What do you think of when you imagine painting mushrooms?
For me, mushrooms conjure up fairy tales and stories read from long ago. There’s something about the vision of the little mushroom nestled in the woodlands or growing through the autumnal debris that lets us know the cold season has arrived.

As a motif to inspire, there’s a sense of the whimsical when painting the mushroom world that can transport us as artists. That sense of play can be accessed by all of us in that the mushroom itself is a basic silhouette that can be recreated by any level of drawing skill.

In this class, we will use the simple mushroom as a template to explore watercolour and mixed media effects. It is because of the simplicity of the mushroom form itself, there will be a freedom to explore different mediums combined with watercolour.

This class is for beginners and intermediate artists who would like to create and explore different approaches to ever-inspiring mushrooms.

In this class, we will

explore simple washes and granulating colours to create texture
introduce the brush pen to add a graphic and contemporary feel
use watercolour ground to increase vibrant colour effects
paint mushrooms on black watercolour paper
add pencil, gouache and gold for added intensity

At the end of this class, you will have created three illustrations. In the first lesson, we’ll have created a bold and graphic taxonomy of mushrooms with watercolour and a brush pen. In the second lesson, we will have created a Nocturne Mushroom Painting on black watercolour paper. Finally, we will then create a mini mushroom painting, “Our Little Treasure” where pencil, gouache and gold will be incorporated to make our mushroom glow!

I love mushroom painting, it’s a subject I always return to and would love to see your creations here! So pop on the kettle, lay your paints and paper out and let’s play!

Lenora Nichols

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