How to Paint

Difficulty: 3/5
Colours: Raw sienna (for background), titanium white, ultramarine, brilliant red, lemon yellow, mars black
Brushes: Large brush (for background), small flat brush, detail round brush

This was an interesting exercise, since the original piece was created with pastel on paper on cardboard. I really wanted to mimic the appearance of a cardboard base (as it shows through in Degas’ finished piece), so I figured a raw sienna base might be a good start. It turned into a bit of a tonal study at one point – which became quite useful in understanding where all my highlights and shadows needed to be.

I was also keen on recreating the gritty, rough marks from the pastel, which is most obvious in the two focal points of this painting: the blue tutus and red bodices. Lightly brushing the flat side of the brush on the canvas (instead of the tip), seemed to create the effect I was after.

In retrospect, the proportions of the ballerinas make them look more like teenagers than adults, which was not intended!