Painting The First Recital

The reference photo for this painting was taken during the dress rehearsal for a beginning ballet class. This was the first recital for two of my favorite dancers. These adorable dancers were watching the ballet teach off to the side, They were all supposed to be doing the same thing.

The process for painting this began when I drew a grid on both the reference photo and the blank canvas. Then I sketched each of the dancers with a Sienna pastel pencil. The drawing was reinforces with thinned burnt sienna oil paint. Next each of the little dancers was painted alla prima using a full palette of oil paints. Some background color was used around each ballerina to allow soft and hard edges. Finally the background was added.