"La Sylphide" WIP

Line art for "La Sylphide" -- loosely based on a ballet of the same title about a beautiful fairy who enchants a human, only to be killed by his selfish desire (He enlists a help of a witch to 'capture' her to make her his forever with a scarf with a spell to remove her wings.).  Story of the typical fairy tale aside,  I've seen some beautiful dancing by many of the world's finest ballerinas (My favorite, who left the strongest impression, is Ghislaine Thesmar, a French ballerina.)

For this piece, I looked at some vintage drawings of Marie Taglioni, the legendary Italian ballerina who starred in the role along her brother in the premiere of the ballet.  Of course, back in her days, pointe shoes didn't quite look like the ones today.  Anyway, I imagined what she would have looked like as one of those adorable (if excessively pricey) ball jointed dolls.

I'm thinking about giving a print of a finished painting to my old ballet teacher.  I will be giving this a soft and nostalgic feel with warm subtle shades of brown with hints of rose and green.