So without sounding too much like I'm sticking my head up my own arse, I think my art in realism is slowly improving.
Realism isn't my area of expertise when it comes to art, I'm very much comfortable in the anime/chibi/manga, what have you, area. I decided that I'd step out of my comfort zone, and try my hand at something that I believed I wasn't skilled in. I hadn't attempted realism art since doing my GCSE's, and even then, the work was satisfactory at best.
A couple of months down the line, and I had finished my first ever pencil drawing piece, that of Smaug from The Hobbit, and I have to say that I was pretty pleased with myself. With the help of clareiow, topping me up with tips and shading and being on Skype with me for pretty much the duration of the drawing, I got there! It may have took a long time in others opinion, but after 12 hours of pure concentration and frustration, I managed to finish it, but also be happy with it.
So after tackling a dragon, in which primarily I thought would be easy (it really wasn't!), I then got challenged to draw Bilbo Baggins. 6 hours this drawing took me, so I could already see the improvements I had made, and also, I'd spent less time getting angry and frustrated with myself! The way I work, if it looks like them, then I've done a good job. In this case, I did a good job. I'm extremely happy with that drawing, and I think can say that it is my best work so far.
Just like an addiction, I'm itching to get another drawing started. This time I have been challenged to draw Sherlock, in which I can see being a little bit of a more difficult challenge, but hey, there's no use starting out so negative, otherwise I'm not going to get anywhere!