Been having a difficult time finding good coffee to home brew in New York. I was in Manhattan yesterday running errands and happened to drop by Puerto Rico Coffee Exchange and picked up several varieties of beans, but so far I’ve been disappointed by their mix. Their beans, though having unique flavors I haven’t stumbled across before, have the savor of having sat out for too long. It’s that sort of burnt cigarette ash taste that I find so unpleasant in every single preground coffee I’ve ever tried. Except these were whole beans I bought and ground at home, so they shouldn’t have tasted this way.
So far:
Ethiopian: Incredibly bitter flavor that is greatly mellowed by sugar and cream. Actually, this coffee is almost sour tasting, and after a few sips it started to grow on me simply for being different. But it also has the unpleasant aftertaste of ash. Not a coffee I would drink more than half a cup in a day. Also very oily with little crema. I usually like the coffee oils, but in this case, it just prolonged the sourness of the coffee afterwards. However, if you like your coffees to punch you in the face and leave a puckered lip afterwards, this is a perfect blend.
Puerto Rico Importer’s House Blend: A sweeter, almost floral but still somewhat ashey tasting coffee. The flavor doesn’t change much with sugar and cream, so adding them does little for its taste. It did however make an excellent crema when I brewed it (always french press) and made a nice, rich coffee with very little oil. This is a coffee made for people who’ve had their taste buds killed by French roasts their whole life and don’t know that better exists. Flavorful, but burnt to hell.
Brazil Santos: Best one so far. Light and sweet but not overly slow. Slightly bitter without the ashy taste I’ve been getting in the other blends. Should improve with a peculator instead of a French Press, I hope.
Guatemalan Mandheling: Haven’t tried yet, but it’s a light roast, and I like light roasts. They’re usually more acidic but less ashy tasting.
My favorite coffee ever, however, is still the Lola Savannah Peruvian Fair Trade. Quite possibly the most delicious cup of coffee I’ve ever had, it’s spoiled by cream and sugar. If I can’t find comparable, I’m just gonna have to have it shipped. I need my coffee, dangit!
Yesterday, I also dropped by New York Central Art Supply and bought a paint palette for the Dr. Ph. Martin’s Concentrated Watercolors I’ve been experimenting with, more pencil leads for my lead holder (so I don’t have pencil shavings all over my floor anymore), and several shades of Dr. Ph. Martin’s India Inks. I needed some vibrant inks that are also waterproof, and I’ve had good experiences so far with Ph Martin products and already have the teal india ink, so I thought I’d give it a go.
Slightly inconvenient but not unexpected so far is that the degree of opacity varies drastically from color to color. My favorite so far is the Terra Cotta; it’s a gorgeous red-brown that’s beautifully matte and opaque straight from the bottle. I’ve been using my nibs again, and it works beautifully. I’m actually beginning to prefer this color for inking with a nib line over black. It’s gorgeous.
I also bought yellow, grass green, violet, sepia, and red. The sepia is also opaque straight out of the bottle, but it’s practically black. the other colors will require letting them evaporate to get more consistent, denser color, but they’re still beautiful vibrant colors, and I’m looking forward to experimenting and seeing if they’ll actually mix as well. There’s a few colors I would like to tone down.
I wish I could show the larger illustration I’m working on, but it’s a secret right now, so I’m taking photos and will hopefully show the process later. I’ve never worked with real watercolors before, but the effects I’m going for are simple. Mostly, though, I’m enjoying experimenting. I’ve been influenced by Eleanor Davis lately and her ability to draw so much expression and to exaggerate. I’ve focused too much on realism in my art in the past, and I’d like to move away from that and focus more on expression. Knowing the body and how it works is important, but I’ve realized the more I confine myself to the rules, the stiffer my people become. The sole premise I started with in this illustration was this: I have to draw an expression and body language, but the character can’t have any bones.
We’ll see how it turns out. -_-; I’m embarrassed as it is to show it to anybody. Grr. However, I did just finish inking these two other experimental illustrations. They’re inked with a nib using the terra cotta ink. I seriously <3 this ink! Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have time to experiment with watercoloring them. I’ve only used nib maybe two or three times before (thought I have all the supplies, I just wasn’t comfortable with the results), but that was at least three or four years ago, so I’m pretty happy with how these turned out. I’ve no wacom at the moment, so they haven’t been cleaned up yet, unfortunately. And since I’ll be laying down watercolor, I can’t just white out the line or it’ll bleed into the watercolors (being not waterproof).
First, the fat lady sings. I’ve been having a weird obsession with drawing fat, happy people lately:
Second, a little magician girl:
Mornings are made of the “Jane’s S.O.S” rewrite and evenings consumed with art. It’s a good work flow for me. :)
Saturday, however, I’ll be going out and applying for a part-time job with the U.S. census. It’s mostly weekends and evenings, and that’s perfect to me. I would like to get actual illustration work, but I’m building my portfolio now and diversifying so that I’m not limited to just a few styles. And I recognize the amount of time it takes to get that kind of work: it takes word of mouth and a lot of experience. I’ll get there eventually. :)
Back to work!
Anonymous
• Dec 12, 2009 @7:37 am
