Toadstools 1-3 - Three Works in Progress

The weatherman is right about predicting bad weather including freezing rain for the day.

There are warnings are in place about receiving up to 3/4" (20mm) of ice accretion which may cause power outages for the region. It is currently 24F (-4.4C) with the wind chill making it feel like 16F (-8.9C).

It started with snow this morning, changed to ice pellets and it will change to freezing rain for the rest of the day and overnight.

Toadstool 1

I decided to work on these three paintings that I started last year (see posts on 20 and 31 October and 31 December 2015 and 09 February 2016).

Working from one painting to the next, I the first thing I did was to remove the miskit using a rubber cement pickup and I have on occasion also used one of the white STAEDTLER Mars erasers.

Toadstool 2

Next I put each of the three paintings side by side and placed a piece of tracing paper over them.

With a pencil I lightly drew into the bottom of each piece the pine needles and curled, weathered birch leaves that with time would produce the rich loam around the base of the trees that Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) favour.

Toadstool 3

By using this method I make all my mistakes and erasures on the tracing paper and do not damage the watercolour paper.

I will post these paintings at a later date when I am pleased that the debris at the base of the toadstools flows from one piece to the next and I transfer the images onto the painting.

Toadstools 1-3 - Three Works in Progress

Today I painted with the Buckhorn Tuesday Painting Group and decided I would like to get a little more work done on these three paintings that I had started last year (see posts on 20 and 31 October and 23 December 2015).

Although they had worked on the heating system at the church and taped up the gas leak until the parts for the repairs arrived and the work could be completed, you could still detect a slight gas odour and we kept the windows open. Needless to say, I didn't stay very long.

I worked back and forth on all three of the paintings.

Toadstool 1

I wanted to get the background completed so I could work on the toadstools next.

Using Antwerp blue with a small amount of French ultramarine blue added, I washed in the sky on the first painting then set it aside to dry.

Using the same colour for the first sky I repeated this for the second and third paintings.

By the time I was ready to work on the first one again it was dry and I didn't have to wait.

Toadstool 2

With a mix of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue I indicated the background tree trunks in the paintings.

With various mixtures of the sky colour with raw sienna, burnt sienna, alizarin crimson, aureolin and new gamboge I added the leaves onto the trees, being sure to leave some of the sky colour showing through the leaves.

With French ultramarine blue and a mix of raw sienna and aureolin I put in the background grass.

Toadstool 3

I will post each of these paintings once the friskit is removed and the toadstools are painted.

Toadstools 1-3 - Three Works in Progress

It is a very mild non winter like day with the temperature reaching 44F (6.7C).

I didn't have a lot of time to work on art today trying to get everything ready for Christmas, but I wanted to get these three little paintings that I had started earlier this year (see posts on 20 and 31 October 2015) a little further along.

Since I wanted the toadstools to be at eye level, the trees and forest behind them would be from a worm's eye view.

Toadstool 1

In order to paint in the background I needed to apply liquid friskit to the toadstools to protect them.

The nice thing about the masking fluid is that you can put it on over top of a painted surface and as long as it is totally dry it will not damage the painted areas.

As each piece was masked it was then set aside to allow the friskit to dry.

I do not have the time to do any more work on them today.

Toadstool 2

In the future I can now put all the verticals into the background from the foreground to the top of the painting without leaving any distortion.

I will post each of these paintings at a later date as the backgrounds behind the toadstools are completed and the friskit is removed.











Toadstool 3

Toadstools 1-3 - Three Works in Progress

Today I was sitting at Art on Kent which is one of the art galleries in Lindsay.

What better way to spend my time at the Gallery on Hallowe'en day than to work on paintings of toadstools that I had started with a class earlier this month (see post on 20 October 2015).

Although we had a number of people come through the Gallery I started by adding the placement of the white scales on all of the toadstools.

Toadstool 1

On the second painting I thought the single toadstool could use a little company since Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) have a symbiotic relationship with the roots of various deciduous and coniferous trees and are found mainly in forested areas growing in groups in all stages of development.

Occasionally they form a naturally occurring ring with one or more trees in the center. These rings are considered to be tethered to the tree and this relationship prevents them from growing too far from the tree roots.

These rings have many names including: fairy rings, fairy circles, elf rings, elf circles, pixie rings, sorcerers' rings or witches' rings.

Toadstool 2

The names come from old European folk tales dating back to the 12th century when people once believed that mushrooms growing in a circle came from supernatural origins and marked the places where fairies, elves, pixies, sorcerers and witches would gather and dance.

These gatherings usually happened on moonlit nights and the rings would only become visible to people on the following morning in the light of day.

European superstitions routinely warn against entering a fairy ring as they are generally regarded as dangerous places and should be avoided due to the terrible consequences.

Toadstool 3

And to enter a fairy ring on May Eve or Hallowe'en night was especially hazardous.

While they are most often associated with doom and seen as dangerous places, some legends claim these circles are places of fertility and good fortune. One folk tale states that building a house on a fairy circle will bring prosperity to its owners.

I will post each painting as it is completed.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Toadstools 1-3 - Three Works in Progress

Today is the second day of the Watercolour Class I am teaching at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio.

Some of my students wanted to do fairies and mushrooms in a painting.

I did a few sketches of mushroom silhouettes on tracing paper and had them transfer the various mushrooms they wanted to use onto their paper.

While they were doing that I did a couple of sketches of fairies for them.

Toadstool 1

Once they were pleased with the placement of the mushrooms they were able to transfer the fairies they liked onto the watercolour paper among the mushrooms.

I liked the idea of doing painting some brightly coloured toadstools and did three small drawings of the Fly Agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria).

The name Fly Agaric comes from the traditional use for this mushroom in medieval times when it was ground up, placed in a jar and used as an insecticide.

Toadstool 2

The Fly Agaric is a large mushroom, which when fully grown the caps are usually around 3-8" (7.6-50.8cm) in diameter, although larger specimens have been found. It is easily identified by its rich, deep red coloured cap with its contrasting bright white scales. This bright colouration serves as a warning that it can be harmful and should not be eaten.

Although classified as poisonous, reports of human deaths resulting from its ingestion in recent times are extremely rare and it is known for its hallucinogenic properties.

But with that being said, it does belong to the Amanita family which contains a number of highly poisonous toadstools.

Toadstool 3

Some of which are its close relatives the Destroying Angel (Amanita bisporigera) and the Death Cap (Amanita phalloides) which are responsible for the majority of deaths due to mushroom poisoning.

I will post each of these paintings at a later date as more work on them has been completed.

OSWOA - Little Brown Mushrooms

This is a painting I started at the Peterborough Riverview Park and Zoo, as part of the 9th Annual Worldwide Artist Paint Out, sponsored by IPAPO.

Today I finished the painting by putting the grasses around the mushrooms and decided that it didn't need to have a background added.

I think at a later time I would like to do a series of the different types of mushrooms, perhaps next year.

If you would like more information about OSWOA please go to my post on 12 March 2010.

The OSWOA shown here are is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Windsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $30.00 and sold unframed.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and look at the artwork. I hope you will return often.