Little Rock, Arkansas artist Tom Robertson seemed to have learned screenprinting while living in New Orleans in the late 1930s, while serigraphy was first being developed as a serious printmaking method in the WPA. Artists saw this medium as a way to get their work seen by a larger number of people.
"Little Willie", done around 1940, uses a simplicity of design to capture the essence of a dance, perhaps a tango, as two entwined figures "move" across the floor. Robertson differentiates the figures using green and a rust color and suggests the edge of a gown with white ruffles. The composition is printed on a rust colored paper.
Robertson used a spatter technique on the screen for the subtle background, printed in a darker rust color, that creates circular "bubbles" in the upper background and a "floor" in the lower area.