Here in Sydney at the moment, we are back in lockdown and so to add a little something distinctive to my daily routine I’m drinking out of a different teacup each day. And of course, sketching them!
I normally drink my tea from a fancy cup anyway but it’s usually the same cup for a number of days at a time. So a different one each day feels like it’s a special occasion and even more so when I’m getting my good cups out.
My good cups are the expensive bone china cups – Royal Albert, Coalport, Royal Daulton, etc and the older vintage cups. My everyday collection includes all my T2 teacups (often very complex patterns) plus some of the other local brands (such as Ashdene) which are either stoneware or bone china. In the early days T2 cups were not generally bone china but in recent years I only buy their china cups. Ashdene cups are my favourite to drink from (their china seems to keep my tea warmer for longer) but are generally plainer in design.
I’ve not been in such a teacup sketching mood for a long time. Last year when I was doing the project of sketching all my teacups it became a little bit of a chore… but this time I feel motivated. And it feels great!
There is a lot of stuff happening in the background at the moment, so all of these sketches are done very quickly. I have a brief break in my workday and do the sketch in its entirety while drinking my tea. I’m not trying to create a masterpiece, just simply record the little moment in my day. But, I’m hoping that by doing one of these each day, I’ll start doing something different with my teacup sketches soon.
Here are the first five of my lockdown teacups…
T2 Eleganza Flamingo tall cup and saucer. This is one of the more complex patterns, so this was a very loose interpretation.
My first Ashdene cup which I use for green or herbal tea. This was a cup of Lemon Myrtle tea drunk and sketched in the evening.
T2 Peacock cup which has the most unusual saucer shape. It was a gift from Emmanuel School in Hobart after teaching a number of workshops back in 2014. BTW I have a separate tag for Peacock Teacups 🙂
Another Ashdene cup – Jardin Peony design – done with a little watercolour pencil for something different.
Royal Albert 100 years set – 1920s Spring Meadow. This sketch is a very strong interpretation of the very delicate cup pattern
As for lockdown, it’s the first time since the initial period (March-May 2020) that we’ve had stay-at-home orders (in my part of Sydney) so I’m not complaining. I’m very thankful for all the freedom that we’ve had and that my apartment gets lots of wonderful winter sun! And for my amazing teacup collection which brings delightful colour and pattern into my everyday life.
BTW, I’m also sketching my morning coffees (in a cup and saucer) but that’s another story!
10 Comments
I’d love to sometimes see not only the sketch but also the teacup and saucer to see how you interpret what you see. Thanks!
Hi Rachael,
I do sometimes remember to take photos – you should be able to see examples here 🙂
https://www.lizsteel.com/teacup-collection-28-my-sketchingnow-buildings-cup/
https://www.lizsteel.com/a-week-of-pink-teacups/
https://www.lizsteel.com/teacup-collection-24-26/
Will try and remember to take photos… but these sketches are done in the middle of my day when I’m thinking about other things!
You could always google the cup names if there is one, in particular, you are interested in – I’m trying to include them each time when I know the name to help with that 🙂
Fabulous ideas and links – thanks
Sorry to hear you are in lockdown. Here in The Netherlands we are out of lockdown since af few weeks after what seemed like an never ending period of lock down. Your courses and especially the live streams were often the highlight in those weeks. So thank you for that. And I hope the Aussie lockdown is short and you get to go on sketch outings soon!
Thanks Martine! I can’t imagine what it would be like to have long lockdowns like you and many other people have had. Hope you have freedom now! And the livestreams are the highlght of my week too 🙂
Hello Liz, I always look forward to your tea cup sketches. I would love to now where and how you store all those beautiful tea cups. I too collect vintage tea set’s and find it so challenging to display and store them. A sketch of your storage would be delightful. Stay safe.
Thanks Jeanne. My storage isn’t very exciting and I live in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment. So my everyday cups are simply stacked in an overhead cupboard above my kettle (I shared a photo to IG once) and my good cups are stored in their original boxes (or shoe boxes) above my pantry.
I so wish you would teach a tea cup class!
Yours are so outstanding! The shading and loose nature
Boggle my mind. I’m a super fan ? Thank you Liz!
Hi Lea – I already have a lot of teacup instruction (including numerous videos) in my other courses – Foundations, Edges and Watercolour. 🙂 Plus there are a few instructional articles on this page
https://www.lizsteel.com/teacupsketching/
And this IGTV
https://www.instagram.com/tv/BtdKsPvlzrL/
23 JUILLET 2026
Bonjour Liz, je suis très admirative de vos tasses de thé ! J’adore la spontanéité et la fraicheur qu’elles dégagent. C’est votre “facture” que j’aime en fait. J’ai été agacée lorsque j’ai lu ce commentaire de Rachael Ayres, tout en haut de la liste : “J’aimerais parfois voir non seulement le croquis, mais aussi la tasse et la soucoupe, pour voir comment vous interprétez ce que vous voyez. Merci !”.
Ne peut-on pas se contenter de REGARDER, ADMIRER, RESSENTIR, S’EMOUVOIR, FONDRE devant une oeuvre d’art ? Pourquoi toujours chercher “la manière de faire, voire les astuces” ? …car ce genre de question vient généralement de personnes qui ne savent pas “comment s’y prendre”, qui ont besoin d’un guide qui leur explique que l’on doit faire comme ceci, comme cela et pas autrement, pour respecter les règles. Rachael voudrait savoir “comment vous interprétez ce que vous voyez”…j’hallucine ! Vous savez, j’ai souvent comparé la rencontre entre un humain et une oeuvre d’art, avec celle d’un homme et d’une femme et j’ai souvent répondu à mes visiteurs : “lorsque vous avez rencontré votre épouse, vous l’avez trouvée belle, vous avez aimé ce qu’elle dégageait. lui avez-vous demandé AUSSI si elle était boulangère ou avocate, comment elle se déshabillait le soir, comment elle se réveillait le matin, ce quelle mangeait au petit-déjeuner ?….pour être certain qu’elle vous plaise vrament” ? J’espère que non car il ne serait plus question de SENTIMENT mais d’INTERET.
Quant à Lea Newton qui “aimerait tellement que vous lui montriez comment peindre une tasse de thé”…Eh bien, Léa, posez une tasse de thé devant vous et contentez-vous de la dessiner et la peindre, telle que vous la voyez, c’est aussi simple ! Comment voulez-vous mettre de l’émotion dans ce que vous créez et la transmettre à autrui si vous n’opérez pas avec votre regard, votre coeur, votre âme ? Si vous voulez que l’on RECONNAISSE votre travail parmi les autres, c’est indispensable, sinon vous ferez partie du troupeau de mouton toute votre vie.
Pardonnez-moi mais je suis hypersensible et entière et ce genre de remarques ou de questions me désolent.
Tous les peintres ne sont pas des Artistes mais pensent qu’ils le sont.
Vous, Liz, vous êtes une ARTISTE !
Que la vie vous soit douce.
Bien sincèrement à vous.
Anne
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