The Song of Me with Tamara Laporte Life Book 2017

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2 H ello wonderful creative friend! Today I want to show you how you can create a dreamboard, also known in Tam world as a 'vision or affrmation board'. These paintings can work as beautifully healing as well as help manifest any hopes and dreams you may have. I absolutely love the process of creating one of these paintings, they feel very sacred to make. Before you start you may take a moment to sit still and focus on what you want to achieve/ do/ change this year. Make a note on a piece of paper about any goals you've set, intentions you've set and practical changes you may want to make and activities you may want to undertake. The topics can vary from: I want to travel to India, to I want to surrender more to what is. Some could be very practical goals/ intentions, others more emotional or spiritual. Whatever comes up for you, make a note of it. On the same piece of paper, start extrapolating possible positive affrmations, for instance, if you want to focus on improving your health, you could state that in a positive affrmation like: I am healing, or you could also choose a practical action like: I will exercise. In the later step of the process you will print out your words/ actions/ positive affrmations and/or images that represent your goals/ intentions. You will also be drawing some imagery as part of this dreamboard, optional.

3 Supplies used this session Please note, below are the supplies I used, but you can substitute the supplies if and where needed if you don't have what I've used. 1 Sheet of hotpressed watercolour paper (140lbs) (I used 16 x 14 but you can use 12 x 9 if you prefer) Graphite pencil (I like the graphgear 1000 by pentel 2b in lead, 0.9 width, but any graphite pencil will do. A photo of yourself or a photo of someone else who represents you or a photo of an animal or object that represents you Random collage materials of choice/ printed out words and/or imagery that represent your goals and intentions Golden gel medium (soft) Watersoluble crayons (Caran D'ache Neocolor II) or any other water based paints Acrylics paint in chosen skin tones Posca pens black and white (or other waterproof black/ white pens) Optional: colour pencils (non-watersoluble) in darker colours like aubergine/ dark red/ dark brown/ grey Clear Gesso (optional) Tombow Markers (optional) Optional: dye-cuts

4 Acrylics Transfer Transferring images into acrylics can be a great way of creating a vintage distressed visual of a beloved image. This technique can be done on paper as we do today but also works on other surfaces like wood or plastic. Remember that when you do this technique, the print of your image will be mirrored. So, if you want your face to show up the 'usual way', then print it out reversed. You can use Photoshop or another photo editing software to reverse/ mirror your image. That way, when you transfer it, it will show up in the 'normal way'. Step 1. Put down a thick layer of gel medium where you want your main image of your face (or image that represents you) with a brush or palette knife. Step 2. Lay your image face down on the gel medium. Using an old library card or a hard implement, scrape out any air bubbles.

5 Step 3. Let it set for approximately 5-10 minutes. Peel the corner to see if the image has already started transferring. Then start pulling and rubbing off the paper. Add water on the back of the image with a brush if the paper is hard to come off, you'll start to see the image shine through.

6 Step 4. Optional step: add clear gesso. If you want to start on a surface that has a bit of tooth, going over with clear gesso will create a receptive new layer. If you don't have clear gesso though, working over the acrylics transfer is also fne, the surface will just be different. Over time you'll get used to how your different supplies respond to different surfaces. Eg: painting over gel medium as opposed to clear gesso is quite different. Step 5. You could leave your image untouched/ as is, or you can, like I enjoy doing, draw and paint over your acrylics transfer. I like enhancing and deepening lines, adding loving affrming words and doodles to my face and the surrounding area that support what I want to manifest.

7 Note: If you are working on your own face, you might notice that it can evoke quite a bit of emotion. To me it can feel like I'm lovingly and gently decorating my face. Try to approach this step with love and care, imagine surrounding yourself with love and light as you work on your own face. Even if you don't work on an image of your own face, whatever image you have chosen represents you, so try to approach drawing & painting over your image with the same love and care, like you might when you look after a beloved child. Step 6. Add shading and highlights to the face if you feel called to do so. I use crayons and markers to add some subtle colour to cheeks and shading areas. You can follow the shading pattern that is already on your image, or you can create completely new areas of shading and highlights. I have a tendency to choose the shading pattern I always follow as it speaks most to me.

8 Step 7. I further like to deepen my shading with acrylics and colour pencils like Luminance pencils by Caran D'ache or Prismacolor Color pencils. Sharpen your pencil and lay it fat when shading to get a rich, smooth effect.

9 Step 8. Highlights can be added with a white paint marker like Posca. And I like adding dark accents or outlines with either a black micron pen, black Posca pen or a fountain pen with India Inks. Working on the Background Step 9. Gather your collage papers for the background. You can include old book pages, music scores, tissue paper, origami papers, scrapbooking paper or any other type of collage pieces that call you.

10 Step 10. Tear up and arrange your collage papers in a pleasing way on the background. Repeat papers with the same pattern around your page (this creates unity) and overlap your pieces when you glue them down (this creates relationship). Step 11. Glue down your collage pieces with a gel medium. Use an old card to scrape out any air bubbles.

11 Step 12. Add meaningful images and your printed out words as a second layer of collage. You can use symbolic images to represent your wishes and dreams, eg: if you want more time to travel you can use a butterfy or a bird. Or, if you want to be more literal, you could include images of the actual places you want to visit. Eg: The Statue of Liberty if you want to visit New York, or the Taj Mahal if you want to visit India. You can also use additional beautiful imagery simply to infuse your dreamboard with images that will support & enhance the manifestation of your dreams and wishes. Step 13. Start adding a wash of colour to your background layered over the collage. I like using watersoluble transparent paints for this step so that the previous layers 'shine' through. My favourite supplies for this step tend to be the watersoluble Neocolor II Wax Crayons or the NeoArt crayons. I love working with these crayons as you can 'activate' your 'scribbles' by adding water to them. They are effectively watercolour paints in a crayon! Exciting.

12 Step 14. At this point your background may look somewhat chaotic and 'messy'. To mute down and unify the background, I enjoy adding a layer of white gesso with a brayer. The brayer creates a grungy/ vintage effect layer that pulls the background together. Step 15. Now start adding patches of colour in concentrated areas to create balance, harmony and contrast. You can use markers, fuid acrylics or crayons for this step. Tip! If you fnd it hard to see contrast/ shadows with the 'naked eye', squint your eyes while looking at your painting and notice where the darker areas are versus the lighter areas. If you notice that something feels unbalanced with regards to your shadows and lights correct it by applying more of what is needed in other areas to create the harmony your eye seeks.

13 Step 16. Add doodles and drawings that represent some of your hopes and wishes for your future. I added a barn (as I want to convert our barn in the future) and imagery of plants because I want to spend more time in nature. Your imagery can be anything that speaks to you and your specifc dreams and wishes. Your doodles can be suggestive, they do not need to be super life like. You can also add words to affrm/ deepen the message of the dream.

14 Step 17. I added hair with India Ink and some white gesso to mute back some of the colours. I used a posca pen to enhance/ deepen the lines of my doodles:

15 Step 18. As a fnal step I love adding white splatter to the background by using some white ink, diluted white acrylics or white gesso. Dip a brush into the ink or gesso, load it up quite nicely and start 'finging the brush' up and down over the areas where you want the splatter to land. You can also use another implement like a marker or stick and bang it against the brush that has the ink on it. It will create a fne splatter effect on your painting. Tip! Make sure to protect the areas of your painting which you want untouched by the splatter! Also: it's a good idea to protect your clothes if you don't want any splatter on

16 And here is the fnal page: And here some more detail shots:

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21 Thanks for being here today! :) Tam xoxox Copyright Willowing Arts