Howson's work focuses mainly on the Glasgow underclass. At times the artist portrays this overtly working-class, masculine world with sympathy and tenderness; at other times he portrays it as a seething hotbed of violence. Thrown back in despair and agony, the head in this portrait sketch clearly belongs to a tortured soul. It is based on a copy of a print by William Blake, which in turn is based on a drawing of a Damned Soul by Henry Fuseli (1741-1825).