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The art of painting with coffee
Tea and coffee have been used for painting since ancient times: theChinese used tea to make the backgrounds of their works, while both beverages were also used to give particular hues to fabrics and to age the marble of statues, as did Gabriele d'Annunzio, to give a more classical look to the sculptures in his extravagant Vittoriale villa.
The art of painting with coffee thus has a history with roots much farther back than we think and spread along with the discovery of the fragrant beverage.
Let's discover this technique together and which artists use it to create true masterpieces.
Painting with coffee: what it takes
The technique of coffee painting is very simple and similar to that used for watercolors, so it can be employed by everyone, adults and children alike.
To begin with, all you will need is some coffee made with a mocha or espresso machine, sheets of paper for watercolor painting, and brushes of various sizes.
Also keep a pencil handy, you will need it to make a preparatory sketch for your painting.
You can use mocha coffee and espresso together, to get lighter shades with the former and darker shades with the latter, or make mocha coffee several times, changing the amount of powder used and thus the intensity of the drink.
Using media of various materials you can achieve very different effects; you can also experiment with larger or smaller brushes or combine classic lines with abstract designs.
For a truly unique effect, go over the outlines of the drawing with a non-waterproof marker and blend the stroke with water.
Painting with coffee: five international artists
In recent years, using natural pigments for painting has become a popular practice among artists who want to create works with hues and textures different from classic oil or tempera colors.
Coffee also figures among the most widely used natural colors, with its range of hues from hazelnut to dark brown, which can result in striking monochromatic works.
The Coffee Art or Coffee Painting is now popular all over the world, from Thailand to the United States.
We present 5 of the most original exponents of this art movement, which are really worth getting to know.
In addition to using watercolors and oil paints,Thai artist Pornchai specializes in "coffee paintings" and portrays landscapes en plein air just as the French Impressionists did.
His continuous search for new techniques led him to approach coffee painting, to try to recreate an antiqued effect using tea and coffee.
Hong Yi
In art Red, he is a young artist from Malaysia who has given up not only colors but also brushes in honor of coffee: he uses the bottom of an espressocup to compose his works.
This is how he created, for example, the portrait of the famous Malaysian entrepreneur Francis Yeoh.
Andrew Saur and Angel Sarkela-Saur
These two American artists, also known as The Coffee Artists, have made coffee art their medium.
For ten years they have been immortalizing for advertising everyday objects, often belonging to the world of coffee and catering; many of their works depict coffee cups and beans, as well as objects from everyday life.
Part artist and part computer scientist, Mikel lives in Florida and is the coffee art scientist: after years of research and experiments, he managed to develop a technique to coat and seal his works with a protective layer that is resistant even to UV rays.
Because of this, his paintings can be hung and stored without the need for glass.
She has lived in Oklahoma and Oregon, cultivating a passion for painting since she was 14 years old.
One day, while painting inside a coffee shop, she decided to combine art and espresso into one experience.
Today she is famous for adding a touch of caffeine to great masterpieces in art history, from Michelangelo's Creation of Man to Leonardo's Mona Lisa.
Her work Heart Latte is the epitome of Coffee Art: painting with coffee and painting over coffee.
Did you know the art of painting with coffee?
Are you curious about it, have you ever tried it?