Instead of throwing out the coffee that’s been sitting on the counter getting cold, try turning it into a fun art project instead! You’ll need paper (I recommend watercolor paper), brushes, a cup of water, and a few empty cups or a pallet for our coffee mixtures. This is the perfect project for all ages and skill levels! If you’re using leftover coffee, try diluting it with different amounts of water as you add it to your cups or pallet to create darker or lighter hues. You can also try brewing up a dark roast, a medium roast, a blonde roast and diluting those for a wider range of hues. For our project we used our medium roast Traditional Piñon, Dark Piñon, and espresso. Coffee is incredibly versatile, take some time to experiment with instant coffee, ground coffee, K-Cups, espresso, and find which brewing method is your favorite to paint with!
Painting with coffee is a lot like painting with watercolors. The most important thing is to let your piece dry completely as you start to layer the coffee. This allows the colors to sit on top of each other instead of mixing together and muddying up your piece. Hint: Try using a hairdryer to help the coffee dry faster! As you start to paint with coffee you’ll quickly see how easy it is to add depth and texture to your piece depending on how much you layer. If you want to get more advanced try adding some actual coffee grounds to your painting. Coffee grounds can add interesting texture and you can even add a small amount of water to help to create an extremely dark hue to paint with. After your painting has dried completely you could even take it to another level by going back in with a pen, or another medium and adding some detail to your final piece. Remember to HAVE FUN with this project, it doesn’t matter you’ve never drawn or painted before, this is a chance to espresso yourself!
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Taylor Mills is the Marketing Coordinator for New Mexico Piñon Coffee.