Begin with a simple drawing with a HB pencil. Draw only the top half of the figure.

Keep the pencil marks light so that they won’t be visible through the transparent flesh tone of the paint.

1. Attach your paper to a board using masking tape around the edges and place the board at a slight angle. I like to work at a 30-degree slant. If you wish, apply masking fluid to save a few speckles of white paper in the flower in the dancer’s hair and the frill around the top edge of the dress.

2. Paint the hair with a wash of indigo and burnt sienna, using much less water. When this is dry, use permanent rose to paint the flower in the dancer’s hair.

3. Using the pointer brush loaded with a flesh colour mixed from raw sienna and permanent rose with plenty of water, paint the face and back of the dancer, gently lifting out highlights with a piece of slightly damp kitchen towel.

4. While the face is still damp, use the detail brush to apply the indigo and burnt sienna mix to the hair area so that the dark hair colour diffuses gently into the skin wash around the forehead and neck. Turn the painting upside down when doing this so that gravity works against the paint flow. This prevents the hair colour seeping too far into the face area.

5. Leave to dry.

1. Prepare a generous amount of permanent rose for the dress. By now the flesh colour on the dancer’s back will probably have dried.

2. Re-wet the area with clean water so that the area is just damp and, using the detailer brush, paint the shoulder straps and the frill around the top edge of the dress. The damp paper will encourage the formation of a soft edge where the dress meets the skin as the dress colour diffuses slightly into the flesh area

3. Use the same flesh colour to paint the dancer’s arms, again lifting out highlights with kitchen towel. If the dress straps are still damp, a soft edge should again form where they meet the arms.

1. Apply the paint fairly quickly to keep the wash flowing when painting the dress. The aim is to keep the wash wet for the rest of this step.

2. Swap to the pointer brush and paint the back of the dress down to the waist with the permanent rose wash.

3. Take the large brush loaded with the same wash and paint the skirt using big, bold brushstrokes, sweeping down towards the hem.

4. Load the pointer brush with clean water and flick this into the wet paint to create water runs. Encourage the colour to bleed slightly into the dancer’s hands using a damp brush. This produces a link between the hand and the skirt rather than a hard line. If you have applied plenty of paint and water, droplets will gather toward the hem of the skirt. If not, add more or tilt the board to a steeper angle.

5. Take the straw and blow these droplets out towards the edges of your page. Don’t worry if drips and runs occur – it all adds to the feeling of movement.

Flick more paint from the brush below the dress, directing it outwards to emphasise the swishing motion of the dress fabric.

Add a hint of the facial features with the detail brush.

I used the indigo and burnt sienna mix for the eyebrows and lashes, blotting them gently with kitchen towel to soften, and permanent rose again for the cheek and lipstick.

I applied the slightest hint of cerulean blue for eye shadow. The nostril and ear are tiny specks of burnt sienna.

With a stronger mix of permanent rose (less water), add shadow to the left-hand side of the body and use the detail brush to add a few frills and folds to the skirt, softening and blending the lines using the pointer brush slightly dampened with clean water.

When completely dry, remove the masking fluid from the flower and the frill by gently rubbing with your finger or Blu-tack.

You can also adorn your dancer with an earring and bracelet using a gold gel pen, gold paint or paint the fine loop with a little PVA glue diluted with water and sprinkle on gold powder before leaving to dry.

I have experimented with various backgrounds but have found the colour of the dress against a stark white background is the most effective.

The finished painting

Flamenco, watercolour, (40.5x30.5cm)

Sue Bradley tutors watercolour classes in Kent and is available for workshops in the south east of England.

Visit www.suebradleyart.co.uk for details.

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