That's a lot of coffee beans

Last week-end was part 2 of the Swindon Open Studios 2013 and I had time to make some progress on my Brown's Cafe painting.

I mostly re-worked the background, made of hundreds of coffee beans.

The lower part shows how it was, with the blue background still visible. The upper part is the re-work.

I mixed the colours with linseed oil. This gave me the creamy consistency and brilliance I was looking for. I tried to vary the tones and colours to bring some variety and different depths to the background.

Brown's Cafe - At the end of the week-end (Click on the photo to see a larger version)

After 7 hours painting coffee beans, you really need a break. By chance, the cafe in the library was a few steps away and making an excellent cappuccino...

I will adjust the background by glazing different parts when it is dry.