What a great compliment! Thanks! I free-hand sketched it, then painted over the sketch. Sometimes I'll look at pictures for reference, but, created this one from imagination only. I didn't scan it, just photographed it with a basic camera. It actually took me a while to figure out I could get a clear shot by using a basic $20 camera-stand.
I usually take about 3 or 4 photos and compare them up-close to chose the best one, since there's still some slight movement in pressing the camera button while it sits in the stand (I really don't have the best camera for this). The painting itself took about 2-3 hours. Thanks so much!