First bout of practice with the tablet:
Try to recreate this picture by  bubbeh as accurately as possible.
I got this far before giving up--not because I didn't think I could finish it (I know the end product would have been very different from the original anyway, it was unavoidable), but because I was satisfied I had a basic understanding of what steps to take and had discovered enough ways I could improve for next time. This is actually a pretty good representation of all the different steps I went through--gesture, then form, then details, then erasing the fuck out of everything till it looked how I wanted then applying light and shadow. Then running away from the computer to cry under my bed while sipping on Nehi grape soda oh my God those things are so fucking good you don't know they make ALL THE SHAME go away.

Tomorrow I'll tackle something a bit harder: creating an original image. *scream*