Age Recommendation: Any!
Length of Activity: 10-20min
Supplies Needed: Coffee, Pencil, Paintbrush, Water, and Stiff Paper (it needs to be able to hold the coffee, so watercolor paper is the most preferable, but any kind of stiffer paper would work)
Everyone’s heard of Watercolor painting or Oil paint, but have you ever heard of painting with coffee? Painting with coffee is a surprisingly popular trend, and the simple materials required make it perfect for any beginner painter to try! Just grab a cup of coffee (the stronger the coffee the more pigmented your painting will be) and give it a shot following these steps. Bear in mind that painting with coffee is a patient process and relies on layering the coffee to create varied shades, so it’s normal if you don’t get the results you expect the first time around. Just remember, practice makes perfect!
Step 1: Gather your Materials
Make sure you gather all your materials before you get started to prevent a situation in which you’re scrambling to find water to clean your brush!
Step 2: Lightly Sketch out your Subject
I chose to paint two tulips, but it’s really up to you and your creativity to come up with something to paint! However, if it’s your first time trying out coffee painting, maybe choose a simpler subject to make things easier for yourself. Remember to sketch lightly because some pencil lines may show through your painting.
Step 3: Painting a Base Layer
Dip into your coffee and paint your subject with a light layer of it. This base layer will make up the lightest shade within your painting, so make sure to not make it excessively dark. Going forward, we’ll start to build upon this layer with carefully placed coffee to create the other shade of your painting.
Step 4: Add another Layer to Create Deeper Shades
Now is when it is crucial to identify the portions of your subject that need to be darker. Once your base layer dries, take your brush and add another layer to the areas that you’ve identified to be darker. For my tulips, I decided that the base of the stem and the inner petals needed to be darker, so I added more coffee there to create that.
(Optional) Step 5: Add Additional Layers to Create More Depth
Once the second layer dries, you can add additional layers through the same process to create even darker layers. The more layers you add, the more detailed your shading will be. Be careful to not oversaturate your paper with coffee, because most paper will break down if you add too much liquid!
