Since ancient times, narcotic properties have been widely used in the rites and rituals of nationalities. Images of fly agaric mushrooms were found in rock paintings in ancient chronicles.
In those days, shamans, before performing the ritual, ate fly agaric mushrooms to acquire new mental and physical strength. After eating such food, they experienced numerous hallucinations.
Reconnecting with spirits was the goal of their drug sessions. Through experiments with food, our ancestors learned about the mysterious properties of these plants.
The tribes of the Mayans, Aztecs and many other tribes also did not avoid this method of acquiring superpowers. Spiritualistic seances, rituals, ceremonies, meditations, shamanism, all this was accompanied by the use of narcotic drugs.
Referring to historical facts, it can be argued that to give fearlessness, the Vikings also ate mushrooms before important battles. A drink made from hallucinogens was often used in combat.
Warriors acquired bloodthirstiness and fearlessness with the help of this drink. The action of the active substances of the mushroom incited rage in the warriors, they became invincible, instilling numbness and horror in their opponents.
Despite all these very interesting mysterious events associated with these mushrooms, in the modern world they should not be used without the advice of specialists.
Useful information about the world of mushrooms
We all love to visit forests, just for a walk, or in search of something tasty and beautiful. Avid mushroom pickers know about all the intricacies of this species, but ordinary, inexperienced people may not get exactly what they were looking for.
There are many forested areas in Europe; more than 80 species have found their refuge in the forests, which cause harm to the human body when consumed as food. Even if you touch the mushroom with your hands, the poison from your hands can get into your mouth. About 30 species of these mushrooms are dangerous, many of them are deadly poisonous, the red fly agaric falls into this number. Beware of mushrooms if they are not familiar to you.
– What should we know first of all about his appearance so as not to confuse him with anything? Brief description, has a cap on a stalk, a fruit-bearing, dense, fleshy body.The mushroom cap does not exceed 20 cm in diameter, is also fleshy, at the beginning of growth it acquires a spherical shape, after a while it becomes convex and outstretched, with a thin ribbed edge, sticky orange-red. When it begins to age, it acquires a yellowish tint and the colors fade.
There are large white spots and dots on the cap - there are mushrooms without them, but very rarely. Under the skin the cap is light orange, it is surprisingly tasty, the mushroom tastes sweet and exudes a pleasant aroma. In all books and booklets, red fly agarics are depicted very clearly; they are difficult to confuse with something else.
Many different species predominate in our area. It is important to know that absolutely all fly agarics are poisonous.
Drawing of a fly agaric with colored pencils. Master class for children
A fly agaric (a drawing for children when depicted with colored pencils will turn out bright) is easy to draw, following step-by-step instructions.
Auxiliary lines
The image begins with auxiliary lines. These will be 2 straight lines, perpendicular to each other: 1 line runs horizontally, the 2nd line runs vertically. Auxiliary lines are needed to simplify work in the future. They will serve as a guide when drawing the main elements of the fly agaric.
Leg
The stem of a mushroom can be represented by 2 vertical lines. They should be rounded. The degree of roundness depends on the thickness of the fly agaric. It is better to make the leg longer: it is narrower at the top and widens towards the bottom.
In order not to make a mistake with the position of the leg, you should pay attention to the vertical auxiliary line drawn earlier. The right side of the leg should be symmetrical to the left side relative to this leg. The leg lines should end just above the horizontal auxiliary straight line.
Bottom of the hat
The steps of this stage are as follows:
- Above the leg of the fly agaric, you need to draw an oval, extended to the left and right. This will not be a cap, but only its lower part. The oval should be attached to the top of the leg.
Here you need to pay attention to the position of the vertical auxiliary line. The oval should be positioned so that this straight line divides it in half. In this case, the oval should not fall beyond the horizontal auxiliary straight line.
- After making sure that the oval is located in the right place, you should outline it with a pencil, making it more distinct.
- Proceed to removing auxiliary lines that fulfilled their function and helped determine the exact position of the stem and the bottom of the cap, represented by a horizontally elongated oval.
- Now the undrawn mushroom is located in the center of the sheet and has the correct size and shape. An eraser will help remove unnecessary lines. It is enough to carefully erase them, trying not to touch the main lines: the lower part of the cap and the stem.
Records
When examining a fly agaric, it is not difficult to notice that under its cap, in the upper part of the leg, there are fleecy plates. They need to be depicted in the picture, otherwise the mushroom will turn out to be implausible.
To do this, you need to draw a small arc connecting the 2 lines of the legs in their upper part. This will mark the place for the records. They are thin, small and fit tightly to the leg.
hat
Above the oval, which marks the lower part of the fly agaric cap, you need to draw a figure similar to a trapezoid. This will be the top part of the cap - the most beautiful element of the mushroom.
It is enough to draw 1 line, which starts to the left of the oval, runs diagonally up and to the right, rounds, then goes down and to the right and ends on the right side of the oval.
Pulp
At the bottom of the cap is the fly agaric pulp. It is easier to depict it using a ruler. It is enough to attach the tool to the sheet and draw many thin lines from the leg to the oval, trying to place them at the same distance from each other.
The total number of lines in the mushroom pulp can be anything, for example, 30, 40, 50. This depends on the size of the pattern. The distance between them can be 3-5 mm.
Controversy
White spots on the red cap are the main decoration of the fly agaric. These are fungal spores. They are randomly located throughout the cap. To depict them, it is enough to draw many small circles of different sizes.
Grass
Fly agarics usually grow in the forest and hide behind green grass. To make the picture complete, you need to draw grass under its leg.
If you want to show fly agaric in the grass, then you need to:
- In different parts of the sheet, sketch out the grass with up and down strokes or “bundles”. In the second option, you need to draw from one point; the tops should not be even, but can stick out in different directions.
- Add grass to empty spaces if necessary.
- Add small other vegetation.
Coloring
This is the final stage of drawing a mushroom.
Fly agaric - pencil drawing for children
When coloring, you need to consider that:
- The flesh of the mushroom, where many lines run, should be left white or made light beige. You can also use pencils in gray and brown shades for this. The legs should have a similar color;
- The cap is the brightest part of the fly agaric. It needs to be colored with a red pencil, and the spots should be left untouched;
- the grass growing under the mushroom should be green;
- To make the drawing more believable, a shadow should be drawn on the surface of the mushroom. It should be present on both the cap and the stem. In the case of the hat, you should use a darker red pencil. You can put many gray dots on the leg to depict a shadow. In order for there to be shade in the grass, you need to add several dark green blades of grass to it.
Where does it grow?
Fly agarics are not whimsical and are located in forests of all types. The color of the mushroom cap depends on the trees growing nearby.
Fly agarics are found on all continents; they are distributed throughout the world. Almost any forest soil is suitable for mushroom growth. Most likely, each of us who has visited our nearest forest has encountered a fly agaric on our way.
How to draw a fly agaric with gouache
Fly agaric (a drawing for children using gouache requires colored cardboard for the base) is painted with paint of 3 colors:
- green - for grass growing under the mushroom;
- red - for the fly agaric cap;
- white - for the stem and spots on the cap.
The main tool for creativity will be a brush. You will also need a napkin and water, which is best poured into a spill-proof glass.
The steps for creating an image are as follows:
- Dip the brush in water, then dip it in white paint and draw an up-and-down oval at the bottom of the sheet. This will be the leg.
- Use the same paint to draw a “skirt” around the leg.
- Rinse the brush thoroughly in water so that no traces of white paint remain on it. Proceed to work on the mushroom cap using red paint. The cap is drawn above the stem at the top of the mushroom. It should look like a triangle, only the corners need to be rounded.
- Wait until the gouache on the sheet of paper dries.
- Wash the brush, removing traces of red paint from it.
- When the paint on the paper has dried, dip the brush into green gouache and draw oblique stripes under the leg. This will be grass.
- After making sure that the red paint and the cap painted with it have dried, proceed to drawing the main decoration of the fly agaric - the white spots. To do this, you need to dip the brush in white paint, and then use it to put small dots on the cap.
As soon as the dots are marked, the fly agaric drawing can be considered complete. The fly agaric (a drawing for children can be a composition of small details) is first drawn with a pencil.
To depict several fly agarics in one drawing you need:
- Make a sketch. A simple pencil is used for this. First, you need to draw a hat in the center of the sheet. It will belong to the main and largest mushroom. The shape of the cap should be close to an oval, but there is no need to make it too even.
- Draw a “skirt” under the hat. This will be 1 more oval, but smaller in size. It should be stretched horizontally. It also doesn't need to be made too smooth.
- Draw the cap of the 2nd fly agaric. It is located on the right side of the picture. This hat can also be represented by a figure similar to an oval. However, it is important to make sure that it extends at the top. The size of this mushroom, and therefore its cap, is approximately 2 times smaller compared to the main fly agaric, the cap and “skirt” of which were drawn at the previous stage.
- On the opposite side, draw the outline of the cap of the 3rd mushroom. Its shape is approximately the same as that of the other 2 fly agarics. The size of this mushroom is approximately the same as that of the fly agaric located on the other side.
- Draw the legs of the main mushroom, as well as the other 2 mushrooms. To do this, just draw a couple of rounded lines. Do not forget that small mushrooms should also be decorated with “skirts”.
- If three fly agaric mushrooms are not enough, you can depict 1 more - the smallest mushroom. It can be located between 2 large mushrooms.
- After the finished sketch, proceed to coloring using gouache. To do this you will need green and yellow paint. They will be applied together, they will need to be mixed directly in the drawing. You need to sweep the brush vertically: this will simulate the growth of grass. You can paint over all areas except the mushrooms themselves.
- When the background is painted over, move on to working on the fly agarics. First, apply whitewash to the stems of the mushrooms. Everything needs to be painted, including the “sarafan” located at the top. Then you need to dip the brush in red paint and trace it along the contours of 3 large hats. It is better to leave the cap of a small mushroom white.
- Fill all the caps with red.
- Take black paint. You need to use it to circle the hats painted in red. Then, using a clean brush dipped in water, carefully combine the black and red colors. It is important to create a smooth transition from one color to another. This process involves smearing the border of two colors with water.
- Using a similar technique, add small dots and a few strokes of white to the surface of the caps.
- Dab along the sides of the legs with a brush dipped in blue paint. Blue color can be obtained by mixing blue and white paint on a palette. The boundaries also need to be blurred with water.
- Use green paint to paint the trees in the background. It could be Christmas trees. Using the same color you need to depict several blades of grass in the foreground.
- Use black paint to outline all the mushrooms, including the caps and stems. This simple technique will highlight the main elements of the picture.
This completes the work of drawing a composition with mushrooms. If you wish, you can complement the landscape: make the trees in the background clearer and add flowers and leaves. You can add flowers and leaves with your fingers, without using brushes.
The structure of the fly agaric is simple; its 2 main elements are the cap and the stem. To do the drawing correctly, just look at a photograph of a mushroom or go with your children to the forest and try to draw from life. A sheet of paper, a simple pencil, an eraser and several coloring tools will help with this. These can be colored pencils, gouache or watercolors.
Contraindications of red fly agaric
Always remember that fly agaric is a mushroom filled with poison. It must be used with great caution and dosage calculations must be done responsibly. After rubbing and using fly agaric products, be sure to wash your hands with soap and do not give them to children.
It is also not recommended to treat children with fly agaric; the dose for children is difficult to calculate, and you can easily get poisoned if you make a mistake. Do not use tinctures or decoctions that have not been tested, without recipes and dosage calculations. We can easily distinguish the red fly agaric from other mushrooms, so it is not so dangerous.
Unknown to people and almost indistinguishable from edible ones, they pose a mortal danger; they are very similar to champignons and russula; inexperienced mushroom pickers can easily mistake them for a good mushroom. Despite this, cases of poisoning were rarely recorded.
Similar species
Despite its characteristic coloring, the red fly agaric is similar to several representatives:
- Amanita muscaria var. formosa.
The North American variety of the same species has a bright yellow, orange cap with white flakes.
- Royal fly agaric.
It is also poisonous, but its cap is painted in dark red, brick shades.
1-Amanita muscaria var. formosa. 2-Royal fly agaric.
- Caesar's fly agaric.
An edible delicious mushroom that grows only in Southern Europe. It has a stalk of yellow or golden shades, as well as a loose, pouch-like vagina.
- Russula is golden-red.
It has the same cap color, but there are no white flakes on its surface, which is a reliable distinguishing feature.
1-Caesar's fly agaric. 2-Russula is golden-red.
What to do if you couldn’t avoid poisoning?
The very first and necessary action is to empty the stomach of all contents. Drink at least a liter of water, induce a gag reflex in the familiar way (two fingers in your mouth). It is necessary to induce vomiting until the stomach is completely empty of food.
- Take a strong laxative.
- If you don’t have any suitable medications at hand, make an enema from a warm soapy solution (laundry or baby soap will do).
- You need to take any medications as directed by your doctors.
- A lethal dose of poison is contained in 3-4 fly agaric mushrooms.
- Despite the improvement in the condition, in any case you need to consult a doctor.
What children will need to draw a mushroom
To depict a fly agaric you will need the following tools:
| Tool | For what |
| Simple pencil | Drawing outlines |
| Colored pencils or paints | Coloring images |
| Eraser | Removing extra lines |
Also, an artist cannot do without paper, which can be:
- taken from an album or A4 sheet;
- pure white or colored;
- any size.
Photos of fly agarics
Shiitake - appearance, composition, benefits and harm, mushroom cultivation + 72 photos- Talker - description of the species, distribution of the species, benefits and harm + 79 photos
- Gall mushroom - description of appearance, seasonality, taste + 69 photos
Edibility
This is a poisonous and hallucinogenic mushroom that should not be consumed in any form. Cases of fly agaric poisoning are extremely rare, since the mushroom is easily distinguished from edible ones by its bright red cap with white tubercles over its entire surface.
There are practically no fatalities: the lethal dose for humans is approximately 15 caps.
At the same time, the toxic effect is noticeably reduced after repeated cooking of the pulp for several cycles. However, even after such thorough treatment, a person may experience symptoms of mild food poisoning (nausea, vomiting, dizziness, general weakness, and others).
