A comparison.

Also I don't think it's quite done, but I wanted to prove to myself that I have dramatically improved. To be fair, the bottom picture was in 2007. It's been awhile.

Though I need more contrast. It's past 2am and I'm tired, so it'll have to wait. in the meantime... Happy! I love the style I got goin' right now.

Also! As for the title. When I was in college, a professor told me that artists are constantly trying to one-up themselves, and always fear never being able to recreate the level of skill they displayed once. It stuck with me, and I really understand it. Especially going back and looking at my much older work. Certain things I did better than now. Little details though, because I feel the 'bigger picture' has improved. Like, where I lost little things like the way I once rendered hair quite skillfully, I've gained understanding of varying line weight and knowing how to use value in a composition to make thins stand out and using directional lines to create a focus point.

And let us not forget anatomy. Worlds of improvement. So while I may whine and complain about forgetting things or not being able to do tiny details anymore, I still recognize the things I've learned and hope that some day I can manage to do it all. Or at least improve from here, though I still am unsure of what direction to fling myself in.