Art Progression- An Experiment with Coffee

With the beginning of a fresh sketchbook and the taste of celebration muffins fresh in my mind, I decided that it was time to get into some doodling. I started this endeavor not even considering painting. Let alone painting with coffee. I was just planning on doing a light little sketch to get some creativity out for the day.

I had started this yesterday. Taking my time with the initial sketch. Things weren't quite coming to fruition how I wanted them to.

There was so much erasing. 🙃

It took a few attempts to figure out exactly how the drawing was going to play on the page. Feeling out things, trying different styles, or even how to position the head. I knew the subject matter, just had no idea how to convey it.

This is where we ended up.

The coyote or Canis latrans. Scrawny canids are a regular sight where I'm from. They skitter across the desert, cautiously watching you with their amber eyes. Always attentive and wary, but not enough to let you get in the way of their goings about in the world.

I recall laying awake at night and it would be dead quiet. The silence would suddenly be broken. Filled with an explosion of yips and howls. Some nights it seemed like they were right outside my window. An evening chatter between them. An indication of a successful hunt. I grew used to the nightly chorus - one that oftentimes scared people when they stayed the night.

Thinking back to it- I would trade the sounds of loud car exhausts for an evening song from a pack filled with happy coyotes any night.

Looking past our coyote we have our desert flora. A large beautiful desert agave. Modeled after a specific variety which is referred to as Agave Arizonica. A naturally occurring hybrid that calls the desert of Arizona home. It is considered a very rare plant. So rare, that it was previously recognized under the United States Endangered Species Act until it was subsequently removed.

Fun Science Fact: It was removed due to the scientific affirmation that this variety of plant is a hybrid. Meaning its original parents are two different species of Agave that happen to overlap in range and reproduce in a specific area. Allowing this cross-species to occur. Interesting stuff if you're into taxonomical classifications and a little bit of genetics.

Anywho, moving on from the science and getting back to the doodle...

Painting started with the agave, I wanted to lay down a nice calm green for the base of the leaves. This green reminds me of springtime during the Monsoon season. After a healthy dose of rain and a few flash floods, the desert almost seems to glow from all the hydration. Life blooming everywhere.

I regretted hard lining the mouth area here. I should have just allowed a bit of shading to differentiate the space between the upper and lower jaw. After the fact, I tried to work in some light shading down there to compensate for that line (which you can see in the image below). Also was kind of hoping that it would wash out that line a little bit. Didn't work out the way I wanted but the final results weren't so bad.

Seeing the final image I can probably get away with adding more shading on the bottom jaw.

Having not worked with coffee before I can say it was a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed this experiment. I will probably end up using coffee as a pigment in future doodles. I love how lively and warm the color is. It also makes my sketchbook smell delicious, which is an unexpected pro. Hmm, I wonder if I will get a darker shade if I brew a heavier cup of coffee. Ohhh, or even some of my teas that are more ruby in color. Fun things to try later.

Doodler Tools:
-Micron 02, 1, & Brush Marker
-Pentel Waterbrush
-Staedtler Watercolor (green, white, and black)
-Staedtler 2B Led
-Folgers Coffee