Tuesday Tea: Coffee and Art

I don't normally bring a cup of coffee to my basement studio, but today I decided to not use my mug.  After all, a mug can't show freshly ground French Roast coffee and cream (1/2 and 1/2) like a cup can.  There's also another reason I'm drinking coffee today.

I'm working on some backgrounds I painted earlier on watercolor paper and brought to the basement in order to use the instant coffee crystals I got at the Dollar Tree (a chain store in the US whose motto is "Everything's a dollar").  Yep, this jar of coffee was a mere dollar.  Compare that to what I pay for French Roast whole beans, and you have a great deal.  Of course, the coffee is probably not fit to drink!

My backgrounds are metallic blue paint I diluted with a bit of water.  On the left, I sponged the paint on the page, while on the right, I painted it on using a bristle brush.

I poured a few crystals on the two pages, hoping to get them as even as possible.  Of course, the crystals had other ideas!

I added water to the crystals, probably too much water, but I also had too many crystals clumped together.  It's pretty obvious which is my craft water and which is my coffee, even though they both look similar in the picture.

These still need to dry, but I think the next time I try this background technique, I'll not dry the paint before I add the coffee crystals.  I think had the crystals been added to wet paint, I would not have needed to add water to the page, which changed the entire effect I was going for.

Regardless what you are drinking today (or any Tuesday), you are welcome to join my Tea Tuesday friends and me.  We will be delighted to have you join us.  Grab a cup and saucer, a mug, a glass, a goblet, a sippy cup, a travel mug, a plastic go-cup, a tea pot, a bottle, anything.  Photograph it, add a few words, leave a link in my comments, and join us for this fun excuse to have a day to play on your blog.  We'll welcome you with open arms.  If we get enough players, I'll add the Linky thingy.  Until then, think Tea Tuesday and have a great one!