Who doesn’t love a hot cup of frothy cappuccino? It’s the perfect way to get warm on a chilly day or give yourself a mid-day boost. This article will give you the simple steps for drawing and painting a cappuccino using gouache paint. Gouache is an opaque version of watercolour paint that allows you to use both acrylic and watercolour painting techniques. It’s a versatile, quick-drying paint that comes in tons of vibrant colours.
The best paper to use for this project is paper made especially for water mediums. You should choose a paper that’s at least 140lb/300gsm that can withstand getting wet without buckling or warping. We recommend Arteza Premium Watercolour Pads since they are this weight and come in a handy pad in which you can keep your painting protected.
Let’s get started!
To start this simple drawing of a cappuccino, it’s good to use a pencil with a hard lead, such as an HB. This way you won’t be able to see the lines once they’re painted over and any sketching lines that show can be easily erased.
Begin by drawing a circle for the cup. Next, sketch an “ear” on the right side of the circle. This will be the cup’s handle. Now, draw an oval through the handle and the cup. This will be the saucer. Use simple shapes to draw the spoon.
The top of a cup is an ellipse that is wide or narrow depending on how you’re looking at it. To emphasize how this drawing was made, red lines have been used to show how the artist constructed the cup. To form the opening of the cup an ellipse is drawn through the circle’s center. To indicate the liquid in the cup, a smaller ellipse is added inside the first. Then, the top of the circle is erased.
A line is added inside the cup’s handle, mirroring the shape of the original line. To show the depth of the saucer, a line is added inside the saucer’s original line, going under the spoon. Now, you just have to add the coffee!
Start painting with gouache using A123 to paint the saucer. The saucer’s edge and the edge of the cup is painted with a milky shade made by mixing A121 with a little A101. Mix A107, A124, and A101 to produce coffee in a light coffee colour. Next, paint the spoon with A132.
Since the light source is coming from the top left corner, use A123 to add a shadow on and under the right side of the cup as well as a little on top and inside the handle. Continue using this colour to add a shadow under the spoon. Mix A107, A124, and A110 to start the cappuccino foam’s design.
Darken the shadow on the cup using a mixture of A123 and A110. Use the same combination of colours to enhance the shadow from the spoon and under the cup. Use A132 to emphasize the thickness of the cup inside.
Use A101 to refine the design of the cappuccino foam. For cinnamon sprinkles use tiny dabs of A107 across the cappuccino foam. Use a thin brush and some A171 to add a reflection from the cup and to create the highlights inside the spoon.
Congratulations! You’ve just finished your first cappuccino painting!
Gouache paint is the perfect medium for sketching and painting. The next time you visit your favorite coffee shop, why not bring along a few tubes of paint, a tiny palette, and some brushes and draw and paint your cup of coffee? It dries fast and cleans up with water, so it’s great for painting in or out of the studio. Please share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
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