Your assignment is to complete one drawing for each of the five categories that we discussed.

Drawing the Environment

Cafes are often known for having characteristic environments. Before drawing your surroundings, take a few moments to closely observe your environment to get a sense of mood, time and energy.

Assignment prompts:

- Draw your ideal cafe

- Go to a cafe and draw a corner of it that appeals to you

- Draw the exterior of the cafe you're visiting

Drawing Drinks

Most drinks can be broken down to cylinder and sphere shapes. Pay attention to how drinks visually change when you add cream or milk. Also be mindful of the decorative aspect of drinks, whipped cream, sprinkles, etc.

Assignment prompts:

- Draw your favorite drink or a limited edition/novelty holiday item

- Do two versions of the same drink; before and after adding milk or cream

- Draw a drink with an interesting or experimental mug, cup or glass

Drawing Food

Most cafe food items are basic in form and can be broken down to either a square/rectangular, circular or triangular shape. Food is also a great opportunity to explore texture!

Assignment prompts:

- Break down foods to their base shapes

- Draw your favorite cafe food item or a limited edition/novelty holiday item

- Recreate food textures (stippling for spongy textures or high contrast highlights and shadows for shiny textures)

Drawing People

Remember that it's important to be considerate of the other patrons of the cafe, so rather than openly staring at cafe-goers who might feel uncomfortable being drawn, try these techniques instead:

Assignment prompts:

- Glance at a cafe goer for no more than two seconds and focus on the one thing about them that stands out to you (an article of clothing, pose, facial feature, hairstyle, etc.)

- Sit by a window and draw people that walk past from a distrance

- Invite a friend or family member to your cafe visit and draw them

Drawing Objects

You can arrange objects such as utensils, art supplies or food and drink into a still life to practice composition, lighting and form.

Assignment prompts:

- Create a still life from objects on your table

- Look for isolated objects that appeal to you (furniture, machinery, plants, etc) and draw them in detail. Push yourself further by drawing an object that you typically don't draw.

- Group objects based on theme, mood or color and draw them together

Malena Lankenau

Writer, baker, amateur claymator.

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