Ann Walker Mini Part Three

In the face of rampant homo- and transphobia all over the Western world, heroes like Ann Walker and Anne Lister are needed more than ever right now. So let us do as Miss Walker would have us do and "Go on bravely!"

There are no surviving portraits of Ann Walker, although we know from Lister's diaries that she was blonde. She was also probably small in stature, since one of Lister's pet names for her was "Peewee." Lister herself was not tall, being roughly five feet three inches tall and of an athletic, slightly masculine build, so perhaps "Peewee" had more to do with Lister's sense of protection over Ann than any physical dissimilarity.

Most often, Lister referred to her wife, both directly and in her diaries, as "Adney," from a Latin word meaning "to adhere." Ann called Lister "Dearest."

We do have a portrait of Ann's sister, Elizabeth Sutherland, showing the golden tresses shared by the Walker sisters.

Elizabeth Sutherland (nee Walker) date and artist unknown

It is not, therefore, much of a stretch to see the enchanting Sophie Rundle in the role of Ann Walker in HBO's Gentleman Jack.

Sophie Rundle as Ann Walker in Gentleman Jack Season Two

It is this image of Ann Walker that I am trying to capture in my mini. When last we visited our intrepid heroine, I had cleaned up the 3D print and sculpted her braids, her hat and her shawl, after much travail.

Upon returning to my workbench, we know have some paint in place, bringing her a little closer to life.

Walker face, hair, hat, shirt tie and jacket

Although it is difficult to see in this photo, I have attempted to reproduce the soft pink brocade of her coat by dabbing an old worn-out paintbrush onto the surface in more or less random spots. Trying to reproduce the pattern as it appears in the still from the show would be tedious, and I believe would also "steal focus" from the rest of the figure as a whole.

After a good coat of white primer, Miss Walker was undercoated in acrylic paints, over which I have rendered her in Grumbacher oils. With figures like this, I work "from the skin out, top to bottom", which is to say, I begin with the face and eyes, then the hair and the hat. Moving down, I did the shirt, the tie and the coat.

I admit I am somewhat intimidated to do the shawl and the skirt, both of which are tartan in lovely rich earth tones of brown and green. But it promises to be a project that is educational, and I look forward to Miss Walker taking me to class, much as she took the children of Halifax, Yorkshire, to school.

Stay tuned!