Who is in the photo?

[jsantos]

[Bob Hinton]

Photo

Isn't that the actress who played her in From Hell, or was it the ITV series.

[belinda]

I don't think it's Lysette Anthony from the Michael Caine one.

Could it be an image somebody created themselves of what they think Mary might have looked like?

[RJM]

It is not a photograph but a painted likeness of MJK by Jane Coram. Her wonderful work can be found on this website.

Cheers,

Robert

[j.r-ahde]

Hello you all!

Yes, Robert, and it could be closest to the "real" gal!

All the best
Jukka

[Esther Wilson]

I'm sorry Robert, I wasn't able to get a link to her website. Could you possibly re-post it for me? Thanks so much!

Esther

It is not a photograph but a painted likeness of MJK by Jane Coram. Her wonderful work can be found on this website.

Cheers,

Robert

[RJM]

http://forum.casebook.org/showthread.php?t=2757

[kensei]

jsantos,

I am the person who placed that laminated Jane Coram print of Mary Kelly on her grave in September of 2008, while on vacation from America. I thought it would blow away in the wind before long and have been very touched to learn here on Casebook in the months since that it has remained in place. Can you tell me how recently it was still there?

Many thanks,
Kensei

[Hamrammr]

Jane Coram's artwork is very impressive (just seen her ripper work for the first time). Very evocative and really helps one imagine what certain people and places looked like. They're certainly more effective and doubtless more accurate than any film or television production. Quite spooky.

Dean

[Jane Coram]

Hi All,

Mary was the hardest to even start. I was months, if not years, trying to work out what she might have looked like, because there was nothing left of the poor girl. In the end took precise measurements from the photo to get the proportions as correct as possible, allowing that you can't see that much of the features on photo anyway. Then I used the general colouring from descriptions and all that could be done then was to use stereotypical female Irish features within that framework. I just let it do what it wanted in the end and threw myself at the mercy of the gods. It had to be best guess, because there just wasn't enough to work on.

I'm in the process of doing a load more of paintings based on the contemporary newspaper sketches (the accurate ones). I thought it might be interesting to literally paint over the sketches, and see what we end up with.

I'll probably just start with Buck's Row and work my way through. I'll have a go at some of the personalities as well, like McCarthy, Bowyer, Kidney etc.,. I suspect their sketches are pretty accurate. Hopefully it will bring them to life a bit more. I'm quite intrigued to see how they turn out and I just hope it's not a disaster. Lol.

Might be a couple of months before I get stuck in as I've got another couple of Ripper projects underway.

Much love

Janie

xxxx

[GregBaron]

Amazing paintings..........

My Gosh........I also just saw Jane's paintings for the first time.........Wow.......super.......I actually had some wrong ideas about how things looked that she cleared up....very cool......wondering if these are all photoshop works or some
are paintings the old fashioned way....? I must also add that if that is MJK she's a pretty good looking gal............

Greg

[Zodiac]

Hi Jane,

Like everyone else I am completely blown away by your work! The pictures you create have such a wonderfully eerie quality to them, so dripping with atmosphere that they almost seem to transport one back in time, far more effectively than any book, or even film, could ever do. I really think that you have succeeded in bringing the victims to life, so to speak. The first time I actually saw one of your paintings was in the first post on this thread. I was so convinced that it was a photograph that I immediately started searching through photos of the various actresses who have played MJK over the years, certain that it must be one of them! Really Beautiful work!

If you do decide to do any more ripper related work, then I would very much like to see your take on Frances Coles. Not a cannonical victim, I know, but we do have her photograph in death and I would love to see you put the life back into her image the way you have done so wonderfully with the others!

Best Wishes,

Zodiac.

[Jane Coram]

Hi,

Well, thank you for the nice comments. I'd forgotten I put that thread up until someone mentioned it recently!

I'll have a crack at Frances Coles at the weekend and see how I get on.

I usually paint in oils for commissions, but tend to use the computer for fun stuff, because oils take so long to dry. I've got about ten oil paintings lying around the house in various stages of tackiness, so that I can work on one while the others are drying! The trouble is, my cat Spike thinks he's a budding artist and just loves signing them for me - before they're dry.

Of course you do get a much better result with 'real' oil paint. You can't beat the texture of oils, the smell and finer detail you get with the real thing, but painting on the computer is a lot quicker and the results aren't too bad.

Thinking about it, there might be some posters that would like to have a go at it. You can probably use Paint Shop Pro, or most painting programmes with a bit of adaptation. It's great fun.

I could do a proper step by step showing the actual brushes etc., and post it on the other thread. I did one of Abberline, but I didn't give any technique details. I'll maybe have a go at Michael Kidney. I fancy getting stuck into that 'tache. I'll start it now and will probably get it done within a day or so. I'll post it up as I go along.

Much love

Janie

xxxx

[Zodiac]

Hi,

Well, thank you for the nice comments. I'd forgotten I put that thread up until someone mentioned it recently!

I'll have a crack at Frances Coles at the weekend and see how I get on.

Hi Jane, thanks for posting a reply so quickly, I am looking forward to your Frances Coles picture, many thanks!

Best Wishes,

Zodiac.

[Hamrammr]

Thanks Jane! I'll take a look at your website too. You really do get some great results. It really IS like breathing life into the past.

That Spike! Everyone's a critic. Maybe he's trying to tell you he wants his own paints.

Dean