In which I share my own ballet illustration: softly textured ink tutu folds and ballet shoes with pencil detail and shading....and remember my first Mum-Made tutu in Calesthentics class...probably where the obsession began.

8 x 10 illustration available as a print in store here.

I've been a little obsessed with ballet since forever. I trace it back to my Calisthenics class (it sounds like something Scientology related but I swear it was a dance thing back in the day...maybe for kids like me who were clearly never going to make it in ballet!) I have a vivid memory of rocking up and everyone was wearing these soft flowy skirts that accentuated their dance moves...and I was tugging on a skirt Mum sewed out of a stiff old curtain over my little leotard. Bless her, she probably knew I wasn't going to stick with it and didn't want to waste money on the fancy skirts everyone else was wearing. Let's just say this curtain had no flowing capability...in hindsight it would've probably made an excellent tutu. But in my head, though I noticed the differences between the rest of the class and myself...I was miles away in my own little ballerina fantasy, galloping around the hall in my curtain. Fast forward many years, and I dragged that fantasy all the way to NYC where I sat spellbound watching the American Ballet perform The Nutcracker. In between then and now, I just pinned my favourite ballet photgraphy and watched every ballet/dance documentary and movie ever made....

Lately, I've been teaching myself how to draw using online tutorials and just messing around with a tablet and the Apple Pencil. I don't know why I left it this long, I loved lettering by hand...and used it as a kind of therapy to self medicate my panic attacks. The soothing comfort of tracing predictable shapes of letters, and then shading them with pencil...it was kind've a little refuge against the storm. Now, figuring out the shapes and pencil strokes that make the things in my head, like this ballerina, come to life on a canvas is my absolute new favourite thing to do. And don't get me started on the colouring stage...just as soothing as the lettering...who knew those mindful colouring book people were onto something.

So yeah, something different to my usual quotes, maps and buildings. Hope you like it! She'll come in more colours in the future, but I'm off to find something new to draw now :) If you'd like to get a print you'll find it in my store here: Ballerina Illustration