In October 1927, Rutherford turned down the offer of a position at Walter Sickert's new art school in London and left Manchester for Newlyn, to teach and to paint. There, he worked with Dod Procter in her studio, whose then-favourite model was the daughter of a Newlyn fish merchant – Cissie Barnes, 16 or 17 years old, who had a beautiful, broad oval face, full cheeks, and sleek, bobbed brown hair. Procter's painting of her, Morning (1927), was voted Picture of the Year at the RA Summer Exhibition, attracted rave reviews, was bought for the Tate Gallery by The Daily Mail, and subsequently toured Britain for two years, making both artist and model famous.

In her sparse and bare studio in Newlyn, Procter painted at least three further pictures of Cissie, in which the healthy warm skin tones of the model are set against muted backgrounds of neutral taupe, cool blue, oyster-white and stone. In Girl in Blue of 1925, Cissie wore the same blue dress as in Rutherford's painting. Rutherford was then a young artist, and thoroughly absorbing the teachings of his elders. As in Manchester, 43 years junior to Sickert, when his paintings had taken on the manner of his master, so in Newlyn and 13 years junior to Procter, he adopted her manner, in form, colour and texture.