Ballet Photo or Ballet Painting?
So it evolved into how a camera 'sees', how we as human beings 'see', what goes into the mix of an artist 'seeing' and then painting a painting.
If you enjoy this lens, please mark it as a favorite, sign my guestbook and email it to anyone you think might like it !
There are wonderfuld books about ballet at the end - well worth checking out!
Thank you so much for visiting.
Table of Contents
- A Camera or a Canvas
- How Does a Camera See?
- How Do Our Eyes See?
- We See in 3 D
- Most of What Enters Our Eyes We Do Not See
- As We Look - Our Eyes Dance
- Why Not Just Take a Photo?
- The Music, the Energy, the Passion, can Radiate from a Painting
- Ballet Fantasy Truer Than Life?
- View my Ballet and Pointe Shoe Paintings
- Excellent Books about Ballet Technique
- Wonderful Ballet Stories
A Camera or a Canvas
"Tutus Backstage" by Ann Radley
With lovely dancers before your eyes, would you choose to preserve the beauty of the moment with a photograph or a painting?
There are many differences in the way a camera sees and in the way a human being sees.
In some ways the camera is more accurate and certainly more predictable.
What an artist puts on the canvas depends upon much more than just seeing with the eyes.
But first let's compare the two.
How Does a Camera See?
How Do Our Eyes See?
We See in 3 D
If you have any question or hesitation about this, please just try it out!
Most of What Enters Our Eyes We Do Not See
One major way in which our sight differs from that of a camera is that we filter out what is irrelevant. When we walk down the street our eyes take in vast amounts of visual data - much more than we are aware of. Most of this information, does not reach our awareness.
Here is a fun picture to illustrate this point. In the Nutcracker Ballet, Marie having just received her precious gift, has eyes only for her beloved Nutcracker!
As We Look - Our Eyes Dance
The eye takes in visual data about an object of interest, not with a fixed and rigid stare, but by dancing around it, behaving almost like water. These tiny rapid movements are so automatic they are hardly noticeable. In fact to me the movement of our eyes is a continual moving dance in itself.
Why Not Just Take a Photo?
When we look with our eyes at a specific point, it is only the core of what we are looking at that is in focus. Surrounding objects gradually lose their clarity the further they are away from the focal point. An artist as creator, has free play as to where the center of interest is in a painting. It is my opinion that an artist can create something more in alignment with the way our eyes see than a photograph can.
The Music, the Energy, the Passion, can Radiate from a Painting
"Eye to Eye I" by Ann Radley, inspired by Washington State Ballet
As an artist watching a wild and wonderful dance, I hear the music and feel the rhythm in my body. And I feel the energy and passion radiating from the dancers.
Ballet Fantasy Truer Than Life?
"Raven's Gift" by Ann Radley
WAIT A MINUTE . . . . Commissioning a painting of a dancer might be a risky business. With a photograph you are reasonably sure of what you will get.
With a painting, the possibilities are endless. . . .
Sometimes a fantastical setting can best express the invisible spirit of a dance - more so than the physical stage setting in which the dance took place.
In mythology the raven sometimes plays the role of master magician, pointing the way toward wisdom and transformation. The inky black color of the raven is associated with darkness, yet a darkness where universal secrets are stored.
In this small oil painting, the raven's life is nearly at an end. The raven willingly uses his last bit of strength to carry the dancer, allowing her to use him as a springboard to reach her full potential. The dancer gratefully accepts the raven's gift. Please visit Ann Radley Portraints and Fine Art to view this painting on Etsy.
View my Ballet and Pointe Shoe Paintings
Artwork and giclee prints of my paintings are for sale
Excellent Books about Ballet Technique
Inside Ballet Technique: Separating Anatomical Fact from Fiction in the Ballet Class
Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 07/06/2009) 
Classical Ballet Technique
Amazon Price: $39.15 (as of 07/06/2009)
Teaching Beginning Ballet Technique
Amazon Price: $18.45 (as of 07/06/2009)
The Ballet Companion: A Dancer's Guide to the Technique, Traditions, and Joys of Ballet
Amazon Price: $22.76 (as of 07/06/2009)
Technique for the Ballet Artiste
Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
Wonderful Ballet Stories
DK Read & Listen: Illustrated Book of Ballet Stories (DK Read & Listen)
Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
The Illustrated Book of Ballet Stories
Amazon Price: $13.59 (as of 07/06/2009)
Choreography and Narrative: Ballet's Staging of Story and Desire
Amazon Price: $15.37 (as of 07/06/2009)
The Children of Theatre Street - The Story of the Kirov Ballet School
Amazon Price: $17.99 (as of 07/06/2009)
101 Stories of the Great Ballets: The scene-by-scene stories of the most popular ballets, old and new (A Dolphin book)
Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 07/06/2009)
Say Hello and tell me what you think!
Jackie McManus wrote
Your work is amazing, Ann. Really beautiful!
Posted May 28, 2009
Dianne Gardner wrote
I too love ballet and have painted dancers, although I wish I could get more action shots, Very lovely paintings and thanks for your comment on my squidoo!
Posted May 20, 2009
Jimmie wrote...
The first one reminded me of Degas. Your work is beautiful, and I love how you detail the differences between the camera and the brush.
Posted December 20, 2008
AnnaB wrote
Trisha, what wonderful, wonderful paintings. Such joy in them. A pleasure to behold. xx
Posted December 09, 2008
Ellie wrote
Enjoyed your lens. I love your work! Being both a photographer and painter, I have to agree with your comments. That is why I so often find myself tweaking my photos in an attempt to add to them the emotion that I felt when viewing the subject with the movement or "dance" of my eyes!
Posted October 05, 2008
