Pastel on Art Spectrum Colourfix (black),

‘A study in light and dark, beauty caught in a instant.’

Those two fingers are what I wanted to portray in the painting (being straight and rigid) it conveys her discomfort at being watched dressing; her movements are formal and ritualised as she has been trained. Her eyes follow her fingers detaching herself from all around her.

The lowering of the head and eyes the twist of the body hiding her womanhood, the dropping of her shoulder and her two finger following the folds of her Kimono all add to that slightly uneasy feeling of intrusion.

The photo dose not quite show the intense dark mauve of the background that makes this painting even more dramatic in real life