Have you ever painted a portrait?

I understand that. But as I said, it's a good stepping stone. If you can't recreate something you see in front of you, you can't create original art either. Just as writers do a lot of reading and studying other writer's styles before finding their own voice, and just as photographers spend a lot of time trying to recreate effects in other people's photographs on their way to defining their own craft, artists often copy other artists while learning how to create their own art. I'm not saying this is art. I'm saying this is an excellent drawing, and the skills shown in this drawing are invaluable to an artist who wants to create hyper-realistic drawings. He's well on his way.