Jane Austen: Portrait of an Author

Since I've started doing pet portraits, I've been asked several times if I also did people portraits. I honestly never seriously considered doing people portraits, but a seed was planted and I had the idea of trying my hand (and eye) at doing portraits of some of my favourite female authors of the past: Jane Austen, Emily Brontë, Beatrix Potter, Agatha Christie.

I began with Jane Austen, simply because there are some ambiguities regarding what she really looked like - therefore my own interpretation would be added to so many others and, hopefully, would not be judged too harshly. This said, I did conduct some investigative work to try to get her features as accurately as possible based on a watercolour painted by her sister Cassandra. The above image was used for many interpretations of Miss Austen's portrait.

I also pulled out portraits of her father and brothers, profiles of her mother and sister to get a sense of the family genetic traits. The aquiline nose and prominent chin are dominant traits in the family. But unlike her siblings, Jane had a rounded face and she seem to have had bigger than average eyes.

I decided to paint this little collection on a different material than the traditional stretched canvas. Second-hand stores have a multitude of old books that are on the verge of making it to the dumpster. I chose to work with linen hardcover books. I glue every page shut as well as the front and back cover so it becomes a very stable base. I prime it and let the book dry thoroughly - that takes a good week. It's then ready to be painted on. Once completed, it's varnished and affixed with hanging hardware to the back, but it can also simply lean on a shelf creating a kind of trompe-l'oeil.

For Jane's portrait, I designed a silvery silk taffeta dress with a short puff sleeve, trimmed with fine lace and a beaded ribbon. Then added a garnet coloured velvet ribbon in her hair and white kid gloves. Obviously a formal affair in respect to the Georgian style of her time. Moments before entering the room, she pauses to observe those who will inspire her next novel.