Cocktail Quiz

"This series of 6 miniature paintings is my first experience using watercolor paints thinned with whiskey. I got the idea from an art group called "The Whiskey Painters of America" and it sounded like something fun and different to recharge my creative juices. The idea to do a series which would visually depict the name of a popular cocktail made with some type of whiskey occurred to me. My cocktail knowledge is limited, so I did an online search and came up with a short list of interesting cocktail names which could be captured with a single visual image. I editted my list after sharing my idea with two former bartenders and then set out to gather reference photos. Officially, members of the Whiskey Painters of America (WPA) follow guidelines to paint watercolors with any alcoholic spirits, working in miniature no larger than 4" x 5". I liked the idea of painting these in a square format of 4"x4".

This exercise taught me that the whiskey evaporates a bit faster than water, so the watercolor paint applied to paper dries a little quicker than I am accustomed to. Drying time really is a non-issue while working at such a small size. The golden color of the spirits did not stain my paper, even if I diluted light tints. The other good discovery is that I could still achieve my signature fine detail and realism even at a small size. I've worked very tiny on scratchboards, but fine details are more suited to the sharp point of a knife than a paintbrush.

I had fun chosing my subjects, most of them outside my usual repetoire. I painted each with the specific type of whiskey commonly used in the cocktail it depicts, just for an added uniqueness. My conclusion: I'd like to officially become a Whiskey Painter of America. In the meantime, I'll call these my whiskey-color paintings.

See if you can name the cocktails. You'll find the answers on this post in my blog: Spot Quiz."

Judy is now a lifelong member of the Whiskey Painters of America.