I was at a social gathering last week when someone mistook a filtered photo for something that I had drawn. While complimentary it tweaked that perfectionist side of me that looks at what I currently do when input pen to paper.

Now, the second image is something I’m a lot closer to these days since I started using brush pens and trying some new things in the sketch book. It reminds me of some of Tim Sale’s artwork but not, perhaps, as clean with some of the lines.

So my new challenge to myself is to practice until I can create something similar freehand, just to prove to myself I can.

Shouldn’t be too difficult to make that leap from where I am – but then doing it consistently whole cloth from imagination rather than from a reference will be the step that will make me happier.