Smoking Figure part 11

Today I continued work on the smoking figure, exploring some possible changes and making some official. I like the previous changes I made to her nose and cheek contour, but that still left me some problems with the eyes. The shape of the original eye on the left was fairly accurate to her face (verified by the photo), but I think it was part of what contributed to so many people seeing her as angry. I prefer to use references when possible, but rather than try to arrange more time with the model, I decided to tap into another resource at hand. The model who posed for this is the most regular model at the Belmar figure group, and since I tend to concentrate on portraits when I'm there, I already have dozens of drawings that include her eyes. I went through my drawing pads and found the best option, then traced it on a glassine scrap. Taped it in place- looked much better as is and in the mirror (with woodcut portraits, how it will look in reverse is more important). Decided on the exact placement, used some fine sandpaper to remove from the block surface most of the original drawing ink from last year, and redrew the eye with pencil, marker, and india ink. Made slight adjustments to the other eye to make it match better. The results are shown above.

The next task was more name tag experiments. I tried the lanyard last time, but didn't like the way it cut through all the horizontals in the torso. The type that clips or pins on is less common, but I do see them around. A few days ago I was at a work related art reception and the organizer was wearing a top similar to the subject of my print. I had her attach my clip-on name tag to both sides of her blouse and took photos of each. Based on those photos, today I cut one out of scrap paper and tried it in different locations. With all things being equal, I think I like it better on the left side (above) than the right side (below).

The last item of the day was the arm holding the cigarette. Back last summer when I showed the block at our Studio critique group, a number of people suggested that I move the arm outward a little. The reason given was that vertical was too similar to the vertical line of the edge of the brick wall right next to it. Using another piece of glassine, I traced the whole lower arm and hand, which I then taped to the board at a new angle. Another scrap of glassine covered the original hand, over which I roughed in a shoulder and upper arm- based on some photos taken several months ago. Finally, I moved the name tag back over to that side of the figure, if for no other reason than to obscure some of the newly revealed arm. The result is below.

The changed arm position does indeed break up that wall vertical. However, I don't know that I want to make that change. First of all, I think keeping the arm more upright is the more natural position, based on my observation of smokers. (also less likely to burn passers-by) Second, this would much more difficult to redraw than the minor changes to the face. I will wait until I show my various paper additions to more eyes before I make any final decisions on the name tag and the arm. The issue of tattoos will wait until I resolve those. I'll deal with the background after I settle the figure.