My Ultimate Goal

I want to learn how to draw.  In particular, I want to draw things like this:

http://cubistpanther.deviantart.com/art/Tiger-194838275?offset=0#comments

If you are anything like me, you look at the above and think, 'Hmm, that is a nice photograph.'  Then you do a double-take as you realize someone drew this.  Holy crap!  Look at that fur.  Look at the gleaming whiskers.  Look at that freakin' flawless eye.  This is a piece of reality trapped on paper, or canvas or whatever the medium happened to be.  I stand in awe.

It's important to know where you want to go.  Some people want to draw manga and anime-style cartoons, and that's cool.  Others want to recreate landscapes with oil or watercolour.  I approve, but that's not for me.  I want to take a pencil and draw a freakin' living tiger.  That's the goal.  I have no idea how the artist drew the above, but I will figure it out.  Expect to see lots of cats in the coming weeks.