Jane Austen

I know Jane Austen doesn’t need too much of an introduction, but I was pleased to work on her again. She was one of my first subjects and I’m happy to get a better version of her out there and on the Etsy store (Bookmarks coming soon for this one!) Now, let me tell you about these 2 different versions. So as I was working on my research for this portrait, I discovered that the only confirmed and verified portrait of Jane is a miniature work by her sister Cassandra Austen, done around 1810 (Second image). It’s important to note that Cassandra was an amateur artist, and the portrait was not considered very successful even by people that knew Jane. However, Cassandra very likely captured at least the essence of her sister here. Other images of Jane Austen were created as derivative works of this one - the engravings in the first and third images are examples of this. Both attempt to capture the features from the original but make them more “official” looking portraits of the famous author. What’s interesting is what the engravers chose to ignore, like the fact that it looks like Jane most definitely had dark eyes, where the engraving shows light. I chose to work from both and make 2 versions. I think the second image is more likely a truer image, with a more hawkish nose, thinner lips, and slanting brows, even where the low quality makes it hard to discern certain features. It has so much life and I love that about it. Unfortunately the ones I will be selling have to be the remake from the engraving - that image is the only one high quality enough to print and make it look nice on a bookmark and a print, but I still love this earnest-looking version of Jane. What are your thoughts on all of the versions of Austen we see here?

Left Portrait base: Public Domain of the United States, courtesy of University of Texas at Austin. Cassandra Austen Sketch: National Portrait Gallery, London. Right Portrait base: iStock Photo. Created using Photoshop.

Process Video: