Here is another attempt to work "big" this time with charcoal primarily.  Working at this size forces you to move back periodically to get perspective on what you are drawing up close....good exercise too!  (It is good practice for me to work this way since I have the bad tendency to not to get up & look at a piece from a distance when the work is smaller.)  I used the red string and tape placed at different positions on the paper to get a rough idea of proportions while working....I think this is the first human I have drawn full size.
     There is a painting by artist Antoine-Jean Gros (1771-1835) of Napoleon visiting a plague-house at Jaffa that has always fascinated me.  In it Napoleon fearlessly & with compassion (of course) reaches out with his glove-less hand to touch a plague-stricken man.  As history goes, it is likely that this never happened but instead the painting was a fictional device to create good propaganda for Napoleon.  The subject of touch & positioning of figures in this work also reminds me of Caravaggio's "Doubting Thomas" painting...I wonder if Gros had seen his work?   
     As far as the subject goes...at one time or another in our lives I believe we all can relate to this character as well as Napoleon's character reaching out but with gloves on.  We all fear disease, death, poverty, but also surprisingly we fear passion.  It is understandable why--passion can be the spark for political upheaval and it is a short jump to associate passion with mental unbalance.
Here is the drawing in an earlier stage.  Interesting how the picture in its current state makes the surrounding room (not in the photo) littered with art supplies look less messy.