The Loring Café — Minneapolis and Oakland!

I came away with a black and white sketch, which I colored later. The place is quite dark, but has a variety of colored lights which make it pretty dramatic at night. The accordion and violin playing gave it an old-world feeling (though we maybe could have done with a little less of it!).

Loring Cafe, Downtown Oakland

In contrast to Cristina's colorful work in the last post, I responded to the stimulation of the Loring Cafe decor by just doing line drawings.  The cafe and bar has only been open for three months, a branch of another cafe in Minneapolis.  According to the hostess, the owners gutted and converted a former mattress store, exposing beams and adding columns, brickwork, paintings and statues.

 

The two men having dinner at the table behind us are actually much more handsome than they look in this sketch!

Loring Cafe, Oakland

Loring Cafe, pencil sketch,
marker, watercolor pencils, 9x12in.

Loring Cafe, pencil sketch,
marker, watercolor pencils, 9x12in.

I was overwhelmed by the rich decoration of the Loring Cafe. I decided to try a different type of line, more fluid, in the style of  Judith. I only used pencil on site, I did not want to risk ruining the tablecloth with ink. Later at home I used a felt marker and colored pencils to try to give the sketches the organic colorful feeling of the decoration.