Mushrooms Under the Moonlight - Oil Pastel Drawing Process Video
View my work on Behance: https://www.behance.net/biarosepec Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biarosepec Evlampia Pecoraro Mushrooms Under the Moonlight Fall 2025 22” x 30” Oil pastel, chalk pastel, colored pencil, and black cotton paper A group of mushrooms grows from a log in the foreground on the bottom left side of the paper. A bright moon shines down on the mushrooms from the top right. The moon produces circular moonbeams that cover the page. Two-dimensional mushroom beings achieve a new state of transformation on each ring of moonlight, ultimately evolving into celestial beings crowned with light. Certain fungi are bioluminescent, meaning that they naturally emit a glow that’s greenish in color. This is caused by a reaction between certain molecules and oxygen. The glowing effect can appear both in the fruiting bodies of mushrooms and the mycelium. The glow is continuous, but most visible in the dark. When this effect is observed in decaying wood containing species of bioluminescent fungi, it’s referred to as “foxfire.” The oldest recorded documentation of foxfire is from 382 B.C., by Aristotle. Throughout history, writers and scientists have been fascinated by this effect in wood, but did not realize that it was actually caused by species of fungi inside the wood until 1823. In this drawing, I wanted to make a connection between bioluminescent mushrooms and the reflected light of the moon. I showcase the beauty of bioluminescent mushrooms in a setting that would be natural to see them in — growing from a log, at night time, under the moon. In the same way that the glow of bioluminescent fungi bewildered scientists for generations, the moon also has a glow that was confusing to people in the archaic period of astronomy. It wasn’t until around 500 B.C. that the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras first suggested that the moon was not emitting its own light, but rather reflecting the light of the sun. Transforming humanoid mushroom beings run toward the moon, along the rings of moonlight. These mushroom figures are responsible for making the connection between heaven and earth, or the above and the below. They begin as mushrooms on the outermost ring, then become humanoid, then are seen bearing a celestial object of light, and are finally crowned with this light as they reach the moon on the innermost ring.
