was teaching a watercolor class in Seattle, and I took a walk around the block for a break between sessions.

I took a snapshot of this worker warming up across the street and finally got the opportunity to add it to my sketchbook this winter.

Coffee, White

Original watercolor by Michele Cooper
Pages in the 2014 Sketchbook Project

This is the solution I came up with when I first started taking coffee breaks at work, even though I didn't actually like the taste of coffee.

I've overheard people ordering "coffee, white" when they want milk or cream in their coffee. That's the inspiration for these sketches: everything white that has to do with "black" coffee. It was fun to meet the challenge of painting white objects with transparent watercolor. No opaque white or masking fluid was used to preserve the whites.

Stir it all up

Original watercolor from the 2014 sketchbook project

So if you don't really care for the taste of coffee, but you have mandatory coffee breaks, just fill up your cup with cream, sugar and a few drops of coffee, stir it all up and pretend it's hot cocoa.

Did you notice how I used the color of white and black coffee for the "equal" sign? :) I have to say that my monitor doesn't quite show the real color as it appears in the sketchbook. You'll just have to see the book in person in New York at the Brooklyn Art Library or catch it on tour when it comes to the Pacific NW this year.
(This is a page from my 2014 Sketchbook Project. Click the link for the Digital Library, then search my name for any digitized pages from previous projects I'm in.)

Add Cream

Here's the rest of the sketchbook page. (I posted the sugar section of the sketch last time.) It's part of my formula for a cup of coffee.
The rest of the equation will be posted next.

I remember the sound of the bottles rattling in the wire carrier when the milkman brought fresh cold milk to our door. We got whole milk, where the thick cream rose to the top. My parents used it in their coffee or whipped the separated cream to top strawberry shortcake in the summertime. Does anyone ever get milk delivered on their front porch anymore?

A spoonful of sugar

Section, sketchbook page
Original Watercolor/Graphite by Michele Cooper

Since I didn't really like coffee when I first started working, I learned that you could make it taste better by adding "a spoonful of sugar".

My project theme is "Welcome to Coffee World" with sketches representing some of my memories and experiences with coffee.

Last minute adjustments

Getting ready to mail off my sketchbook project for 2014. These are the portable supplies I took with me to Hawaii for the last part of the book. (To see details and the cover page, click image to zoom.)