Hi Kim,
Okay, I have a tall narrow window about 4 feet away, so it gives pretty intense light. I turned toward my left shoulder to get that pose. The mirror was high, you're right. I have a 12" x 36" mirror, the kind you use on the back of a closet door, and I put it lengthwise on another easel, that I adjusted to be eye height or a little higher.
One benefit is that I don't hold my palette, I have a piece of 16 x 20 acrylite that I set on top of a mid value piece of cardboard, and that on top of a rolling taboret, so all I needed to do to maintain this pose was turn my head to the left and drop my right arm. That was the theory anyway - in reality, turning my head repeatedly left a lot of room for error and I spent lots of time readjusting my head so I would get the right cast shadow on my cheek. Next time I will try to minimize head turning. In all honesty, I think the looking up of the eyes is a subtle error due to that turning, but when I saw that was what I was getting for the gaze, I went with it and emphasized it. If it had a direct gaze, it would probably give me the creeps.
Here's a quickie sketch, 3 x 4 inches, fine point Sharpie on scrap paper
Hybrid Mode
