While out hiking, I spent over 30 minutes lying on the ground studying the underside of a mushroom. Other people walked past it, but I couldn’t stop looking. Having Aspergers syndrome, I can become completely absorbed in the details of things that fascinate me. I often describe it as seeing the world through a magnifying glass. After studying this mushroom, the urge to paint it was overwhelming, like an itch I couldn’t get rid of.
I first began mapping out the structure of the mushroom with a thin layer of paint. This was to put down a base and give me an idea of the form of the painting. Once that was dry, I went over the whole thing, this time with a thicker layer of paint, focusing on colour and texture. This is where I get the most joy when painting, being absorbed into the tiny details that draw me into the image to begin with.
Starting out, I thought this painting would be quite straightforward, mostly lines, but I quickly discovered that the shade, colour and angle those lines went really mattered. After over 100 hours of painting and half a tube of flake white oil paint, the mushroom emerged, and I was really overjoyed with the immersive effect the painting gives.
Oil painting
