"Oh," Bryony said as she settled back into her chair. "I'm the same, really. I mean, I used to be." As she tried to explain herself, her words came a little too fast, her nerves not entirely settled. "Before I started my apprenticeship I'd only really show my sketches to one or two people. Now I have to try to be less nervous." She knew she needed to learn to take criticism, but it still didn't come naturally to her to invite negative comments on one of the few things she felt some pride in. "I've never been asked to sit for anything, though." She managed to bite the 'obviously' back off the end of that sentence - not wanting to invite questions.
Bryony sipped her wine, wincing involuntarily at the sour taste of it. "Not yet," she said. "That is, I do do portraits, but I don't sell them, they're just for practice. And it's mostly me asking if people mind if I sketch them, rather than people requesting things from me." She had her sketchbook with her, as she always did, but she didn't say so.