I was originally drawn to this book because I love mushrooms and I love color design....but it is so much more.

It's encyclopedic on mushroom characteristics, foraging methods and color theory, but it's also filled with personal anecdotes and meticulous instructions for how to use mushrooms in pigments and dyes. A beautifully illustrated and comprehensive manual for any artist looking to incorporate the use of natural materials in their work.

This is a really neat book for anyone interested in homemade dyes. So many good ideas. We're excited to try more of them out next summer.

This wasn't as thorough or as well-researched as I had hoped. The first part with all the colours is very pretty, but many of those colours don't seem to appear in the section on specific mushrooms. Beeler never defines what counts as "natural" and spends a lot of time trying to convince the reader of how much better mushroom dyes are than all other dyes, without really supporting it. She discusses lightfastness a great deal, but not general colourfastness - that is, how fast do the dyes wash out. Gven the use of the word "fiber" rather than "textile", I'm inclined to think the intent was decorative fiber and textile arts rather than clothing or linens, but it's never explicitly stated. There are details missing from the steps and recipes for actually using the mushrooms, especially as regards safety. The mushroom illustrations are pretty, but not useful as a field guide, lacking the precision and natural setting details required of natural history illustration, and the mushroom notes are similarly incomplete as a field guide. I think this makes for good inspiration, but creators are best off going into the bibliography for better works on the topic.

This book was such a wonderful read, though I did take a long time to parse through it.
My husband and I are involved in Parks and Wildlife here in the States and fungi/mushrooms are one of our biggest interests. I say this because me and my husband took our time flipping through the digital ARC for this atlas and got to spend hours looking up the various mushrooms described in this book to see which ones were in our area, so we could use the steps included for making dyes. We tried a small scrap of cotton and got a very rutty orange, but it was fun to do.

I would hate to say that this is a coffee table book, but this is absolutely going to be bought and placed on my coffee table not only due to it's information but from the beautiful illustrations and color in the book. You not only get information on mushrooms but the history and cultural impact of color itself. Which the artist in me devoured as I read through this. Being split up into color categories you are able to explore the different hues as if you were exploring the color wheel. And the swatches in the book really are so gorgeous to look at. Even if you aren't reading it is just eye candy to flip through for those swatch pages.

I can't wait to get a physical copy for myself and would suggest this book to any nature lover, artist, and those in between.

This atlas is a guide to extracting color from mushrooms by the artist Julie Beeler. The book catalogues Beeler's meticulous research into the natural pigments and dyes of mushrooms. The book is absolutely gorgeous--in many ways it feels like the notebook of a Victorian naturalist--and calls back to a time when science and art were more intertwined through observation, at-home experimentation, and meticulous note-taking.

The book has everything you'd need to begin creating natural mushroom pigments and dyes for art making. The first section includes chapters on individual colors, with swatches showing the range of saturation and hues of pigments and dyes across a variety of substrates. The second section covers the different categories of mushrooms, giving a primer on foraging and recipes for dye and pigment preparation. The third section covers the process for creating both dyes and pigments, with advice about materials and step-by-step instructions.

Beyond it's obvious use as a guide to replicating Beeler's process yourself, the book is a useful and aesthetic addition to any artist or nature-lovers library as a celebration of nature's palettes and an inspiring visual reference.

My thanks to Chronicle Books for providing an advance digital copy for review.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. It's a gorgeous book with lots of different kinds of mushrooms and fun information about each.

This is an informative, well-organized book about the beautiful dyes that can be extracted from mushrooms. Julie Beeler organizes her book by first describing the colors held in various fungi, including the range of hues based on fruiting body age, mordants, and ph used when extracting the pigments. The next section describes mushroom families such a boletes, gilled, polypores, and tooth, for example. The images include the taxonomic names and areas where the various mushrooms can be found. The final section offers instructions on how to extract the pigments and dye fibers with them.

Julie shares her experience foraging for mushrooms with antidotes that lend a humorous and lighthearted side to her narrative. She offers practical suggestions such as gaining permission and permits, if applicable, and tips on gathering without damaging the mycelium structure. She also reminds us that insects and wildlife depend on fungi for food, suggesting we keep that in mind when choosing how much to gather.

Along with the color swatches, Julie includes a detailed color wheel that is an artist’s dream palette and can serve as inspiration for artists working in a variety of mediums.

Highly recommended! Thank you to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

This book was fascinating and explained how to create dyes from mushrooms. It blended art, chemistry and nature in a really charming way.

“The Mushroom Color Atlas,” By Julie Beeler

This book was so cool to read, I loved how some were made with dried mushrooms, and some were made with fresh mushrooms making the colors. I loved how all of the colors were actually made from mushrooms. I liked the color combos. The whole thing was very cottagecore. 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

I was pretty sure I wanted my library to have a copy of this book, but my question was, what subject is it. Art, Biology, Chemistry? The verdict: Art.

The book contains the recipes for turning specific mushrooms into specific dyes and pigments using a variety fabrics, mordants, and chemicals for processing. The recipes are specific intended for replication not merely inspiration. The book is full of color swatches showing the results of the process/recipe described. The book provides the author's process for dying and pigment creation, but it is written for someone with experience with these process, and not a beginners guide. This is not a negative aspect of the book, just something worth mentioning for those who need remedial instruction on these processes. While there is some biological information, this is not a mushroom guidebook.

This book will be a valuable addition to the library of any artist interested in using natural dyes. Not only is it beautiful and inspirational, it is specific enough in its instructions and recipes as to be replicable.

This is a well go-to book on producing dyes from mushrooms. Julie Beeler shares helpful information on many mushroom species and foraging, as well as the chemicals needed to produce the dyes.

However, it is the beauty of the photos and illustrations that makes it sing. This well-organized manual is filled with colorful swatch displays that show the spectrum of hues extracted from mushrooms ranging from delicate to robust.

I enjoyed this book for the rich visuals and a window into the creative process of dyes made from mushrooms.

Thank you Chronicle Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

4⭐️
A delightful artistic look at using nature for pigmentation.

🍄‍🟫 This book is presented in a way that inspires exploration the magical fungi kingdom and the art it can produce through pigmentation. It’s written by an artist and educator that is passionate about using mushrooms as dye.

🎨 It displays a beautiful spread of color palettes and the colorful impacts each mushroom can have on various types of mediums (wool, silk, linen). It also touches on a bit of history, foraging, sourcing, dyeing and watercolor paint. All geared towards those looking to DIY their own watercolor mushroom dye.

👩🏻‍🎨 As a lover of all things craft and nature, this really makes my inner hippie giggle with joy. While creating my own pigments isn’t yet in my long list of “crafts to try,” I still found the fact that you can use mushrooms as pigmentation extremely fascinating.

Thanks to NetGalley, Chronicle Books, and Julie Beeler for providing me with a complimentary ARC to review!

Discover the chromatic wonders of the fungi kingdom and the incredible spectrum of pigments and dyes that can be created from mushrooms.

Thank you Chronicle Books & Netgalley for this digital ARC! I enjoyed this book. I like eating mushrooms that are sold at the grocery store and I’ve always wondered what role mushrooms play in our ecosystem and now, I know after reading this book. I didn’t know that there’s a lot of different types of mushrooms and different colors of mushrooms. I live in the suburbs and I’ve only ever seen 1 type of mushroom here in my neighborhood. I didn’t know that you can create pigments and dyes using mushrooms and it’s not something I’ve ever thought about. I don’t think I would be interested in foraging for mushrooms and making pigments and dyes from them. Would the fashion industry ever dye their clothes using mushrooms? It would probably be more environmentally friendly if that’s something they’re worried about but I don’t know if the fashion industry would ever get on board with this. Would I recommend this book? I would recommend it if you want to use mushrooms to create pigments and dyes or even if you just want to learn about mushrooms and the role they play in our ecosystem. If they didn’t exist, we would have a bunch of dead plants everywhere and that wouldn’t be pretty at all.

The Mushroom Color Atlas is a beautifully colorfully illustrated atlas to fungi by Julie Beeler specifically aimed at artists and naturalists. Due out 3rd Sept 2024 from Chronicle Books, it's 288 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is a comprehensive reference absolutely full of information specifically about foraging, preparing, and using fungi in the fibre coloring and pigment making process. There's a wealth of knowledge including color charts/swatches, species (including proper (at the time of publication) nomenclature), range, and dyeing tutorials.

There's a whole interesting subset of mycology specifically as it relates to and intersects with the artist community. There are festivals and symposia about pigment-bearing fungi, and a strong grass roots element of experiment minded artists continually tweaking and documenting available knowledge.

This book is full of up-to-date info about how to source and use fungi to make pigments and dyes. She goes into detail about mordants and processes for different fibres, as well as a fairly comprehensive pigment making tutorial aimed at watercolorists.

There isn't much photography in the book outside the actual how-to tutorials, but the book is lavishly illustrated in color throughout by Yuli Gates. Illustrations are very detailed and the different species are certainly recognizable.

The book is arranged in sections: colors (of dye), specific mushrooms (boletes, gilled, polypores, etc), and finally the dye/pigment tutorials.

Five stars. This would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, for smallholders, fibrecrafters, fibre arts guilds, and similar groups.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This book is awesome, especially if you are interested in natural dyes or paints. The color examples alone are worth getting the book as it showcases the entire rainbow derived from simple shrooms. In addition to the color palette, the book describes the dye making process in a way that is easy to understand and feels approachable by folks of any skill level. I do find myself wishing there had been photo references to help identify the mushrooms used, instead of just a few drawings, but I suppose there are other books for that. Either way, I loved the book. 10/10 would read again!

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

I recently have been exploring the outdoors and have been taking pictures of different mushrooms that I see. So, I was interested in learning, and was given an opportunity to read an advance copy of The mushroom color atlas! I learned Mushrooms are more like people than plants. Mushrooms have had more of a roll in textile manufacturing than I ever thought. The book also goes over the history of dye, and the different kinds. Its not the average science book, it keeps your attention throughout the book with a creative twist.

This is such a cool book, I can’t wait until our patrons see it. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

**Review of *The Mushroom Color Atlas* by Julie Beeler**

*The Mushroom Color Atlas* by Julie Beeler is a vibrant and enlightening journey into the world of fungi, revealing the rich spectrum of colors that mushrooms can produce. This book is a treasure trove for artists, foragers, and nature enthusiasts alike, blending scientific detail with artistic inspiration to showcase the chromatic potential of the fungal kingdom.

Julie Beeler, an artist and educator, offers a unique perspective on mushrooms—more closely related to humans than plants—by focusing on their ability to produce a remarkable array of pigments. Through a combination of botanical illustrations, scientific insights, and personal anecdotes, Beeler provides readers with a comprehensive guide to understanding and harnessing the natural colors derived from mushrooms.

The book introduces various types of dye mushrooms, from the commonly known boletes to the intriguing polypores and tooth fungi. Beeler’s expertise is evident in her detailed explanations of how these fungi are used to create dyes, making complex processes accessible even to beginners. The inclusion of foraging tips and color distillation techniques ensures that readers are equipped with practical knowledge for their own experiments.

What sets *The Mushroom Color Atlas* apart is its integration of artistic advice with scientific information. Beeler encourages readers to explore their own creativity by experimenting with mushroom dyes, offering a plethora of color samples and suggestions for using these natural pigments in various artistic applications. Her passion for both art and nature shines through, making the book not only informative but also deeply inspiring.

The historical and personal stories woven throughout the book add depth and context, connecting the reader to the broader narrative of human interaction with nature. These stories, along with Beeler’s engaging writing style, make the book both educational and enjoyable to read.

Visually, *The Mushroom Color Atlas* is a feast for the eyes. The lush, detailed illustrations capture the beauty of fungi and their diverse colors, while the layout and design make the book a delightful addition to any coffee table or library.

In conclusion, *The Mushroom Color Atlas* is an exceptional guide that merges scientific exploration with artistic creativity. Julie Beeler’s expertise and enthusiasm make this book a must-read for anyone interested in the natural world, color theory, or the intersection of art and science. Whether you are a seasoned dyer, a curious forager, or simply a lover of beautiful things, this book will undoubtedly inspire and inform.

This is a wonderful resource about colours, the colours of mushrooms, and how to make dyes out of them.
The swatches, colours and the detailed information are wonderful.
It is inspiring to those who are not planning to make the dyes - more photographs would have been an immense help.
Great book for mycologists, artists, dye makers, colour lovers, nature lovers, crafters.

This is such a beautifully designed book! The illustrations are stunning and I love that the background information is informative, but not terribly long. The included text is informative, but in a short, accessible way! I love how the various colors are broken down and the layout is so pleasing to flip through. This would be a great addition to any coffee table or bookshelf.

I cannot wait to dive into this book more and learn more about mushrooms!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.