A red chalk figure drawing with a rare and precious inscription at lower right: "Mary Mangashin / 'Sid'" — the first confirmed model name in the entire life drawing collection. This inscription transforms the drawing from an anonymous life study into a named encounter: Sidney Cothran drawing Mary Mangashin, and recording both their names on the paper.
The pose is among the most aspirational in the red chalk series: the figure seen in three-quarter profile, her arm raised and extending straight upward, the fingers reaching toward the upper edge of the composition. The upward-reaching arm creates the composition's vertical axis, the body below it in a standing position with the weight settled. The form rises from the barely-indicated feet at the lower composition to the fingertips at the upper edge — a continuous vertical energy.
The body is described with the characteristic sanguine economy: the outer contour establishing the form, brief shadow marks at the breast and hip, the face barely visible at the upper profile zone. The arm is the most fully described element, the muscles of the shoulder and upper arm suggested through the chalk's tonal buildup.
At the lower right, a second name inscription below the model's name — "'Sid'" — Sidney's own identification of himself as the artist. This is the closest we come in the entire collection to Sidney signing a drawing with his own name rather than his abbreviated initials.