Ballerina Art Showcase: Technique and Emotion

I have always been fascinated with the works of Degas. The studies in pastel of the ballet dancers at practice captivate me. I admire the theatrical lighting and the costumes in fairy-tale colours. They include swathes of netting and veils of translucent tulle. I worked the following paintings in oil on canvas with techniques learnt from the Baroque painters. The figures, seemingly bathed in an inner incandescence, are rendered against the dark, chochlatey tones of their stage world.

Ballerina in Turquoise

I like the midnight indigo shades behind the russet skin tones. Painting white tulle requires using many subtle shades. These include blues, lavenders, and cool and warm greys.

Price of Ballerina in Turquoise SOLD

Ballerina in Pink

I like the fact that you don´t always have to see the face to feel the emotion. In this work there is a powerful femininity conveyed with just the relaxed, slightly slumped pose. The delicate strands of hair , swirling around the eyes tell the story of an exercise just finished. The delicate pink hints are contrasted by the strong magenta, rose shades as the tulle disappears into shadows.

Price of Ballerina In Pink €400

Ballerina Tying Pumps 1

All the directed lines in this work focus our attention on the hands tying the straps of the ballet pumps. The angle of the front hand stands out. The foreshortened lines of the polished wooden floor draw attention. The angle of the legs, even the shadow of the stool, emphasizes the scene. Angles in the work’s structure are crucial. Implied lines play a key role in concentrating our attention on the nub of the scene.

Price of Ballerina Tying Pumps €400

Ballerina Stretching 1

The arms, shoulders & back in this piece show the physicality of the dancer’s training. The muscles are strained in the sharp lighting. The effort, the concentration, all the strain can be seen in the tendons and bones of the stretched fingers. I particularly liked the challenge of the hands and fingers in this work. I’m always learning not to invent or substitute for what I can actually see. I have to paint it again and again and again until it looks impromptu!

Price of Ballerina Stretching €300

Ballerina Stretching 2

It is always a surprise to me how ballet dancers seem to make the most impossible poses seem effortless. This was one of the most difficult paintings for me. Most of the lower form of the figure was hidden in the tulle. The face is at an impossible angle and half hidden in the shadow. It became a painting about a tutu when I had hoped it would be a secret, other worldly mystery……

Price of Ballerina Stretching €400

Ballerina Back

Tautened muscles, backlit with spotlighting. Fingers fix a headpiece in preparation. This is the dancer off guard. She is unaware of her beauty. The pose, seen from the back, though faceless still draws us into her personality. It is just a moment before the actual performance. Yet, it supersedes the performance. It is off cue and full of strength and beauty.

Price of Ballerina Back €500

Dancer in the Dark

I took a moment to think about life. This painting turned out probably more melancholic than the others. I had a model. I spent a long time painting and repainting the shadows on her arms, chest, and legs. During that time, she relaxed into a kind of trance. Actually, I had no idea while painting her that her expression was bordering on sad.

Price of Dancer in The Dark €400

What Lies Beyond?

This painting is such a metaphor for life. The heavy, old oak doors with their brass locks and handles, dully reflective, refractive light. The thin opening floods the young girl with a halo of light that makes her sparkle. She is young and distracted, with no inkling of what lies beyond the open door frame. She doesn’t know what lies in store for her in life, whether good or bad. She is indifferent like the very young. She believes she has a future with her gift. Her teachers told her this, so she need not worry.

Price of What Lies Beyond €500

The Ballet Class (or League of Nations)

This painting depicting young girls waiting for a ballet class was great fun to paint. I wanted to represent girls from various ethnic backgrounds and yet keep the fun and vivacity in the scene. I experimented with several different muted backgrounds. In the end, I reverted to the bright, Spring greens. I felt it accentuated the freshness of the scene.

Price of Ballet Class €450

Swan Lake (Ballerina)

I gave myself three hours to complete this painting. I was asked to do a workshop in Dublin and to complete a piece in one afternoon. (Some of the detail of the hands etc in the other works took about three hours to do on their own!!) I was trying to capture movement and energy by rendering the brushstrokes loosely and spontaneously. I painted this one in just under three hours. However, I worked it all out in two other paintings beforehand. I still spent a comparatively long time defining the fingers and hands. I´m happy with the finished work and plan to work in this style again.

Price of Swan Lake €300

Blonde Ballerina

I worked on several pieces with figures against a Baroque/Caravaggio inspired, dark background. For this one, I painted it in pale, pastel tones. It is more difficult to paint whites and skin tones against pale greys as your tonal range is compromised. I overcame this issue by accentuating the brown and tan lines of the arms and upper torso. I also chose bronze tones for the back of the blonde hair. The stronger madder browns on the frame of the face help to evoke the blondeness of the hair. There are pure cadmium yellows in the left hand of the hair. Pure Naples Yellow Light is at the top right. The Cobalt Violet shades on the torso of the tutu compliment the honey colours in the piece.

Price of Blonde Ballerina €500

Waiting For The Bridegroom

This piece is not a ballerina painting. However, I included it in this section because it has all the qualities of mood and texture of the dancers. The tulle, the polished floors, the net curtains etc. I love painting interiors. It´s a challenge to get the parallel lines straight. Getting the windows equal in spacings is also difficult. Correcting the angle of the cast shadows is another challenge. The placement of the swathes of net curtains helps with the demands of the hard edges. This gives the painting a dreamy, mystic appeal that I like.