The slab of alabaster I had for this carving was rather narrow, flat on one side and sort of convex on the other, so my first idea was to carve a profile portrait in relief.
In May 2016 at the Affordable art Fair in Hampstead, I'd seen a couple of sculptures I liked by John Huggins, where the heads were narrow at the front, widening out at the back. Then in late 2016 I saw Picasso's portrait 'Jacqueline with a Yellow Ribbon' (Picasso's Portraits exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery). This is painted on metal, almost flat with one side having just a suggestion of three-dimensional features. I was particularly interested in the way one profile showed the eye full-on as in Egyptian paintings, while the other side was the more anatomically correct side view.
More interesting head carvings found online (above). Another maquette is called for!