I have about 20+ paintings of women smoking or drinking, but mostly smoking.
My women who smoke do not look happy or content. Some of them look angry, sad or forlorn, like they have lost something and all they have is their own existential thoughts and a lonely cigarette (or a cigar).
But a few of my smoking women look resolute and strong, ready to kick someone's ass. My latest, called Melancholia, may or may not depict a powerful woman, but does it matter? Melancholia is still in progress, but it's close.
Melancholia, oil pastels, oil paint sticks, on an acrylic pumice base. 30 x 30 x 1.5 inches on a gallery frame.