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April 17, 2019

Free Spirit – Painterly Play

By Tamara Laporte  |   in free tutorial  | Tags: painterly portrait , acrylics , art journal , tamara laporte , willowing  

Those of you who’ve been on my classes will have heard me talk about the arguments that happen between two parts of me: one part is ‘the illustrator’, the other is ‘the painter’.

The illustrator in me loves clean lines, tight artwork, meticulous attention to detail. On the other hand: The painter in me loves loose brush strokes, expressive paint lines and messy edges!

You can see how these two parts of me may have been at odds with each other, for a long time, I struggled, was I an illustrator or a painter? What is a painter anyway? How do you define an illustrator? Can I bring these two paradoxical sides of me together?

The answer is yes! I now call myself an ‘illustrator-painter’ hybrid! Whenever I create, both are present, both get to express, but usually one drives the car and the other sits in the backseat!

Lately, the painter part of me, has been wanting to drive more and more often! I’m in love with making ‘painterly portraits’ lately!!

Those of you who follow me on instagram and/or FB will have seen me dabble! (ha ha!) I always dance back and forth between the two, and it’s now a much more harmonious chat in my head, but lately, painter lady has been speaking more! :)

So, I went ahead and filmed one of the painterly portraits! I hope you love it, you can watch it here, for free:

 

I’d love to know your thoughts on this style, I’m currently prepping an in depth course, which will likely go live later this year. Keep an eye out if you’re interested in this type of technique & style!

Here are some close ups of the final journal spread:

Thanks for visiting! <3

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Tamara Laporte

willowing

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Mixed media artist, teacher and author. I don’t see all IG msgs. For enq pls email hello@willowing.org - Join A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales:

Posting this one again now that I`ve properly scanned it! --> I’ve been playing with chiaroscuro lately — that dramatic dance between light and dark you see in old black-and-white portraits. Never painted just in black and white before (well, a little indigo crept in 👀). I love how moody it feels!

Open
Posting this one again now that I've properly scanned it! --> I’ve been playing with chiaroscuro lately — that dramatic dance between light and dark you see in old black-and-white portraits. Never painted just in black and white before (well, a little indigo crept in 👀). I love how moody it feels!

For my next Year of Light lesson we are exploring `chiaroscuro` (which is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition). I`ve always loved the black and white photos of people like Marlene Ditriech and wanted to try achieve that type of effect in a painting! I don`t think I`ve EVER painted just in black and white before, but really loved doing it! (Well, I say black and white, but this also contains indigo blue and paynes gray). 😊 Really pleased with it, it has such a `vibe` (as my teen kids would say haha). ♥️♥️♥️

Open
For my next Year of Light lesson we are exploring 'chiaroscuro' (which is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition). I've always loved the black and white photos of people like Marlene Ditriech and wanted to try achieve that type of effect in a painting! I don't think I've EVER painted just in black and white before, but really loved doing it! (Well, I say black and white, but this also contains indigo blue and paynes gray). 😊 Really pleased with it, it has such a 'vibe' (as my teen kids would say haha). ♥️♥️♥️

The wonderful Jennifer (@therapistsanctuary) and I filmed another episode for our series on the tubes (up soon!). Here are some of the pages that came out of that session for me. 😊 Loved working with fluorescent pink and in the end adding in the teal! 😍😍😍

Open
The wonderful Jennifer (@therapistsanctuary) and I filmed another episode for our series on the tubes (up soon!). Here are some of the pages that came out of that session for me. 😊 Loved working with fluorescent pink and in the end adding in the teal! 😍😍😍

Art Oasis! Another fun free art event!

Hello my friends! Exciting news!

I know we’ve literally just finished the tasters for A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales but I wanted to let you know about another amazing free art event I’m sure you’d love to join and it’s starting in only 2 days! 😊

So, I’m super excited to let you know that I am part of Art Oasis, a FREE online creative retreat starting October 18 2025. Yay! 🥳🎉🎊 (organised by the amazing Jessica Swift).

For 7 days, artists (including me!) will be sharing lessons, stories, and creative inspiration to help you slow down, refill your creative well, and remember how good it feels to make art just for YOU.

Here’s what you can expect each day:

💕 Fresh, inspiring art lessons (all levels welcome)
💕 Cozy Conversations – real, heartfelt chats with artists about our creative journeys
💕 Daily creative prompts to keep your ideas flowing
💕A friendly, global, online community of fellow creatives

How It Works

🎨 Watch online – anytime, anywhere, at your own pace. Watch one lesson or all of them – there are no rules and no risk. It’s completely FREE!
🎨 Fit it into your schedule however works best for you!
🎨 Grab inspiring free gifts from the featured artists.
🎨 Want to extend your stay in the Oasis? Grab the VIP Pass!

I’ll be teaching a session on ‘play and the inner child’! Attached is the painting you`ll make with me (or something like it) 😊

… and I’d love for you to join me! ♥️

To join click here:

https://bit.ly/ArtOasisTamx (or find link in story/ bio/ linktree)

This event is all about permission; to play, to explore, to create without pressure. If you’re craving that kind of creative joy, I hope I’ll see you inside the Oasis!

Much Love,

Tam 💕

PS – After you sign up, you’ll have the option to upgrade to the VIP Pass – this gives you forever access to every lesson (including mine!) and some incredible bonus content. If you grab it during registration, you’ll get the lowest price.

Open
Art Oasis! Another fun free art event! 

Hello my friends! Exciting news! 

I know we’ve literally just finished the tasters for A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales but I wanted to let you know about another amazing free art event I’m sure you’d love to join and it’s starting in only 2 days! 😊

So, I’m super excited to let you know that I am part of Art Oasis, a FREE online creative retreat starting October 18 2025. Yay! 🥳🎉🎊 (organised by the amazing Jessica Swift). 

For 7 days, artists (including me!) will be sharing lessons, stories, and creative inspiration to help you slow down, refill your creative well, and remember how good it feels to make art just for YOU.

Here’s what you can expect each day:

💕 Fresh, inspiring art lessons (all levels welcome)
💕 Cozy Conversations – real, heartfelt chats with artists about our creative journeys
💕 Daily creative prompts to keep your ideas flowing
💕A friendly, global, online community of fellow creatives

How It Works

🎨 Watch online – anytime, anywhere, at your own pace. Watch one lesson or all of them – there are no rules and no risk. It’s completely FREE!
🎨 Fit it into your schedule however works best for you!
🎨 Grab inspiring free gifts from the featured artists.
🎨 Want to extend your stay in the Oasis? Grab the VIP Pass!

I’ll be teaching a session on ‘play and the inner child’! Attached is the painting you'll make with me (or something like it) 😊 

… and I’d love for you to join me! ♥️

To join click here: 

https://bit.ly/ArtOasisTamx (or find link in story/ bio/ linktree) 

This event is all about permission; to play, to explore, to create without pressure. If you’re craving that kind of creative joy, I hope I’ll see you inside the Oasis!

Much Love,

Tam 💕 

PS – After you sign up, you’ll have the option to upgrade to the VIP Pass – this gives you forever access to every lesson (including mine!) and some incredible bonus content. If you grab it during registration, you’ll get the lowest price.

Haven’t done any abstract in a while and it called me this evening! I’m loving the combination of red and teal! 😍😍😍

Open
Haven’t done any abstract in a while and it called me this evening! I’m loving the combination of red and teal! 😍😍😍
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