It’s so much fun to hike in the woods and find mushroom treasures! You never know when you’ll find them or what types you’ll find…that makes it exciting!! When you do find them, why not paint them? Spend a few minutes with me as I show you how to make a quick watercolor sketch of a flat top mushroom on the forest floor.
Mushrooms are extremely important to our ecosystem. They decompose matter (dead trees, leaf litter, etc.), breaking it down so that said matter eventually becomes soil. In doing so, valuable nutrients are released and reused. Not only do mushrooms help organic matter become soil, but their tiny roots help aerate the soil creating pores, allowing oxygen and water access to the soil.
I hope you enjoy this free step by step demo on how to paint a flat top mushroom using watercolors.
Let's Paint Nature! 
Wow a watercolor class right in my own home.. One quick question. What type of paper are you using and is it preshrunk?
Hi Holly! For this sketch I used Fabriano hot press 5”x7” (12.5x18cm) watercolor paper (140lb) in the form of a block. That means 25 sheets are glued together leaving a slit in the corner for you to separate the pages after your painting is fully dry. Because it’s a block, there is no need to stretch the paper. Yay!
Thanks so much for the info.. I recently purchased your 2019 calendar for my studio. Can’t wait to use it.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it and it brings you happiness the whole year. 😊
Wonderful, Christine, a fantastic learning experience– thanks for sharing your expertise in such a clear, entertaining way!
Thanks so much, Mark! It means a lot. 🙂