Happy Houses with Tamara Laporte

Supplies used this sessionPlease 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 12” 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.

Tombow or Aqua Markers Watercolour paints, I used Jane Davenport Brights Water-soluble Crayons – Neocolor II Caran D'ache (optional0 Posca pen white (or other waterproof white pens) Colour pencil (water-soluble) in darker colours like purples/ greys/ reds

Celebration & gratitudeFor this session we are going to celebrate all positive people/ experiences/ things in ourlives and represent some of these things in the form of 'happy houses'.

Before starting create a gratitude list. List people/ experiences/ animals/ items etc that you are grateful for.

Basic house design/ drawing

house shapes & ideasIf possible, take a walk through a city near you and notice how different all houses actually are from each other. I had great fun walking through Exeter and noticing the different types of brick, roof shapes, windows shapes etc all houses had. Perhaps take photos and let these houses inspire your drawings.

Here are some elements to pay attention to and to notice:

• Brick types• Windows types• Doors shapes• Roof tiles• Window Sizes• Ornaments and lights• Balconies• Wood beams• Window sills• Awnings• chimneys• Satellite dishes• Aerials • Clocks & bells• Porches/ conservatories• Pillars• Window shutters• Curtains• Glass types (stained glass)• Types of buildings like churches or other places of worship

Also notice additional external scenery such as:

• Washing lines• Trees • Mountains• Bridges/ streams • Paths • Stairways/ alley ways

I like to make my houses non-realistic and 'quirky', so I try to change my shapes to make my houses more quirky such as:

• Wonky lines/ windows/ doors• Alternating round vs triangular rooftops• Play with 'incorrect' perspective• Optical illusions• Connecting houses together that could not be connected in 'real life'. • Add unrealistic elements to the houses like star or heart shapes windows/

butterfy wings on the side of a house.

Light source & colour schemeThough I don't stick to this rigidly, I decide on a light source and try to work with it as much as possible. I chose for my light source to come from the left, which meant that the right of my painting would have darker areas than the right (broadly).

I decided on a colour scheme of reds/ pinks and blues/ lavenders/ light purples. I also decided to create all roofs the same colour and the walls too. You can decide differentlyif you prefer. I've created paintings where everything was more mixed up, but for this painting I wanted a more uniform feel.

© Willowing Arts Ltd 2019 – www.willowing.org