I think consistency is more important than practicing for long hours. Some days things will naturally feel easier, while other days even basic exercises can feel frustrating. I try to focus on small improvements rather than expecting every session to show visible progress.

Hey Liza! I know what you mean. Recently, I've been struggling with those ups and downs myself. Let me see if I can offer some advice based on your questions. 1. As far as I know, there are two schools of thought for practice. There's the regimented school that treats practice and play as separate entities. As in, practicing here is a very serious endeavor that is treated like a job, so that the play is enhanced by it. Show up at 10:30 and draw for at least 30 minutes, move along with a structured curriculum, practice boring exercises, etc. until you're "good." Then go do your thing. Which is absolutely a valid way of progressing. Some people need this structure, or they'll never do the thing, you know? But it can feel a bit like, well, going to school or having another job. And some of us don't want a second job, or to go back to school. We want to have fun with our art and get better as we go along at the same time. That's natural enough. That's more of what I do, and I'm not sure what I would call it, but it's a school of a Bohemian nature, haha. I don't structure time to practice. I don't regiment the process. I just show up and draw. Every day, recently, but it can be every other day, or three times a week. At least for a few minutes once a week if nothing else. Not that it's not serious, though. It very much is. But I don't separate my practice and my play like a lot of scholastic methods go about it. To me, everything is practice. Everything is play. I choose projects. Set goals that I feel will challenge me and work towards them, using my choice of drawings as a means of progressing. So... I don't really sit down and "practice" linework for say an hour a day. I sit down to draw for an hour a day and with a goal in mind of working on my lines and letting a challenging drawing guide me with that skill. It may be a master study. It may be an original work with an emphasis on that goal. But I never get bored this way. And I don't really bother with exercises in this manner because of it. Although sometimes I would probably benefit from that, haha. There're trade-offs for each approach. 2. Repetition is absolutely one of the most key elements of learning. However, there is no reason to hammer a skill that feels stuck until you're sick of it. If you understand the concept well enough, or even if you don't, you don't need permission to move on. The way our brains learn the best (typically) is by actually doing both of what you describe. Work on one thing until you at least comprehend it, but move on if you're stuck, go learn something new, then come back to revisit those weak areas in a few days or more. It's something of a circular pattern. But you'll be shocked at how much deeper the learning becomes with this kind of spaced repetition. Our minds do wonderful things working in the background on problems we aren't consciously thinking of. 3. So, this is just up to you. You can either let your fundamental skill level dictate what you work on or let what you're working on dictate the fundamentals you practice. Either way is fine. There are no right or wrong answers in art. Just don't be afraid to go after something you really want to do, even if you think you might not be skilled enough to execute it to the level you want. I've learned just as much by going for it and failing than by carefully practicing skills then implementing them on an ambitious project. It depends on your personality, I guess. 4. Stubbornness mainly. And a spiteful, grotesque kind of love of misery haha. The combo of those two always keeps me coming back. And when I feel like I'm not getting better, or even backsliding, the mule in me decides that's even more motivation to keep going. You got to have a little bit of sickness inside you to love something as difficult and frustrating as getting good at art haha. I can only say you need to keep at it. Always, keep going. Because once you accept that the grind is the joy, you can achieve wonderful things. This is a skill that pretty much everybody wishes they could possess mastery of, but so very few actually have the guts to go after it. Be proud of what you're doing. It's probably one of the most difficult things a person can do, and you're choosing it voluntarily. That takes courage. You got this! Hope all that makes sense! Take care, good luck, and don't forget to have fun!