I really appreciate what you're saying here about "just" drawing the box men. You mention that it's a common exercise but when I search online about it, I can't seem to come up with any other instruction about this type of exercise. The reason I'm asking is that I feel like I need a bit more foundation to understand how to make a "box man". I'm really struggling here. Can anyone point me in a good direction?

I find myself struggling with gestures (getting them in the "right" place for correct proportions) and my figures always look strange. I have watched quite a few videos/classes - yours and others - thinking that if I keep learning it might click. Now I'm thinking maybe I need to be practicing more on my own - just trying to draw figures from references for a few days instead of just trying to "actively learn" Does anyone have experience with this kind of thing or thoughts? I might be too academically minded for my own good and skipping over the practice in favour of lessons.

Just got your class a an early Christmas present. What would be the best way to approach your class? Do you recommend using pen or pencil in my sketchbook? Thank you for keeping the cost manageable.

I'm relatively new to sketching but have been trying to tackle figure drawing for a few months to middling results. I'm excited for this course because I find your book to be the best that I've come across!