“The American Impressionists and even the Ash Can school painters often built their compositions around a female figure in an interior setting. I decide to try a series of works around a single male figure in a setting. This work is among the first in that series. The model here was a smoker and would roll his own cigarettes. In a candid moment while setting up the pose he reached for his tobacco pouch and it made for such an interesting gesture that I used it for the painting.”