COMMISSION — ‘Madame Laveau’

“Serious, cutthroat and catty.” - Description of ‘Madame Dyani Laveau’, by the client.

Dyani, meaning ‘little deer’, is a femme fatale, no-nonsense character from the late 1800s. Her heritage is both Romani and the Jena Band of Choctaw, a Native American denomination. I leaned into both of these cultures for reference when coming up with the patterns on her clothing, and the designs for her jewellery. I had slight direction for her features and skin tone, however through my work, noses are one of my favourite things to draw. I enjoy the silhouette given by aquiline noses, and there is such a wide variety of shape and size in life, I wish to reflect that in my artwork too.