Art on Starbuck's Reusable Coffee Cups and The History of the Clenched Fist in Graphic Design

When I was working as a Production Artist for Pearson in Mill Valley, I would walk down the hill to get lunch. I noticed Starbucks had a one dollar reusable coffee cup that would give you $.10 off a cup of coffee when you used it. I had already made it a resolution of mine to use my own cups at coffee shops for the year, so I was happy to see that Starbucks in Mill Valley was doing this promotion.

The cups were very plain and white just like their paper cups. This gave me the idea to draw on the cup. I used sharpies to decorate a couple cups with spontaneous, free draws... Doodles, really.  Nothing was planned except that I wanted to use a bike theme and I needed to you incorporate the Starbucks logo into the design.  The first two cups were all about mountain biking:

A local friend of mine, Lydia, noticed these coffee cups on Facebook. She was doing a fundraiser for her friend Claire, who had breast cancer, and she said she would love a cup created for the SF Avon breast Cancer Walk.  It took me a while to get started on this project. In the meantime, my friend Lydia broke her arm while training for the SF Breast Cancer walk.  She actually got a pink cast, in honor of the event!

Lydia's pink cast gave me the idea of the arm up in the air for strength and power and all of the posters we've seen from 1960s on with the clenched fist raised showing power to the people.  Here is a great brief history of the art of the clenched fist .

So, I made a pink fist for Lydia's cup.

I added lots of pink breast cancer ribbons...

I changed the Starbuck's gal to "Queen Lydia" with shorter hair and pink arms raised in strength.

Today I learned that Claire's cancer is in remission, but she is still undergoing her final rounds of chemotherapy.  I couldn't be more delighted with this news.  If you would like to contribute to "Team Claire" in the SF Breast Cancer Walk, you may do so by clicking here.

In the Studio Today... 2nd Bike Painting inspired by Google Glass

Sunday, August 4, 2013

I have started another painting inspired by Google Glass.  This one is from the day I went out to the Mill Valley Bike Path with my son, and he got to wear Google Glass and record video from his perspective at the Skate Park we discovered. (We actually didn't even know it was there until we were headed home and stumbled upon it!)

I took a photo #throughglass of this cyclist headed towards Sausalito in golden hour lighting... I knew this one would look great as a large painting, and I am working on it now as a 30" x 48" oil on 1.5" canvas.  This is the first session, today.  It is definitely still in progress, but this is what a painting looks like when I've done the first day of blocking out the canvas with color.  Glass was necessary to capture this because I saw the cyclist passing me, turned and was able to press the button on my Google Glass to capture this photo really quickly.  If I'd had to pull out my phone, I never would have capture this image.
Stay tuned for the final version...

The Art of Glass: Kids and Glass

Monday July 22, 2013

Sunday was a fun afternoon with my son, Blake at the Mill Valley bike path and Skate Park.  He donned the Google Glass while riding his Razor scooter to share what it's like to be a kid with Google Glass.  Fun!  Enjoy!  If you want to know more about how kids like Google Glass, read my other post where a class of kids try Google Glass.


Skate Park Blake: A Google Glass Kid's Video from Colleen Proppé on Vimeo.

Enjoy these other videos I created using Google Glass:

• Mountain Biking Marin Headlands with Google Glass

• Kayaking with Google Glass

• Trail Running with Google Glass

• Mt. Biking with Google Glass

• Interview with Google Glass: 3 Ring Cycles, Bike Shop in San Anselmo

• My San Francisco Adventure to Pick up Google Glass

The Art of Glass: Google Glass to Oil Painting

Friday evening  |  July 12, 2013

"Celia on the Rocks" 5" x 5" oil on canvas, ©2013 C.Proppé

The Google Glass video I uploaded to Vimeo today (Mountain Biking Marin) is part of my process to document cyclists and bikes for reference for my oil paintings.  Tonight, I was inspired by a friend and amazing painter, Kanna Aoki, to paint something small from my work.  I knew I was going to do this, but Kanna gave me the extra push on Facebook today.  Thank you, Kanna, for getting me going.  It's hard to just start painting sometimes!  This is a tiny, 5" x 5" oil painting of Mt. Bike rider, Celia Graterol from the beginning of the video.  I took photos to document the process with Google Glass, but I'm having trouble uploading them tonight.  It used to do it automatically, but for some reason, my Glass is FULL and I can't empty it! (eek!... I guess it's not so bad to have a Glass that's full... that's supposed to be a positive thing, right? ;)

In the Studio Today... Fall Art shows, Portrait Painting & More...

Thursday, September 17, 2009
My show "Cycling through Landscapes" is still up in Mill Valley for the next 2 weeks, so be sure to get by if you visit the Depot Cafe. This is also the weekend of the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, and I hope to get some foot traffic at my own show through this time. I was very fortunate to be chosen for the Mill Valley Arts Commission's poster advertisement for the "First Tuesday Artwalk" in September. They included me on the front of the gallery guide for the month of September as well. This was a great honor for me(see photos, above). The "Art on the Farm" group has several Fall shows coming up, and I will be at the Pt. Reyes Vineyard show in October.

Now is the time to give me a shout if you are interested in a commissioned portrait to be ready for the Holidays! I have limited calendar space for one more family portrait, or a few individual portraits before the end of the year. I am currently working this month on a family portrait commission. The end result is to be a surprise Birthday gift for one of the family members, so I can not post the work in progress here, but it is coming along. I am looking to do more commissioned portraits, pets, and have a couple of ballerina paintings in the cue. These types of works help when the economy is slower and there have been less immediate sales of other my other paintings. This is across the board for artists in my community; there has been a definite slow down in spending on art, which is really tough for artists who rely soley on their art for income. We need more grants and arts funding, and yet there are less of those opportunities at this time too.

In the Studio Today... "Ascent"; Final Painting

Monday, August 31

"Ascent" on Ridgecrest Blvd., towards Mt. Tam. 16" x 20".

I just finished this painting moments ago, and will hang my show in Mill Valley TODAY! In 3 hours, I will be at the Mill Valley Depot, hanging the cycling paintings... Hooray! This painting is very simple, but I love the feeling of climbing into the clouds, at the top... It's a great metaphor for finishing a set of paintings and hanging one's show. Hope to see everyone at the reception, tomorrow night.

September 2009
The Depot Bookstore & Cafe
Solo Show of Cycling Paintings
87 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley, CA
Opening Reception; September 1, 6pm to 7pm

In the Studio Today...La Coppa Coffee Bikes & Show on Loan to "The Bicycle Works"

Friday, August 7th - Saturday, August 8th

"La Coppa Coffee Bikes", Downtown Mill Valley, California. 16" x 20".

• View Session 2
• View the start of this painting, in the workshop, with Christin Coy
This painting is the 9th in a series of paintings, "Cycling Through Landscapes", that will be available for purchase in September, at the Mill Valley Depot Cafe & Bookstore. A percentage of the sales from paintings sold in September will go to The Bicycle Works, a new, co-op style, community bike shop, opening this Sunday, in San Anselmo, California. To read about this new shop, check out today's article in the Marin IJ. Some of the paintings from my new series will be on loan to the shop for the next few weeks.
We hung part of the series up this evening at The Bicycle Works. Click photo to enlarge... Pictured in the photo, above-left, is Spokey Godfrey, Director. Come out tomorrow for the shop's Grand Opening Celebration, with food by Sol Food of San Rafael, and film "The Triplets of Belleville", provided by Tom Boss of "Film Night in the Park". The paintings give the shop a little color, in contrast to the black and white of the bikes on the stands.
My painting from last year's, Mill Valley Paint Out, with bikes in the bike rack... next to a Breezer commute bike, by local cycling legend, Joe Breeze. Breezer Bikes plans to give a portion of sales from it's bikes at "The Bicycle Works" back to support the new shop and it's mission.

Plein Air... Mill Valley Paint Off 2009

Monday, July 27, 2009

"Saturday afternoon on Miller & Throckmorton", 16" x 20", o/c.

Final painting. Started at the Mill Valley Paint Off, 2009, completed in studio.

This is my painting from the Mill Valley Paint Out, 2009... after a second day in the studio. I had originally wanted to paint the scene with the street signs for "Miller" and "Throckmorton", as well as add the lip of the red awning from the Depot Cafe as a repoussoir element. I also added a woman driving a classic mint green convertible in the background, as well as the Cici Gelato bike. Cici sponsored the paint off this year, and sold gelato from Lytton Square during the judging of paintings, and I managed to capture a few shots of the bike and rider, leaving the Depot in his new, burgundy red clogs that matched the bike. I decided to go with the quirkiness that this paint off result produced, and include as many people and bikes as possible. It has a feeling of being a fun, friendly illustration, rather than a work of realism. Below is a detail of the Cici Gelato man and bike.DETAIL: Cici Gelato Bike from "Saturday afternoon in Mill Valley", 16" x 20", o/c.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Models, beside "Miller and Throckmorton Saturday";
16" x 20", o/c. (Click image to enlarge).

The man and dog standing beside my painting showed up about 10 minutes before the end of the paint out, so I asked him to stand by the clock tower, and I painted him and his dog into the scene. It was fun. Most of the people always paint the red awnings of the Depot Cafe, and the last painting here, by Scott Grabowski, won first place and the people's choice award. Mill Valley just loves those awnings.

Above: 1st Place Award to Scott Grabowski

Pam Gould, of "More Marin", the blog... also visited the event and wrote us up on her blog! Here is the first press I know of about the event: (Mouse over the images to read the artist's names)
"Paint Off in Mill Valley draws enthusastic crowd"

In the Studio Today... La Coppa Coffee; Day 2

Friday, July 24, 2009

"Ride to the Roasters 2".
La Coppa Coffee, Downtown Mill Valley, California. 16" x 20".

Painting in progress. Will feature 4 bikes in painting. See my previous post on this painting, here.

In the Studio Today...Christin Coy Workshop & Mill Valley Coffee Shop

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I started 2 paintings in one day, today! Wow...! You know you have a deadline when you start 2 good sized, detailed paintings in a day. The paintings I started today are local shops in Marin County; The red awning of the Specialty Coffee shop in downtown Mill Valley, and the Gospel Flat Farmstand as you enter Bolinas, California. I now have a total of 6 paintings for the Mill Valley show, and I have about 5 more to go. I chose some large canvases, so the paintings should fill in the Depot Cafe walls with some good negative space around them. If I have 10 new paintings, I will be delighted. If I can finish 12, that will be even better... but quality versus quantity, always. Spoken in the voice of Ellen Degeneres, as Dory in "Finding Nemo"..."Just keep painting, just keep painting, just keep painting, painting, painting...". By the way, if you've read this far, this marks my 202nd post on my blog! I reached 200 posts with out even realizing it!

"Ride to the Coffee Shop", 16" x 20", o/c.
Work in Progress... (Will detail 4 bikes in scene when complete).

Actually, the real reason for the 2 paintings in one day... I had a workshop this evening with artist, Christin Coy. It was a great session. Richard Lindenberg, who used to work for Sennelier Professional Oil Paints, was on hand to give a color mixing lesson. It was fantastic. I haven't mixed colors in a color wheel format in many years, but it was a great reminder, and I learned about "Chinese Orange", a color specifically commissioned by Cézanne. It's sort of a burnt umber, rust orange red color, but has a great transparency to it so it can be used to varnish, or when mixed with white, it is more opaque.Christin taught me to pre-stain my canvas with an acrylic color and water, to give it a warm undertone and get away from starting with the blank white of the canvas. The color I used was a warm sienna red color, which was perfect for the reds in the awning of the coffee shop.

In the Studio Today...Mt. Tam Cyclist; Session #3

Monday, July 20, 2009

Detail: "Afternoon Ride on Ridgecrest" 24" x 36", o/c. Painting in progress, Day 3. Click images above to enlarge to show details of paint.

In the Studio Today...Elephant Mt. Cyclist; Day 1

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

"Dwarfed by Elephant Mt." 30" x 30", o/c, Day 1. Click Photo to enlarge.

Starting on my series of "Cycling Through Landscapes" for the Mill Valley Depot show, September 2009. I love this drive out towards Pt. Reyes, and the feeling of emense mountain awe you get when you round the bend on Platform Bridge Road headed towards Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Road, and see Elephant Mt. (Black Mt.) for the first time. The day I was out there to take this photo, I had pulled my car over and was taking pictures from the side of the road when this cyclist came by. I knew I wanted to paint this image right away. More details to come...

Plein Air Today... The Mill Valley Paint Off

Saturday, July 19, 2008
"Bikes at the Depot", Lytton Square, Mill Valley, CA 2008
14" x 18", plein air, o/c.
This was my first year entering the Mill Valley Paint Off, in Mill Valley, CA. I chose to paint from a location on Lytton Square, behind the Depot Bookstore & Cafe. It was a gorgeous day, and I fortunately chose this sunny spot with good protection from the wind. I overheard other painters saying they were cold. We painted from 10:30am to 2:30pm. I took one break, but was painting most of the time. The spectators were very friendly and it was a great event. I was wondering why Mill Valley is the only town in Marin that does this, as it is really fun and the artist's entry fees pretty much pay for the winners awards. I did not win anything this year, but I had some nice people come and tell me they voted for me, which was really nice. There will be a show in September, of all 35 artists in the Mill Valley City Hall Council Chambers as part of the First Tuesday Artwalk, September 2, 2008.

I truly enjoyed the day and it gave me an excuse to pick up some amazing flatbreads from Small Shed Flatbreads, on Madrona in Mill Valley. I have been wanting to eat there for a while now, as I have heard fantastic things about this little spot, where everything is organic and hand-crafted. It was a colorful place, with red chairs outside, a large, but friendly, white bull-dog, and a contrasting black dog tied in front. I was wondering if they were part of the design there, as the interior is also painted dark red, and the red, white and black worked nicely together. It was a pleasure to see that Helen Steele's paintings were on the walls. I met Helen and her daughter this year when volunteering for the Marin Open Studios. I really enjoyed Helen's work, which is a combination of abstract figurative shapes, broad and inviting brushwork and built up, 3d "encaustic" numbers protruding from the canvas. Encaustic technique is something I would like to try someday. It involves mixing beeswax with the paint. Once the paint is mixed with the wax, and is molten and ready to use, it is applied to the painting surface. Heated tools may be used to sculpt the wax once it has cooled. Before leaving Small Shed, I ordered 3 flatbreads half-baked to take home, including one called "Mad River (VT)" made with sweet-maple fennel sausage and carmelized onions... superb. I'll be back soon.

I forgot my camera today, but I will post some photos of the Depot from earlier in the week.

In the News... Mill Valley Paint Off

July 16, 2008
This year's Paint-Off to be held on Saturday, July 19, 2008 from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm

Pending my recovery from a stomach bug this week, I hope to be out painting in the Mill Valley Paint Off on Saturday. Stop by and check out the happy painters in the Depot...

Thirty-five artists set up to work between 10 and 10:30 am in the Plaza on the brick area behind the Depot Bookstore and Café. Each artist paints any scene visible from the Plaza vantage point using any style or medium. Painting takes place from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm. Each artist may then exhibit one completed work for judging which begins at 3pm.

The People’s Choice Award will be decided by the viewing public at 3 pm. All 35 artists will be invited for a group show in the Mill Valley City Hall Council Chambers as part of the First Tuesday Artwalk, September 2, 2008.