In my recent dive into the "basics" of figure drawing, I've discovered two things so far that I'd like to share. One, the "basics" can sometimes be the most esoteric, abstract, and introspective portion of the whole drawing process. Something I was not expecting, but in hindsight makes sense. So to you beginners out there in this stage: don't despair! The rule of simplicity not necessarily meaning something is easy is completely true in this case. You starting with the "basics" are actually starting with some of the hardest concepts in all of art. Stick with it, and you can do anything! The "real" stuff will be easy compared to this. If learning to draw can be compared to learning a language, then basic lines are the words we might find in our translation dictionary. Lines by themselves are easy because they can be equaled to one another. They lend themselves to comparison, to logic. Lines are practical. This line is accurate or not, or it's misplaced, or too light, too dark, compared to our reference or teacher's demo... Whatever. But it's the arrangement of these words of art via things like gesture and value and line weight and shapes; all those "basic" concepts are like learning the grammar/sentence structure. It's the abstract part of it that is required to actually converse. Nothing practical to be found! You just have to learn how to make sentences that make sense. And it requires reframing your mind. A word may more or less equal another word in two different languages in isolation, but in the context of a sentence, that word may totally change its meaning. This is the nuance of drawing fundamentals. Our comprehension of these topics relies on our ability to accept thinking that isn't logical, but is much deeper. Anyone who has learned a second language knows that you can't really speak fluently until you can start thinking in it. And that's what this stuff is. Anyone can look up one word in the dictionary and find the equivalent in another language. They can communicate, sure. But you cannot truly understand, cannot express yourself, until you can put those words into a greater context of speaking (sentences). This is the value of learning these pesky "basics!" You must understand them if you are to fully express your art. The other thing I've learned is that spending at least a couple weeks really hammering a single field of study (especially one you consider yourself weak in) can do wonders. I've done nothing but quicksketch/gesture/timed figure drawings for a good while now and it's been super informative. I've left an example of a rather successful recent 5 min. quicksketch figure I did as proof of my improvement. Still plenty of rough stuff, but the good ones seem to be getting better and coming out more frequently. Thanks for all the tips there, everyone! So, I'm continuing my study by moving past the gesture/quicksketch phase and more into the block-in phase. This is something I'm more comfortable with, so I probably won't spend so much time here. A few drawings should suffice. My focus will be accuracy, in particular with as broad/simple shapes as possible. If my first few lines don't look like what I'm referencing already, without anything else, then I've done it wrong. This is called "the envelope" for those who have studied sight-size, Bargue, etc. I plan on doing a fully rendered study of this Edgar Degas drawing soon, but for now I've tried to get my block-in as accurate as possible as a dedicated exercise. There are a few mistakes I see that need fixing, but I can do that as I go. Thank you for reading my ramblings. Maybe they can be helpful to someone else out there. Find peace with "the basics" dun dun duuunnnnnnnn and you can find peace in any aspect of art.