Brown girl in the (coffee) ring

Show me a motion... Tra la la la la...

For The Summer of Colour we had an unexpected challenge - brown! Eek, reminds me of my school uniform. However, brown is actually very exciting because it allows me to incorporate a spot of staining into my picture. Paper was prepared by flinging hot and wet tea bags at it and then sprinkling with my new favourite coffee Kenco Millicano wholebean instant (from Arabica beans). This left me with an array of choices for names for this lass - Milli perhaps? Rica? Arabica?

Let's go for Rica (pronounced Reek-a) for to be honest she does smell a bit. There's a definite whiff of rich roasted bean about her!

So, once the beverage stain layers had dried, I added a little tissue paper here and there then sketched her in Inktense pencils before bringing all their lushness to life with water and paintbrush.

I'm torn between wondering if she has a 'pox' on her face or it's just an aged vintage feel...

Starting to feel the pressure to keep this portraiture up all summer, but now I've started I must finish. I wonder what colour we're going to have this week?

Probably the best coffee in the world...

And the view wasn't bad either!

What was it that made an iced coffee go down as one of life's greatest? Was it the perfect mixture of bean, froth and frozen water? Perhaps the soundtrack of Michael Buble and waves lapping on an Aegean shore? Was it the proximity of soft white sand glinting as if sprinkled with grated diamonds? The balmy temperature? This view or just the desperate need for caffeine after being awake since 3.30am in order to fly to this paradise?

Who cares the reason, it was so good I had two. Maybe that's why I'm awake at 2am and using insomnia as the perfect excuse to blog.

Apologies to my blogging friends - both for no doubt making you jealous and not being around much to visit your blogs in the past week or so. What with art retreats, work and 'real life', there has been little time for my  usual global blog-trotting. However, as you may have guessed, I am 'online' and on holiday, so while the little one sleeps at night I shall be visiting you (though hopefully not at 2am every night).

καληνύχτα (if that looks Greek to you - it says Goodnight!)