Early Portraits

From an early age, Hood captured on paper scenes from her environment. Even as a child, she created quick sketches of family members, which became more refined as she developed her skills. During her senior year of high school in 1935, she completed a series of pencil and charcoal portraits capturing her mother, father, and aunt among others. Celebrating Hood’s talent, her high school art teacher Mrs. F. W. Vock, submitted these portraits to a drawing competition which led to Hood receiving a National Scholastic Scholarship to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), in Providence.
While recognized for her later surrealist and abstract works, these early drawn and painted portraits demonstrate Hood’s ability to realistically render the figure through fluid and delicate lines. Focusing her attention on the sitter’s expression, Hood expertly captured the personality of each person with subtle linework and shading.