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Description
I present: Cherry Cola - painted WITH Cherry Cola!

Of all the problems I anticipated having in 2020, even after the year grew progressively weird and worse, "All of my Microns are clogged with Coca Cola" was NOT one of them.

While changing the pop at work one day, I was once again hit with the annoyance that "this stuff is so concentrated; I wish my ink was half that intense" and couldn't help but notice what a gorgeous skin tone it would make...and, after a few weeks of nagging (combined with product we couldn't use for various reasons), I was able to make off with some Coca Cola and the Cherry concentrate from Coke's Freestyle machines. I only had about a quarter cup of the cherry and was worried it wouldn't be enough. I was very, very wrong.

And this is the result! After nearly a week of my apartment smelling of cherries, we have an illustration!

While I'm not thrilled with the result, I have to take into consideration the fact that I haven't touched watercolours in roughly eight years - and, you know, I was painting with pop. The colours were constantly reactivating each other (her hand is a good example of this), even when totally dry the cherry tended to bleed...I don't recommend trying it to anyone, but it was a fun experiment.

I was worried about them acting differently than watercolour/ink. I had not anticipated them reacting differently from each other. The Cherry allowed for super smooth gradients and flat colours but tended to bleed into the paper like alcohol inks do. The Cola, on the other hand, didn't absorb into the paper at all but is patchy as can be. I smoothed her skin out as much as I could, but the Coke just didn't want to behave. I feel like I didn't do her justice. I'm sorry. Free line art for anyone who wants to do her justice:

When I think "Cherry Cola," I think diners and 50's aesthetic, hence the theme. I warned you I was in the mood to draw Rockabilly styles, and this miiiiiight have been where it originated. I initially looked up popular hair styles for natural hair from that era, but then I realized that the afro complimented the vinyl records in both colour and shape and I wasn't willing to give that up.

Anyway. Fun as this was, I'm glad it's behind me so my apartment won't smell like cherries anymore. Projects like this really make me appreciate my Copics.

Description
I present: Cherry Cola - painted WITH Cherry Cola!

Of all the problems I anticipated having in 2020, even after the year grew progressively weird and worse, "All of my Microns are clogged with Coca Cola" was NOT one of them.

While changing the pop at work one day, I was once again hit with the annoyance that "this stuff is so concentrated; I wish my ink was half that intense" and couldn't help but notice what a gorgeous skin tone it would make...and, after a few weeks of nagging (combined with product we couldn't use for various reasons), I was able to make off with some Coca Cola and the Cherry concentrate from Coke's Freestyle machines. I only had about a quarter cup of the cherry and was worried it wouldn't be enough. I was very, very wrong.

And this is the result! After nearly a week of my apartment smelling of cherries, we have an illustration!

While I'm not thrilled with the result, I have to take into consideration the fact that I haven't touched watercolours in roughly eight years - and, you know, I was painting with pop. The colours were constantly reactivating each other (her hand is a good example of this), even when totally dry the cherry tended to bleed...I don't recommend trying it to anyone, but it was a fun experiment.

I was worried about them acting differently than watercolour/ink. I had not anticipated them reacting differently from each other. The Cherry allowed for super smooth gradients and flat colours but tended to bleed into the paper like alcohol inks do. The Cola, on the other hand, didn't absorb into the paper at all but is patchy as can be. I smoothed her skin out as much as I could, but the Coke just didn't want to behave. I feel like I didn't do her justice. I'm sorry. Free line art for anyone who wants to do her justice:

When I think "Cherry Cola," I think diners and 50's aesthetic, hence the theme. I warned you I was in the mood to draw Rockabilly styles, and this miiiiiight have been where it originated. I initially looked up popular hair styles for natural hair from that era, but then I realized that the afro complimented the vinyl records in both colour and shape and I wasn't willing to give that up.

Anyway. Fun as this was, I'm glad it's behind me so my apartment won't smell like cherries anymore. Projects like this really make me appreciate my Copics.