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.

Winter Garden

At this moment, it's snowing lightly, the hummingbird feeder has been frozen solid for a week, and the chaise has an extra layer of snowy upholstery. Roads are a bit too slippery right now, but I hope I can get a few sketches before it melts away. 

Reassurance

Update on hummingbirds, art and life:

I like to keep this blog mostly about the art side of my life, but that frozen little snow capped glow in the dormant lilacs was like a candle in a window. It kept beckoning me and I felt like sharing it.

I wondered if my short comment would raise concern. Not to worry. In the fall, we stop filling the hummingbird feeder to encourage the birds to move on with the migration. Last time he was in the garden, I guess my husband filled it with water, intending to rinse it out. He must have forgotten all about it while busy with other yard work.

Suspended

"Suspended" by Michele Cooper
Original Watercolor Size: 22x30"

When I am alone in a snowy woodland, I feel suspended. Somehow the snow muffles the sharpness of the sounds and sights around me.....time stands still.

I suspended the figure in the near center of this snowy world of warm and cool greys in an attempt to communicate this feeling.

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.

Rebinding the 2014 Sketchbook Project

For my 2014 project, I needed to take out the thin, sketch paper that came in the provided sketchbook and replace it with Fabriano Artistico 140# CP. It makes all the difference in the resulting quality of my painting. I kept the first two original pages, just for comparison.

You can see below how the new watercolor pages fit together, ready for rebinding into my official  cover. Now that it has been sent in, I will be posting a page or two of the finished sketchbook. Keep checking back or subscribe for a peek!

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.)