Black Tutu

Ballet dancer in black tutu, watercolour

Before each painting, I try to visualise the finished picture and plan the light and dark areas. This is the time to decide which parts of the picture should be a focal point.

At first, I thought it should be the black tutu, but then decided on the dancer's head and arms.  That is why I chose a dark background, painting it in the same colour as the tutu (mainly Teal from Ken Bromley with ultramarine blue and permanent alizarin crimson), but in different tonal values.

Three Ballet Paintings in Watercolour

Painting dancers is always a great opportunity to practise drawing the figure.  I love the beautiful lines dancers make. Tutus also create fantastic shapes, and they are a linking device in the first painting.

I found the red tutus easier to paint because I could create them with brushstrokes, rather than having to paint around them, as in the other two paintings. In pure watercolour, white can only be achieved by painting the negative shapes.

The Rosin Box

Dancer watercolour

Another figure study to ring the changes from landscapes. With an "empty" background, this was easier to paint than landscapes, as I just had to adjust the background values to bring forward the subject.

Dancers dip their soles into a box of rosin to make the shoes less slippery. The only other time I have come across rosin is the one used for violin bows.

Dancers, watercolour

Waiting, watercolour 30cm x 40cm

For this painting, I aimed for a more 'sketchy' feel, so decided to cut the number of washes down to the essentials. Initially, I wanted to leave the background white but this looked a bit too stark, so I added just a light wash with more or less the same colours I used for the figures.

One challenge when drawing the figure is getting the proportions of the hands right; they are in fact larger than one would think. Maybe because they are so complicated, one tends to draw them smaller than they really are.

Ballet Dancer

Ballet dancers are a recurring theme of mine, as they create such gorgeous shapes. I again used Ken Bromley's Teal blue as my main blue colour; I like the greyish tones it creates with permanent alizarin red.

Ballerina watercolour, 30cmx40cm

Ballet Practice, Watercolour

Watercolour, 30cmx40cm

I wanted to paint this scene because of the the reflections, which gives two different aspects of the dancers. I invented a lot of the background to add interest to the composition.

This is in fact the second painting of the subject, as I hadn't done a tonal study first to sort out the lights and darks and ended up with an unsatisfactory first attempt. I then decided to do almost a reverse in the lights and darks to the first painting and am happier with the result.

Two Ballet Dancers

Watercolour, 30cm x 40cm, painted on Saunders Waterford rough high white, my favourite paper at the moment. I hope I have caught the balance between greyish blues and warmer reds.

Two Dancers, watercolour

Preparing to Dance, watercolour

Two Dancers, watercolour

I like to catch the in-between moments in my paintings of dancers, rather than when they are on stage, for the relaxed and every day atmosphere they convey.

This time I chose a colour scheme based on green and red, which are complementary on the colour wheel. I made a preparatory pencil drawing of the same size as the painting to sort out the proportions and then traced it onto the watercolour paper.

I had to redo the painting, though, as I got the shape of one leg wrong when tracing and noticed it too late. Will have to make  a note to self to be much more careful when tracing that the paper does not move...

Pencil drawing of dancers

Ballet Dancer adjusting her Shoe

Artists have always enjoyed painting dancers for the beauty and elegant lines they create. One of the most famous painters of dancers is, of course, Degas, who sketched and drew them in pastel countless times.

He is my inspiration in visiting the subject over and again. What holds my attention is the subtle changes of direction in the line of arms and legs and how to express that in watercolour.

I prepared for this watercolour painting by making a line drawing in pencil first to familiarise myself with the pose.

ballet dancer adjusting her shoe, watercolour

Two Dancers, Watercolour

One subject I keep coming back to is the human figure, and especially ballet dancers. I prefer capturing them in between performances rather than on stage because I find the formal shapes they make more interesting when the dancers are at rest.

Before I was ready to do the actual painting, I prepared by doing colour notes and small compositional and tonal thumbnail sketches, as well as some detailed pencil drawings. Watercolour needs a lot more preliminary work than other mediums, but then the actual painting stage is really fast, which I find very satisfying.

I painted this on Bockingford rough, 30cm x 40cm.

Two Dancers, Watercolour