Creating the Paris Letter & How to Paint A Cup ☕️

I used to own all these miniature coffee/tea cups ☕️ They ended up at Salvation Army when I moved to Paris 😭 I wonder who has them now?

This week has been a coffee cup immersion.

Cafes Richard makes the coffee you drink in most Paris cafes and restaurants. They also make the pretty multi-colored cups you see all over Paris.

On Friday I went to their boutique, Comptoirs Richard  at 45, rue Bretagne. I assumed I’d be able to buy a single cup & saucer ☕️ to paint.

I assumed wrong. They only sell complete sets of 6 cups for 36€ 😬

By the way, a few doors down, to the left of Comptoirs Richard is the don’t-miss Marché des Enfants Rouges at #39, the oldest covered marché in Paris, established in 1628.

I could have so easily eaten a plate of clam spaghetti among so many other delish things, if I hadn’t already eaten a framboise beignet 😬

At #57 rue de Bretagne, going the other direction, is the very adorable Bontemps a patisserie/tea salon

I will definitely go back VERY soon.

As someone who does not even drink coffee per se, buying 6 coffee cups was not on. I drew from photos, not life 🙄

My inspiration for the whole coffee cup venture was this right-hand page in a Japanese book 📕 on Paris. It just happened to be lying on the floor.

I painted the individual cups 

From different cafes ☕️ 

Then cut them out & laid them down like paper doll cutouts. I showed my layout to Bonnie, chief Paris Letter Consultant.

She said add a border of croissants 🥐 pain au chocolat etc.

By the way, I found that little biz card amidst my Paris goodies collection, which I send out with all your Paris letters.

This got me salivating 🤤 I took a break and went out for viennoisserie research 🔬 One thing always leads to another.

I only ate one beignet framboise…your basic raspberry jelly donut 🍩 

Watch Barbara Luel paint a cup ☕️ on Youtube in 1 minute.

Then it’s your turn

I’m using Canson Montval Aquarelle paper

With just a few watercolors…

I’m guessing she’s using - orange, burnt Sienna, French Blue, Paynes Grey + a little turquoise as an accent. Will you try? Practice makes perfect 👍

Barbara teaches a cup painting class on SkillShare.

Still working away at my Paris cup ☕️ letter

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