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.
In this piece her pose is meant to represent her aloof demeaner. My client wanted Dyani and her friend Moose, who is much larger than her, to be only half in frame as a joke referencing his size. Both Dyani and Moose are Native American characters set in the late 1800s, which I reflected in the way they’re dressed.