Artist Mark Powell, whose work we’ve shared in the past, draws some extraordinarily realistic ink portraits of sweet, wrinkled faces on antique envelopes that date as far back as the mid-19th century. Since he first impressed us with his envelope portraits, the Londoner has continued to expand his collection of heartwarming works, forcing us to share some of the incredible, detailed renditions he has added to his growing portfolio.
Each envelope that Powell transforms maintains its original adornment of stamps and handwritten mailing addresses, giving it an authentic feel and adding a bit of history, as is the artist’s intention. The visage of these matured subjects only serve to accentuate the mapping of time. Their frail faces are masked atop an equally fragile, folded sheet of paper, creating a sort of invisible timestamp.
Due to the delicacy of the envelopes, it would prove to be unwise to enter them back into the postal system, but it would be absolutely amazing if the artist offered custom postcard printing services of these images, to continue to mail these historical envelopes. In the meantime, Powell has prints of these works for sale through his shop on Society6.
