This picture, taken earlier *cough*, is a reasonable likeness of me should any of you look me up.  I wear my hair a little differently now.... or should I say,I have less hair to wear differently now... I have been teaching myself to draw since Christmas 2000, it started as a distraction from work, and now it is paying the bills (well the very small bills anyway).  I have a friend who is a superb artist, and it was witnessing how he could bring his imagination to life on the page that inspired me to buy How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way, a pencil and a pad of paper and get drawing.  This same friend also acted as my mentor in those early days for which I will be eternally grateful.  If anyone asks me how I made the leap from drawings which a 5 year old child would be ashamed to stick on their fridge to where I am today the answer is practice.  If you are born with some innate ability, or you have access to a formal art course at the right time then this will certainly help, but for me it was the hard slog of daily practice, a library of How To books and determination that I would not be beaten.  I haven't finished the journey yet, I have decades of improvement ahead, and I doubt I will ever be truly satisfied with my own work. For those of you who are interested, I draw entirely digitally on a Motion LE-1600 Tablet PC using Alias Sketchbook Pro (since renamed Autodesk Sketchbook Pro).  Clicking the hyperlinked words will take you to the relevant website if you want to know more.