Pour, drink – and sketch!

[Guest post by William Cordero in Cartago and San José, Costa Rica] I love coffee. I love the way it smells and tastes, and all the details and little processes it takes to have a good cup. You pour it, drink it and enjoy it – that’s it, so it has become my favorite drink while sketching. I had always wanted to try it as a sketching tool/technique, but the results were always unpleasant as it lacked graphic strength, resulting in boring and “weak” sketches, not going beyond light tones. 

I started experimenting with all sorts of things to find my own way of sketching with coffee. I tried really hot water, really cold water, some strong blends, sugar-free coffee, decaf, sugar-loaded coffee –until I used instant coffee. YES, instant coffee, and yes, probably the only thing I would recommend  it for.  But it was not that easy – I also had to do some tests until I was happy with the results.  

Heredia Central Park, Costa Rica (coffee, ink, colored pencil, permanent black marker)

Here are some of my findings (I know it’s not the first time someone uses coffee to sketch, but I think it’s important to share your own experiences. That’s how I learn new things in this great urban sketching community):

Resulting texture after applying many coffee layers.

• Before doing the actual plein air drawings it’s advisable to do some study sketches, meaning getting to know the technique (quantity of water to use, drying times, density, brushes). Of course, it’s also great to experiment as you go.
• It’s not very practical to create different “coffee tones.” It can get messy, not to mention the extra space you will need with all these little bottles with different tones. 
• Use a really thick and dark paste that you can dilute as needed. It helps using a small piece of paper to check color before applying it to your sketch.
• I had a total random discovery while using a small bottle of alcohol gel with a couple of drops left, resulting in faster drying times and preserving the coffee for several days.
• One of my first tryout sketches got spoiled because it got glued to the page in front when I closed my sketchbook and opened it the next day. Use wax paper or a fixative spray. 
• I first do some basic line work, then I work with coffee layer by layer, going from light tones to dark tones.
• The technique works really well with ink and color pencils. You just have to be careful to understand the timing of your sketch. The more coffee layers you use, the more difficult it is to mix it with other media.
• Using coffee may result in a limited palette, so it helps making thumbnail studies about values to decide where to put more layers of coffee, and also where to put some color sparks. I do use black where I need it, mainly with permanent marker. (Sketch at top of page of Liberia Central Park done with coffee, ink, colored pencil and permanent black marker.) Sometimes it works… sometimes it does not.  Never try to get black color with extra layers of coffee – you’ll know why!

Plaza de la Cultura, San Jose, Costa Rica (coffee, ink, colored pencil, permanent black marker)

Coffee sketches may not be permanent, they might decay or lose their vitality within time, but to me that´s the whole point. A sketch is all about the experience, about playing and experimenting. You already gain a lot with the time you and your sketch share together, just like a nice cup of coffee!

William Cordero is an architect based in Cartago, Costa Rica. He is a member of Urban Sketchers Costa Rica. He previously contributed a guest post about domestic landscapes. You can see more of William’s sketches on Flickr.