WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
In this 2-hour workshop we draw and paint Golden Chanterelle mushrooms while we weave in information about Beatrix Potter’s fascination with and deep study of the fungal kingdom. We’ll also talk about the palette of colors she and her contemporaries used in Victoria-era England. Watch workshop replay below.
PREPARING FOR THE WORKSHOP
HANDOUTS
Click below to download your high-resolution mushroom images >>
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- Golden Chanterelle Mushroom Reference Photos
- Chanterelle Mushroom in Gray Scale (this is the one we will be drawing and painting together)
- Golden Chanterelle Outline (a compilation of mushroom outlines in case you want to simply transfer and practice painting without taking time to draw each!) This is a homework option, we won’t do all these in class.
- Drawing templates (value scale, view finder and sun icon). Helpful for seeing and depicting values, color and 3-D form.
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SUGGESTED SUPPLIES
In this workshop you’ll need a basic set of drawing and watercolor painting supplies, sketch paper and watercolor paper (in addition to printing out the files above). If you’d like to use the particular materials I’ll be demonstrating with, including the historic palette of colors that Beatrix Potter may have used in 19th century England, click on the links below.
- 2H hard graphite pencil, and a soft charcoal pencil, eraser pencil, and a blending stomp for our value study.
- Fine-tipped waterproof pen (Beatrix sometimes outlined her drawings, but using a crow quill dip pen with India ink!)
- Sketch paper (plus extra sheet of stiff paper to wave over painting to dry more quickly 😊
- Watercolor paper like Arches Hot Press 300 gsm / 140 lb
- White gouache paint in Zinc White / Chinese White
- Watercolor brushes – a small one like #2 and a larger one like #10 (my new favorite brand): Princeton Aqua Elite size 2 and Princeton Aqua Elite size 10
- Watercolor hues (most similar to what Beatrix used): Lemon yellow, Indian yellow or new gamboge, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, burnt umber, cadmium red (a modern substitute for toxic vermillion), alizarin crimson, Prussian blue, French ultramarine, indigo.
- Paper towel to dry paints on brush for dry-brushing technique
Or if you are on a budget or want something that has most of the basic palette and is easier to buy, I recommend the Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Paint Set, 16 HP Deluxe Sketchers’ Box
See my complete list of supplies I use in general (click HERE)
PS: Some of the links I provide are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you. I only share products I whole-heartedly recommend and use myself. Your purchases help support me as an independent, woman-owned business.
WATCH WORKSHOP REPLAY BELOW
Beatrix Potter Resources
- Beatrix Potter’s Botanical: The Art of Flowers and Fungi
- Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children’s Tale
- Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature
- Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature
- Learn about the life and art of Beatrix Potter HERE.
Learn More About Fabulous Fungi
- Learn more about mushrooms in my ‘Spooky Nature Facts’ story on Deadly Mushrooms.
- Learn how to make a Mushroom Spore Print