Y2 Cafe
Y2 Cafe, located on Chapel Street in Salford, is a family-run cafe that's quickly become a local favorite for its authentic Persian food and community-focused atmosphere.
The cafe is a passion project by music manager Yasin, with his mother Maryam at the helm of the kitchen, preparing traditional home-style dishes.
Club Posters
Y2 Cafe has established itself as a true community hub by hosting a variety of free clubs and events that go beyond simply serving food. They've created spaces for people to come together, connect, and express themselves creatively. For example, they've been known to host a free art club, offering a space for guests to express themselves artistically and connect with other creatives in the community.
Teaching Art Club
Lesson 1: Exploring Portraiture Through Observation
This lesson focuses on the fundamental skill of seeing. It's about looking at a subject (a person) and understanding their unique features, expressions, and the way light and shadow fall on their face. The goal is not necessarily to create a perfect likeness, but to train the eye to notice details and proportions.
Lesson 2: Drawing Through Observation
Building on the first lesson, this session expands the scope of observation from a single person to a broader subject. It could involve drawing objects in the room, still life arrangements, or even the space itself. The aim is to practice translating what the eye sees onto paper, focusing on things like perspective, form, and texture.
Lesson 3: Understanding Measurements of the Body
This lesson introduces a more technical aspect of drawing. It's about teaching the basic principles of human anatomy and proportion. Participants would learn about things like the "rule of thirds" for the face, how to measure the body using landmarks, and the relationship between different body parts. This provides a structural framework that can be used to make drawings more accurate and realistic.
Illustration
In my very first art class with Dous, the painter and artist, I started by drawing the room of Y2 Cafe. It was an exercise in observation, capturing the unique details and cozy atmosphere of the space. I focused on everything from the Persian rugs on the floor to the art on the walls, trying to translate the cafe's welcoming energy onto my paper. It was a great way to begin, as the room itself felt like the perfect subject to start learning how to see and draw.
