Pinyon Cafe

A few weeks ago I had the best coffee and pastry from Pinyon Cafe in Salt Lake City. But besides the best coffee, Steve also has the best coffee trailer. It’s painted bright orange! You can see why I had to grab my sketchbook and draw it after I finished my breakfast. He parks it at various spots around the city (follow him @pinyoncafe on Instagram to find out where he’ll be), and he’s a popular guy, not just because the coffee is great but because he’s super friendly and loves to chat. Everyone who stops there spends a little time hanging out, so it’s also a great place to draw people and dogs. And if you are lucky you may even get a few flowers from Steve’s garden along with your coffee.


22 Comments on “Pinyon Cafe”

  1. Love this! Full of energy and character. Just like Steve and the coffee.

    • Alison, you would have loved Steve. A really interesting guy who grows all kind of stuff and sells the produce from the trailer. I think he even has bees and he uses the honey to sweeten the coffee drinks! He knew I was making him some prints of the sketch so he sent me coffee and a mug. A gem of a guy!

  2. TonyU says:

    Sketching heaven … a quiet spot, coffee (or a beer) and a readymade subject! Another highlight on your wonderful trip.

  3. Cindy Wahlstrom says:

    A lovely drawing and a friendly breakfast. A great way to start your day.

    • It was definitely the best way to start the day. I didn’t describe the pastries but we tried a cheddar thyme biscuit and a blueberry muffin. How can that be a bad way to begin a Thursday?

  4. Northern Traveller says:

    Ha ha – hilarious! What a great scene – the dogs!
    And the ORANGE food truck – it’s beautiful Shari! These happenstance findings are what make life rich, aren’t they? xxx

  5. deedster56 says:

    Steve sounds like a wonderful character and you’ve portrayed his dynamic food truck magnificently. I also love how you captured Bru and Charlie’s stances, it looks like they were waiting for a treat!

    • Bru and Charlie WERE waiting for treats but they arrived late and all the treats were gone. Just after this you might have caught the look of disappointment and regret on their little doggie faces!

  6. Denise says:

    Hi Shari, what a fun sketch! Sorry I missed the fun painting with you on the lakes in Canada this week.I want to thank you for the shout out a few blog posts back regarding the free sample of Hahnemanuele watercolor paper. I got my sample in the mail today and can’t wait to try it out!

    • Denise, we missed you last week in Gananoque. I think you would have enjoyed the group. I will post the sketches from there soon. Hopefully you will be able to join us next time!!

  7. Look what I got (below) from Hahnemuehle mentioning how many responses they got from the mention in your blog! I guess you can call yourself an “influencer” now!!! So… congratulations and many thanks!

    “Thank you for joining Shari Blaukopf’s Blog! She was a bit surprised when I told her all the responses I’ve gotten for FREE Samples, so please send her a comment of THANKS on her blog page 😉”

    • That’s funny. Thanks for letting me know. I did hear from Carol who told me she got tons of people asking for samples. I am happy for that because she was a generous sponsor of our workshop plus I try love the paper. I hope you enjoy it too.

  8. Kristin Johnsen says:

    Totally in love with this!!!!

  9. Suzanne says:

    You have such a way with colour, Shari!! Choosing them, mixing them, and then how they describe to our eyes. Clearly sitting on the sidewalk did not cramp your expression.

    May I ask about the paint colours for the trailer? And the size of paper you used? I have no aspirations to try this so maybe it’s living vicariously curiosity. Merci bien 🙏

    • HI Suzanne,
      Thanks! I used my brightest orange for this. Actually I only have one orange on my palette so that was easy. It is Schminke Transparent Orange, and for the darker parts I probably added a bit of Alizarin to darken it. I sketched in my Stillman & Birn Beta book which is portrait format, 9″ x 12″, but this is just the top of the page so it’s about 8″ x 6″. Give it a go!!

      • Suzanne says:

        Thank you Shari. 😀 I’ve never tried Schminke watercolour. Your encouragement has me thinking to pull out the paints just to have fun with colour.

  10. mcammeehan says:

    Love this, especially the orange. What a fun trip!


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