It’s a scandal! Why Hortense Piddlewink has even written to the territorial governor demanding this dance and the dancing girls who perform it should be banned from the territory. The fact that the dance came all the way from Paris, France is a sure indication it is indecent and an affront to polite society.
What is the hub-bub all about? Well, the Gay Lady Saloon has brought in Can-Can Dancers all the way from St. Louie and the Floozy would like your opinion on how to paint them. Traditionally, they wore white pantalettes with contrasting black stockings – the color of the skirts, blouses, & petticoats varied with white petticoats being most common.
The figures are from Knuckleduster’s Gunfighter’s Ball range. I’ve primed them with black gesso and applied white shading – some call this under-shading & some call it Zenithal highlighting. If you apply your paint in thin layers, this prep work will make highlighting and shading much easier.
The Can-Can is still danced today, but I’m modeling the dancers found in the American West in the 1880s & 1890s. In some of the more affluent dance troupes (& Hollywood Westerns), the chorus line wore the same color of dress, but I think each dancer having a different color would be more typical.
Here’s some inspiration (Oh, the yelping is a part of the dance):
And here’s some history on the dance:
What are your thoughts on colors to use? I know they will only ever be used as window dressing in Six Gun Sound games, but I think it’s fun to add something interesting to the table.
Atomic Floozy Adventures 