thatmentallystablechick

[thatmentallystablechick]

[thatmentallystablechick]

Lmao, this is why I never publish a story before I finish writing it. Consequently, this means I don't post very often, but it's all a matter of picking your poison, ain't it?

[thatmentallystablechick]

Do you guys think I should do #Funguary next year? I always like to start my drawings nice and early so I'll have plenty of time to finish them (I usually work on them on and off). I don't know if my heart's in it as much anymore...I try not to care too much about likes and favourites on my art, since that's not why I do it, but it was still a little disheartening to have less interaction this year than the year before that. I might still give it a try, but we'll see.

FUNGUARY IS HAPPENING AGAIN!!! February is right around the corner, which means it’s soon time for Funguary 2024! the drawing event where we draw a bunch of mushroom based characters during the month of feb. This will be our third year of Funguary, and this time it’s a leap year!

Here’s how it works: Each week of the month will have a theme with seven different prompts, draw a mushroom character within that theme in order to join. The themes are Celestial, Demonic, Edible and Cryptic. Each week of February is a new theme. You don’t have to complete all the prompts, just one mushroom per theme/week is plenty!

If you’re hardcore you can definitely try and finish all the prompts though ;). The challenge intensity is adjustable to what suits you. This is a chill event where the goal is to just have fun and vibe, and honor the fungi kingdom with some really cool art🍄

I invite you all to come draw mushrooms with me! Use the hashtag #Funguary and #funguary2024 when posting your creations. I’ll be posting some of the creations here, and I’ll also be hanging out in the hashtag and comment sections! Really hope y’all join and draw fungi with me🥰🍄🌿 See you all on the first of February, LETS GOOOO!!

[thatmentallystablechick]

Everyone knows the classic "female protagonist claimed/kidnapped by a mysterious dark ruler" trope in fantasy stories, right? (Think ACOTAR, Beauty and the Beast, etc.)

So here's the deal: I've been thinking recently about writing a subversion of this trope where said female protagonist is a huge book nerd who's read all the spicy BookTok fantasy novels and is just like "Oh no, I've been kidnapped by a sexy fae prince, what ever shall I do? /s", and her kidnapper genuinely can't figure out why she's so excited about this 😂😂😂😂 Am I the only one who wants to see this?

[thatmentallystablechick]

I be like, “Yeah, I love this band sm” - and then I only know one or two of their songs. Maybe three, if I’m lucky. 😂😂

[thatmentallystablechick]

And with that, another year of #Funguary has finally come to a close - so our last Mushroom to close off the month of fungi is the Velvet Shank mushroom!

Velvet Shank mushrooms are not only both edible and helpful for composting, but they also apparently can grow even in the middle of winter; wild, huh? This might sound weird, but if there’s any kind of mushroom species that can grow in such cold temperatures, part of me is honestly glad that it’s an edible fungus and not a poisonous kind… 😅 Why the 70s-inspired outfit, though, you may ask? Idk, I just thought the colour scheme worked; there was a lot of brown in the 70s, honestly…

Crazy to think another year of Funguary has already come and gone, right? In hindsight, I’m not sure my posts were quite as popular this year as they were last year - and yes, while I do ultimately post artwork more for myself than anyone else, it can still feel a little disheartening. I may or may not do Funguary again next year, I don’t know; between being busy with college and finding motivation and/or inspiration to draw, I guess time will tell. In the meantime, though, thank you to everyone who’s left likes and comments on my artwork - I appreciate you guys so much!

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons

[thatmentallystablechick]

Tomorrow is the last day of #Funguary - and our second-last prompt for the year is Tremella (aka the “jelly fungi”; it’s a good name for them, too)!

Tremella mushrooms are not only edible, but have also apparently been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries! (I have to wonder what eating a gelatinous fungus would be like, though…) They can help with improving your skin, preventing different diseases, and boosting immunity - cool, huh? There have also been theories that they can fight inflammation and help to improve both cognitive health and heart health, as well, but scientists need to do more research to see if this is actually true.

Since Tremella are commonly found in either yellow or white, I decided to give my girl a two-toned outfit. Do you like the ruffled dress? I thought it kinda matched up with the texture of the fungus. Only one more day left now, though…!

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons

[thatmentallystablechick]

Description

#Funguary is almost over already - how crazy is that?! For today’s prompt, however, we have the Hawk’s Wing fungus (also known by names like Shingled Hedgehog or Scaly Hedgehog mushrooms - both of which are also pretty fitting names)!

Hawk’s Wing mushrooms are apparently edible, although some people say they taste bitter while others say they’re pretty good, so go figure? Maybe it just depends on the way they’re cooked. 🤷‍♀️ They’re also really good for your health, from what I understand: Hawk’s Wings contain a lot of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and immune-boosting properties, and studies have shown they might even have some cancer-fighting properties, as well - impressive! Better yet, these fungi don’t have any poisonous lookalike species, so if you’re foraging for mushrooms and come across some of these, you don’t have to worry about confusing them with any poisonous shrooms!

At first, I couldn’t decide whether or not to give this girl hawk wings of her own, but I’m glad I decided to in the end; I think she looks really cool! I always planned to give her a pet hawk, though, so hey - more chance for me to practice drawing some animals! I must confess, however, that I may or may not have gotten just a LITTLE bit of inspiration for her outfit from the hawkmen in the movie “Flash Gordon”…hehe 🤭

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons

[thatmentallystablechick]

Only 3 days of #Funguary left - and for today, we have the Green Skinhead!

These mushrooms’ scientific name is Cortinarius Austrovenetus, and oddly enough, I had a hard time finding any reference photos for them when I searched for “green skinhead mushroom” - so if you ever want to find pictures of them, you’re probably better off searching them up by their scientific name. Green Skinheads are also native to Australia (with a name like “Austrovenetus”, though, that shouldn’t come as a huge surprise), and nobody really knows if you can eat them or not. Fun fact, though: the inspiration for this girl’s outfit came from a couple different pieces on Shein - so if I ever wanted to do a cosplay of this look, I could totally do it, lol!

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons

[thatmentallystablechick]

It honestly kinda makes sense that there are so many edible mushrooms under the Friendly theme for #Funguary - for today, we’ve got the Pink Oyster Mushroom!

Yes, it’s true that Oyster Mushrooms were also on the Funguary list last year, but this time around, the focus is strictly on the pink ones (they do come in plenty of other colours, though). Oyster mushrooms are good antioxidants and pretty versatile when it comes to the ways you can cook them, and scientists have been trying to see if they could be used to protect against cellular damage. Wow!

I took a different approach to this art than I did last year - similar to the changes I made between my two different Chanterelle drawings; instead of making her outfit out of the fungi, I made them growing out of her similar to my Tetrapyrgos drawing. Do you like the Y2K vibes I was trying to go for with her outfit, though? I’ll be honest, her outfit was actually loosely inspired by an artwork Feefal did a while back - but ironically, one that had nothing to do with Funguary!

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons

[thatmentallystablechick]

It’s day 23 of #Funguary - and the mushroom we have today is the Macrocybe Titan!

These fungi are found growing in the southernmost parts of the USA as well as in Central and South America, and in case it wasn’t clear from their name, they are absolutely MASSIVE; their caps can grow to be up to 16 inches wide, maybe even wider! Macrocybe Titans are the largest fungus in North America, and quite possibly even the world - and on top of that, they’re also edible! (I wonder how many meals you could get out of one of these shrooms?) You had to know I’d make this girl into a giant, but you have nothing to fear; there’s no doubt in my mind that despite the armour she wears and the sword she carries, she’s a gentle giant with a heart of gold (think sort of similar to Paul Bunyan, haha) ❤️❤️

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons

[thatmentallystablechick]

Today marks the beginning of the last week of #Funguary - hard to believe it’s already nearly over! The theme for this week is Friendly, and so today’s mushroom is the Chanterelle!

I know Chanterelle are edible and apparently quite tasty, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually eaten them - I’d be interested in giving it a try, though. Chanterelle mushrooms were actually on of the prompts from last year, as well, but I decided to take a different approach with her look. You may recall that last year, I made my girl into a wizard with a mushroom hat, but this year, I went more for a haute-couture sort of look 🤭

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons

[thatmentallystablechick]

The last week of #Funguary begins tomorrow - so for the last prompt for this week, we have Tetrapyrgos!

These little mushrooms can most commonly be found growing out of piles of compost. There are several different species in the Tetrapyrgos family, but the kind specifically shown here are known as Tetrapyrgos Nigripes (they look more like how we think of mushrooms looking, while other breeds of Tetrapyrgos almost look more like little fans).

I definitely took a slightly different approach with this one, what with also having smaller fungi growing out of her body rather than just one giant mushroom cap head (and it turns out drawing really thin veins with markers is actually more difficult than I thought). The urban legends about sirenheads still creep me out as much as ever, too, as you can probably tell by the proportions I gave her (you may recall my Clathrus Ruber artwork from last year, which was pretty similar). Between the mushrooms sprouting from her skin and the hospital gown she’s wearing, I almost feel like she might be some kind of horrifically failed science experiment - maybe even something that escaped from the SCP Foundation, perhaps? 🤔

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons

[thatmentallystablechick]

Wild to think we’re closer to the end of #Funguary than the beginning. The week of malicious fungi is nearly over, so today’s prompt is the Ophiocordyceps!

These have gotta be one of the most disturbing fungi I’ve ever heard of (but then again, everything in the Cordyceps family is pretty freaky). Ophiocordyceps are a fungus that infects ants and alters their behaviour - basically “zombifying” them; then, when the fungus has finally killed the ant, it digests the carcass and releases its spores to infect other ants. Weird stuff, man, weird stuff - and yet now it almost makes me want to see an ant zombie apocalypse horror film get made (think “A Bug’s Life”, but a little less kid-friendly, lol)!

Fun fact: I was actually inspired to put this girl in a straitjacket after seeing Feefal’s original Cordyceps artwork back in 2022. I dunno, it just seemed pretty fitting - and despite how macabre this art may be, especially what with the dead ants at her feet (I still haven’t decided if they’re oversized or if she’s just really small), I’m really pleased with this piece! If you focus JUST hard enough on this drawing, I’m half-convinced you’ll actually be able to see her twitching and hear her maniacal giggling… :O

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons

[thatmentallystablechick]

We’ve got a few more malicious mushrooms for #Funguary ; today’s prompt, though, is the freaky-looking Earthstar!

Although Earthstars are related to puffball mushrooms, I’m not actually sure if they’re edible (I’d have to look further into that). They’re a rather freaky little shroom, though: if it gets wet, the outer layer of the mushroom curls back to reveal the smaller sac inside! The fungus also releases dustlike spores through the hole in the top of its sac, hence the dust clouds I have this girl.

I’m not sure if making the outer fungus layer into a collar was a completely original idea, but whatever. I also originally drew her with shorter hair, since I had said collar in the way, but I honestly think the long hair looks way better! (Don’t ask why I made her a cyclops, though; I honestly don’t remember 😜)

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons

[thatmentallystablechick]

[thatmentallystablechick]

It’s day 18 of #Funguary , and today’s fungus is the Amanita Galactica!

These mushrooms are in the same family as Amanita Muscaria, except instead of having a red cap, they have a black one! They were also apparently only discovered back in 2020 - whaaaat?? Really makes you wonder how many other undiscovered kinds of fungi exist out there…

They really do look like stars against a night sky, though, don’t they? That’s the feeling I was going for with this mushroom sorceress’s outfit - and this was completely unintentional, but the purple, black, and green combo in this art is actually kinda giving me Maleficent vibes…

Made with Ohuhu markers and Shuttle Art pencil crayons