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Coffee artists' painting are all the buzz at Chabot College
When Derek Hobbs worked at an art store, he took inventory - often with a clipboard and a cup of coffee in hand. Occasionally, some coffee would spill onto the paper, and he couldn't help but notice its rich color.
"I fell in love with the color of coffee, and I thought, 'Why not do it on canvas?'" he said.
So he did. Working from his Hayward home, Hobbs has painted everything from giraffes to Clint Eastwood by splashing around the deep brown liquid that most would be loath to pour on anything white.
"Basically, I just start spilling coffee over the canvas until all the white space is gone," he said. Then he goes in between the lines to draw outlines and details. More coffee usually follows.
Layered with charcoal sketches and acrylic paint, the result is strikingly realistic. Diane Zuliani, an art history and museum studies instructor at Chabot College, said Hobbs' paintings are "truly lovely" and go beyond what some might consider a gimmick.
An exhibition of Hobbs' work, aptly called "Coffee Spills," opened this week at the Chabot College Art Gallery.
Hobbs, who works in customer service for a home builder, paints in his spare time. He said he was trained as an illustrator - not a painter - at what was then the California College of Arts and Crafts, but ultimately decided not to do commercial artwork.
He said people often ask him if he uses a special kind of coffee, which makes him chuckle. "I grab the cheapest instant coffee I can find," he said, adding that it's usually from the 99-cent store.
"Coffee Spills" runs until Oct. 19 at the Chabot College Campus, 25555
Hesperian Blvd., Hayward.
on the picture: HANG EM HIGH, a portrait of Clint Eastwood by artist Derek Hobbs, was created using acrylic paint and dried coffee stains.
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