Until Next Year (maybe)
Okay. This is it! The last of the mushrooms for 2022. I don’t think I can paint any more, try to identify any more, read any more. I must clean my desk and turn a new page! But then, who knows, I haven’t gone outside yet today to see if anything new has come up.
Tips and Techniques– For this page, I thought it might be fun to try something different and just take a top down view of mushroom caps. This gave me a chance to look at patterns, texture, and composition, more than the previous pages of studying the whole mushroom.
Another way to capture an intriguing top down view is to make spore prints. Cut off the stem and place the cap on black paper (or white paper for dark spore mushrooms). The spores drop out, leaving a print. I used spray fixative to set and preserve the print.
Drawn In 
I’m sure you won’t be able to resist if anything else has turned up!
I know, you’re right…and there are more coming up. I just can’t continue spending every night sketching them and trying to identify them!
Your spore prints look like the iris of an eye! Beautiful !
Aren’t they so intriguing! I’m glad they came out so well. If you catch them to late the spores have already dropped.
Mushroom spore printing was interesting. It has been so dry here in central Texas this summer that seeing a mushroom is a rare sight
They really need the rain to come out. It was a dryer summer here and I hadn’t seen any until it rained hard for two days. Now we’ve had more rain and they are still emerging.
I like your thought processes! Such wonderful art!
Thanks Barbara!
So Lovely!! Did you use a resist to reserve the spotty parts, or just paint selectively? I once sketched an Amanita shroom without the benefit of the rubber goop – 😳 Took forever!!
I did for these Sheryl. There were so many and I wanted to build up the layers of color. I’ve also painted around them on Amanitas before and it does require some care.
I love the spore print! I had never seen one before. Beautiful!
Try it sometime. It’s very easy and quite rewarding when you lift the cap.
Mushrooms are becoming very popular! Your ideas are inspirational….thanks!!!!!
Thanks Pegi! Glad you liked this.
Outstanding, Jean! Something tells me you will continue to hunt mushrooms until snowfall. I love your inverted cap composition page. And wow, the spore prints are gorgeous … reminds me of fine line ink drawings.
Thanks Barb…you’re probably right.
😂
I love your eco-paintings!!!
Thank you!
Pingback: one last visit: Ever Present – Touring My Backyard