Horse

A comparison of what I can do with a reference vs. without one.  My thoughts: I go a lot slower with a reference, but I feel like getting proportions correct gives it more prospect to be decent with work.  I'm really slow in general.  I know I can bang out something decent with charcoal or conte crayon in that amount of time; but digital, and it looks like shit.

Techical info:
Time: 15 minutes (each)
Program: Photoshop
Brushes: Hard round airbrush

Without reference:

With reference:

Reference (personal photo):