I had a wonderful morning at the Coliseum in London where I was able to draw the National Ballet warming up for their matinee performance of the ballet Manon. Quite a challenge to get something down on paper whilst so much was going on. The action was so fast that a few strokes to get the energy and rough direction of limbs and body was about all that was possible. I covered 8 sheets of drawing paper using charcoal, chalk and soft pencils and below are some examples of the result! What I did gain from this were some high energy sketches that would have been impossible from photographs and when I watched the matinee afterwards, an appreciation of how much dedication had gone into the performance by these young stars of the ballet.
Angela Brittain 