Sketching Mushrooms with Lisa Spangler
Come along as Lisa Spangler sketches and identifies various mushrooms on a trip to Pennsylvania.
By Lisa Spangler
I love sketching mushrooms! They have really forgiving shapes, and I love exploring all of the subtle, earthy colors that I find when I take the time to stop and look closely.
Supplies List
A spot where mushrooms are growing (in my case, Pymatuning Lake, Pennsylvania!)
Standard colors: Azo Yellow, Hansa Yellow Medium, Raw Sienna, Phthalo Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Transparent Red Oxide, Quinacridone Rose, Quinacridone Coral, Cobalt Turquoise (Winsor & Newton)
Special colors for sketching mushrooms—just for fun: Buff Titanium, Bloodstone Genuine (or Lunar Black), Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet, Letter Sparrow colors: Cassel Earth, Violet Ochre
Kakimori nib and nib holder (I can’t tell you how much I love sketching mushrooms, especially since I started using a nib pen to add texture!)
If I know I’m going to be sketching mushrooms, I like to add some specialty colors to my palette, including Daniel Smith Buff Titanium, Bloodstone Genuine, Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet, and Cassel Earth and Violet Ochre by Letter Sparrow. The Bloodstone Genuine is really granulating and adds so much texture! Try Lunar Black if you don’t have Bloodstone.
Mini Tutorial
Here’s a step-by-step tutorial:
1. Start out by mixing up a big juicy puddle of color. I like to use granulating colors to add that mottled look.
2. Brush the color on your nib pen, and draw some bold lines of the mushroom. If you don’t have a nib pen, use a fine brush!
3. Then, while the color is still wet, use a brush to blend it out — I like to use a water brush for this step as it’s almost effortless to get the blend!
4. Add more paint and details, tapping in color here and there.
5. When the paint is still damp, use a dry nib pen or a stick to scratch lines in for even more texture!
Mushroom Identification
Next up, try to ID your mushrooms! I like to use the Seek app.
Note: I never eat mushrooms that I find, although my Grandpa used to! I stick to the ones from the grocery store.
I think this one below is a purple and white deceiver — although I could be wrong! Gotta love that name.
And this one on the right is a bolete! It’s so weird how it didn’t have gills, and that bright yellow underside is pretty amazing!
If my sketches inspire you to try your hand at painting mushrooms, I would love to see what you make! Tag me (@sideoats) and Art Toolkit (@arttoolkit) on social media!
All images courtesy of Lisa Spangler.
