Coffee Painting: An Insomniac's New Love Affair

BY BISAI SALOMON

Insomnia struck again and I couldn't sleep no matter how much I tried closing my eyes. I tossed and turned in bed but failed to close my eyes to bring me to total sleep.

So I got up and took my canvass and made me hot coffee. Today, I've finally decided to try on a new painting technique.

My first attempt at Coffee Painting was quite interesting. I only had to dissolve my coffee powder with a small amount of water to bring out the consistency of tone that I wanted. This evening (11p.m.), I used ganoderm mushroom coffee from Malaysia to achieve a lighter paint tone. This is, ironically, a rather strong coffee when drunk. To achieve a darker tone, I used Nescafe regular decaf. The result was fantastic. Both mixes had their usefulness on the piece establishing better texture and form.

I never realized that coffee painting gave everlasting shine on my pieces. I painted using a fresh stretched canvas and the result was like painting in sepia effect, giving my piece an "antique" look and feel. The old look effect rendered my piece to standout from the other bright and rich colored pieces that already adorn my humble room walls.

Today I sketched the face of a young child laborer, a child with tired and sunken eyes looking for some hope in life. I wanted to depict images of young peasant boys who are probably forced to labor in some coffee plantation. It was probably easier to sketch.

Or so I thought.

The sepia tone effect added more depth and drama to the image, notably his eyes. I felt my work was picked from the early 30's when rich colors weren’t so popular yet. Now this is getting to be addicting.

I've always dreamt of having my very own humble Art Cafe when I go back to Philippines for good. I hope I can stock up on new coffee painting pieces that I can adorn my art cafe walls. And I would paint every subject’s and friend’s faces that I could put my hands to work, and so many more.

It's only a dream for now. Now that I find this art so addicting, I might study more on this technique and see where i can improve my craft better.

My love affair with coffee and art cafe will never stop with this piece. I've just started and I hope I can make more in the days to come.

Meanwhile as I work on this piece, I’m happy sipping a coffee to make me wide awake and finish this piece before antok would finally take its toll on me. Good morning world!

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Bisai Salomon is an artist in progress. She holds an Entrepreneurial Management degree from the Philippine Women's University in Manila. She works as a marketing services consultant and social marketing professional in Cebu, Philippines.  She can be reached at angelodominic@yahoo.com