Brian Leonard has brought tears to Julianne Moore鈥檚 eyes, swapped Instagram handles with Usher and creeped out Natalie Portman. All with espresso, stir sticks and food colouring.
The 30-year-old New Brunswick native, who goes by 鈥,鈥 is known for his 鈥渃offee caricatures鈥 painted on top of lattes at major events. He has served the stars鈥攆rom Jennifer Lawrence and Nicole Kidman to Idris Elba and Hugh Jackman鈥攁t pop-ups for one Oscars and two Emmys ceremonies, three Sundance Film Festivals, the Junos, the MMVAs, and the Canadian Screen Awards.
This month, Leonard will serve microfoam sketches to the who鈥檚-who of Hollywood at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival. It鈥檚 his fourth time at TIFF, but it鈥檚 still a surreal experience, he told CTVNews.ca ahead of the festival.
鈥淗aving very, very famous and celebrated people celebrate what you're doing and want to take pictures of you... that is strange,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 latte art and it's taken me to so many different places.鈥
The elements of his craft are simple: a good espresso machine to produce microfoam, regular food colouring,and coffee stir sticks cut into makeshift brushes. He can sketch a person鈥檚 likeness onto the milk foam in under five minutes, which is key at TIFF鈥檚 at Calii Love on King Street West where celebrities file in and out for interviews, sometimes in quick succession.
It doesn't always go as planned:
鈥淛ane Fonda, I swear, thought I was trying to poison her,鈥 he recalled. Earlier this year, he accidentally poured a drink on someone at Sundance (he can鈥檛 recall who). When he presented "Taken" star Liam Neeson with a coffee, the actor was uninterested. 鈥淗e just looked at it and shook my hand,鈥 Leonard recalled. His depiction of Portman鈥檚 "Black Swan" performance was impressive, but she didn鈥檛 want to drink her own face. "Parks and Recreation" actress Aubrey Plaza wasn鈥檛 so sure either. 鈥淪he was like 鈥榃hat is it? Do I have to touch it?鈥欌
Most often the reactions are enthusiastic, sometimes surprisingly so: "Still Alice" Oscar-winner Moore was almost moved to tears, he said. He thinks it鈥檚 something about the 鈥渋mpermanence鈥 of latte art that speaks to people. Other times it鈥檚 the personal connection. 鈥淪ometimes people just want to feel like they are seen,鈥 he said. 鈥淪ometimes (the latte art) is as simple as me just saying 鈥業 see you.鈥欌
While his craft has evolved into a full-fledged business (he incorporated as two years ago), it wasn鈥檛 always so polished. In the early days, when he was discovered by local Toronto media painting faces, and on coffee, there weren鈥檛 even any colours in his palette. As invitations to corporate events turned into Hollywood fare (including the ), his repertoire and abilities grew. Now he likens some of his work to 鈥溾 and uses a variety of colours on skylines and landscapes.
He鈥檚 not a studied artist and wouldn't even consider himself a painter. Instead, Leonard always wanted to be a performer. At the beginning, as his latte art garnered attention, he still sang at jazz bars in Toronto. Now he averages 鈥渁 plane a week鈥 for events, he said. It鈥檚 not what he planned, but he's still in the spotlight.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very small thing,鈥 he said of the art. 鈥淪o to have it be blown up into a vehicle for meeting so many incredible people鈥攊t's been awesome.鈥
