Gymnast
Jennifer, I think Michael's suggestion is excellent. I have done montages in illustration before and they can be very beautiful.
Use the tracing paper to get an accurate drawing, use a photo close to the size you need. I sometimes get blowups as big as the painting I'm working on. It almost eliminates the need for a cranky model. Go to a place that reproduces drawings for architects or a Photostat place. They should be able to do a black and white copy exactly the size you need. They are fairly cheap. Get a couple of different sizes to play around with. You can get them on transparent vellum as well.
Do not use an overhead projector unless it us sharp, sometimes they can distort. I have the best camera Lucida ever made; unfortunately it is out of production. It projects your copy accurately 4x up and reduces 4x. It is good up to about 30" x 40". I plan to sell it on this site soon. It is fabulous for fine graphite rendering. It is however 92" x 40" with its own curtain. Too bad you live too far away to take advantage of it.
Ebonies are very good also, but do try the Berol Turquoises. Also blow up Grace's picture to the size you are rendering (if possible). It is almost as if the person is there and you will get a more accurate reference point, especially if you place them side to side.
Sincerely,
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