I don’t normally use photos taken by others as my painting references, but a little time ago, my daughter-in-law shared a photo of our granddaughter getting ready to go on stage for a dance recital.

The photo is pretty dark but I immediately thought the composition of it and the subject matter reminded me of Degas and he is, after all, one of my favorite and most influential master artists.

I just kept coming back to it and finally emailed my daughter-in-law and asked if I might use it in a painting. She went back and looked at it and said that none of the kids were really recognizable and gave me permission to use it.

The bags stacked along the back shelf and the red door will go away in the painting. But I just love the gestures of these little ballerinas. I’m also cropping in a bit from either side. The final size will be 16×20″. I will also use a very limited palette.

Here is the tracing that will be transferred to the canvas. I will stain the canvas a very light burnt sienna. The pouf on the head of that little pixie in the front will be the focal point.

I’m not done with the Colonial Williamsburg series, but I wanted to give myself a little change so I can recharge my batteries.