"I was going through a small binder of artwork that I'd drawn back in high school - basically the only pieces I've ever finished / kept. Most of them were fine enough - some good, some decent - but this one caught my eye in particular. I forgot that I'd made this, and I was frankly stunned by the quality. I've always considered shading to be my best technique, when it comes to art, and I feel this piece proves that to be the case. I drew this in my junior year, when I was 16 years old. That's pretty damn good for sixteen, I'd like to argue, especially when you look close up at it and can see the finer details (which I'm betting will be ruined by image compression).

I think this is the best drawing that I've made to date, which is both amazing... and sad: amazing because I managed to do something like this so early on in life, but also sad because, in hearing that, I think you can get a pretty good idea of where my path as an artist has gone since then. (Let's just say that I feel like I'm back to being a beginner, these days. And for context, I am currently in my mid-20s, at the time of posting this to Steam.)

I am going to hang onto this drawing, keep it close by; hopefully it can be the thing that rekindles my love / passion for art, once more."