This week I wanted to do something easy for reading week, as I’ll be back home for the rest of the week! I am currently writing this at 4:30 am while sitting at my gate at the airport because I know I will forget later this week haha. Because My flight is so early this morning I decided the only logical thing to do last night was to catch up on homework and paint until my taxi came (at 3:30 am). I will definitely be regretting not sleeping very soon.

I wanted to paint something small and easy because I did not have a lot of time, so I looked to Pinterest to find inspiration! I am an advocate for painting/ drawing from a reference, so that is exactly what I did! I have attached the Pinterest link in the hyperlink here :))

This was the first time I have broken out my acrylic paints since I moved to Victoria! Painting these little mushrooms was actually so therapeutic––especially after a long day of catching up on homework and cleaning our house, midnight painting is just what I needed. I also loved using a reference photo because it took off the pressure of creating something totally new and fresh––it is still your artwork if you use a reference.

I absolutely loved painting this because it gave me the opportunity to paint with both cool and warm colours! I love the contrast of the vibrant mushrooms on the cool, dark blue background. As well, the little white dots in the back were very fun to paint! To get the softer/ blurred look I mixed white paint with a little bit of water and then used my finger to dab it into the canvas. The more water you use and the more you use your finger, the lighter the dot! This painting is also definitely a slightly different style than I normally do. Usually, I paint more realistic paintings, but this one has a more animated look! Which I thoroughly enjoyed doing––I think this more animated style also helped relieve some of the stress I usually face because it doesn’t have to look totally ‘real’.

I am very excited to continue painting when I get back from Calgary! A lot of times I stress over the final result of my paintings, especially when they are more detailed or intricate, but with these mushrooms I felt no pressure and no stress over how they might turn out. I think that not only made my experience more enjoyable, but improved the quality of the painting. It is by no means perfect, but I am proud of my midnight mushroom painting. :))