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How to paint a Coffee Cup

January 4, 2011 By Colleen Jorgenson Leave a Comment

This painting tutorial is a little bit different, but it’s still easy.

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Typically I start with the medium color, then add highlights and shading, and finish with a topcoat of the base color. For this coffee cup, you start with the deepest shade and work your way up.

It’s called underpainting.

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I paint on watercolor paper a lot. And I always recommend it to beginning painters, even though I work in acrylic paint. But there’s an issue – after basecoating, the paper curls.

There’s a very simple solution though . . .

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Turn the painted side down and wet the unpainted side with a paintbrush. This will cause both sides of the watercolor paper to shrink fairly evenly. I still press it down with some heavy books while it dries, though.

 

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The background is a combination of Autumn Brown & Raw Sienna. Then basecoat the cup and saucer with a deep blue. I used Ceramcoat’s Blue Velvet.

 

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For the steam, any Ivory or light Beige will work. I used Bamboo.

 

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Paint a 2nd coat of Bamboo and while still wet add some Bambi Brown – or any light shade of brown.

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The light brown just gives some movement to the steam.

Next, add some shading under the saucer with a mixture of Autumn Brown & Dark Burnt Umber.

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I didn’t want it really dark, which is why I blended the two paints.

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Then, just like with the steam, wet-blend some Dark Burnt Umber along the edges of the ‘shadow’.

It’s just easier to blend while the paints are still wet. You could also use a glaze or floating medium.

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Add shading with Dark Burnt Umber around all edges of the cup and saucer, a patch of shading on one side of the cup and a little bit on the saucer.

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Paint a medium blue – Colonial Blue – everywhere except where you painted Dk. Burnt Umber. It may take a couple of coats, depending on how heavy you apply paint.

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Next comes White. Bright white. Pure white. And if you do much painting at all, invest in a tube of artist acrylic White. You’ll save loads of time because tube acrylic covers so much better than liquid craft paint.

It’s a bit scary to put White on, but don’t worry. You’ll cover up a lot of it.

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With the medium blue, cover up the White on both sides of the cup and at the back of the saucer, and just a little on either side of the main ‘stripe’ on the left of the cup.

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As it dries, some of the white will still show through, but it’s okay. That’s what we want.

If it still looks a little weird to you, do this:

Prop the painting up and step back about 4 or 5 feet.

Now look at it . . .

Surprise!!! Looks pretty good, huh?

Always, always, always, step back a few feet when you’re painting. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing a small piece or a huge wall mural, you have to step back to get a better perspective.

If you find yourself getting super judgmental, walk out of the room, take a few minutes . . . fold some laundry, go for a walk, empty the dishwasher, whatever! . . . and then come back and look at your painting. You’ll see it with fresh eyes, I promise!

102_3922a copy

Add some lettering if you want with a stencil, or cut out vinyl if you have a Silhouette or Cricut. Or use a photo program. Or leave it blank. I like adding words in Photoshop. Then I can change them to whatever I want, whenever I want.

But you do what you like with your own painting.

You can get the full pattern and photo tutorial here for free.

 

Get Your Craft On Tuesday

 http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

Filed Under: Highlighting, How To & PIY, PIY, Shading, Techniques

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    About Me

    Hi there! I'm Colleen, a self-taught artist, writer and blogger, among other things. You don't get to be old enough to order off the Denny's senior menu without accomplishing a few things in life. Read More…

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