I took this photo of my daughter playing around on the piano a while ago, and I have wanted to paint it for some time. Today, I decided to sketch it out, and give it a go.

I don�t paint figures often, so I don�t feel that I paint them particularly well. But I�m reasonably pleased with this given that I�m still such a beginner.

First, I sketched the image in pencil. This really helped me a lot because it forced me to pay very close attention to details like the angles and proportions in the image. I also decided to merge the back of the piano and the bench in the lower right. I�ll need to merge more shapes in order to improve the composition.

Before painting I sketched the image. I ended up using a draftsman�s compass to check the dimensions. It turns out her head is one unit wide, and tall. I�m very tired, so I�m just going to go to bed, and try again tomorrow.