Grabbing a cup of coffee with Tokyo illustrator Mariya Suzuki isn't like a typical java date.
That's because as she takes a couple of sips, she starts to draw on her cup. And the more she drinks, the further she's able to tilt it, drawing her surroundings with impeccable detail.
She first started sketching on to-go cups while attending school at California State University, Long Beach.
Here are some of her very first creations.
"I thought the blank paper cups without any logos on them were so simple and pretty," she told BuzzFeed in an email.
"But they are blank, so naturally they inspired me to draw on them."
The art gives new life to cups that otherwise typically perform just one function.
"I like to draw what is in front of me, so I started to do sketches on them," she said.
Here's an even more creative take: a rotating cityscape!
(Cues "Eleanor Rigby.")
Suzuki just wrapped up an exhibition in Tokyo titled Urbansketching With Coffee People.
The show ran at a gallery named Salad Bowl. Though it just ended, Suzuki is planning to have a touring show solely with the coffee cups in Tokyo — and might even make her way back to California.
But before the show opened, Suzuki had some cup-drawing sessions with friends.
Like fellow illustrator Adrian Hogan's depiction of a park here.
Here's another video of Hogan's of a cozy gathering with friends.
Just another lovely night in.
Other friends have joined, including British illustrator Andrew Joyce.
If you decide to have your own session, just be sure to finish the coffee first. 😜
"I believe coffee brings people together," Suzuki said.
"Some people worry a bit that it is hard to draw on rounded surface, but it’s actually not that hard and is fun," she said. She hopes to make the drawing sessions a regular occurrence.
