I think you did a fantastic job turning everything into boxes, I really like the bee. My only criticism is to watch the proportions/poses. They're pretty far off from the photographs in some. For example, if you look at the kitten photograph its paws are nearly touching, but in your drawing there is a very large gap between.

Good job taking on this difficult assignment, the human head in perspective is one of the most difficult things to draw, in my opinion. Line quality - I would suggest keeping all of your lines a bit lighter, you don't need to press down so hard or make such thick marks on the page. It looks a bit sloppy. You can use your eraser to clean up lines that get away from you (too thick; not quite in the right spot; etc.). Try not to have 'sketchy' or 'feathery' finished lines either (e.g., the top of #3's head). Whether or not your linework is exactly 'correct' anatomically, having a cleaner drawing will make it much more pleasing to the eye. Proportions - #1 and #5 have necks that are too thin, whereas #2-4 are too thick. Perhaps try practicing visual measuring techniques that you can use to double check your work. You can also size up the reference image and put your sketch over the top of your computer screen. Unless you're using incredibly thick paper, you should be able to see the enough of the original through your drawing to gauge how accurate it is. Perspective - I think you're also struggling with foreshortening. While you are getting the angles and shapes fairly accurate, all of the faces appear to have a weird, stretched out feeling to them. Our brains have a natural tendency to 'flatten' poses out, whether perspective or gesture drawing. This means that we have an innate tendency to try and draw anything in a normal or neutral pose, hence the subconscious stretching of faces when we try to draw at extreme angles (trying to make them closer to a size our brain knows is 'normal'). One thing you can do to combat this, and to practice exaggeration, is to intentionally exaggerate the foreshortening much more than is realistic. For example, if a pose is from below so someone's feet look larger than their head, you'd exaggerate by giving them GIANT feet and a head the size of a speck. It can be good practice just to get you seeing and thinking about foreshortening better. I hope this helps! Keep practicing and you'll get better every day :)

Yo I have ADHD too, so when I'm serious about something I put an alarm on my phone and write notes (such as to-do lists) so I don't forget what I was doing even if I keep getting distracted. A low carb diet (e.g., limit sugary foods like candy and soda) and regular exercise really help keep the head clear as well :)

Repetition is the key to success (with drawing, anyway). I usually have to do the assignments more than once too. Sometimes I go ahead and then come back to old assignments because I get too frustrated by being stuck on the same one for a long time. Trying it by yourself; then looking at the video or reference for the answers, following along or tracing, etc, to make a correct version; and then trying it again by yourself to test what you remember is generally a recommended approach to learning how to do imaginative drawing (because you're trying to memorize things). Same goes for drawing chickens, motorcycles, or vases too.

I feel exhausted and struggle to sit through a few hour drawing session as well. Take a break, get up and do some chores, make a snack, go for a walk, do some yoga, etc. It's also like any other form of endurance: your body will get stronger and used to it over time (even though you think it's just your brain and arm, how can it be that hard? It really is the same as a strength building routine - I say this as someone who works out and draws/paints haha). If you're using a regular writing pencil, there is a limit to how dark those go. You can come in and emphasize the darkest regions with a ballpoint pen or marker (ballpoint pen is going to give you more ability for shading than a black marker which is going to only give you a flat black tone). I noticed that the eyes seem too wide open, and maybe a bit big, in all of these. I think that is our brain's natural tendency to 'normalize' or 'iconize' things. E.g., our brains subconsciously like to think of an eye as an icon of an eye, so when you draw one you may think about what you're drawing more than observing the actual abstract shapes. Try not to think of an eye (or any body part) as that body part, instead focus on the abstract shapes and angles that they form. I resized & traced over the photograph to give you a comparison.

I had the same problem when I started learning gesture too (taking 2-5 minutes on a simple 'stick figure'), but it's worth it to take your time, and I think it paid off. It looks like you captured the gesture nicely in these. As you practice more it will become second nature because your eye will learn to spot the gesture instantly, so you'll get faster. I think it's important to take your time and understand what you're looking for when you start out. The timer can be a distraction and cause too much anxiety for someone who's new to the concept. I was stuck in a rut where I couldn't learn it until I took the timer off completely and just focused on finding gesture and learning what it is!! I do see some proportional issues, but the gesture looks good to me (you can exaggerate the poses more if you'd like). The first one has legs that look too long for her torso, and some of the others the heads are too big, but proportions aren't the primary goal in gesture sketching, and as you study anatomy and draw more you'll get that stuff down. I like to compare the size of different body parts such as seeing if the thigh is as long as the torso or one and a half heads fitting in a rib-cage (or whatever it may be).

I think it's perfectly fine to use paint for something like this! Before you dive in to photoshop, which is really pricey, have you considered free software such as Krita, FireAlpaca, Paint.NET, or GIMP? Krita is the best all-around, in my opinion, and Paint.NET is the most lightweight and simple. GIMP can be kind of technical and confusing, so I don't like to use it. FireAlpaca is pretty fun and easy to use, but didn't have as many features as Krita the last time I used it. Clip Studio Paint and PaintToolSAI are my favorite paid photoshop alternatives, each is around $50 USD if I recall correctly. I use SAI the most out of all these programs. Autodesk also offers some free drawing programs I use frequently. There's a Sketchbook app and full pc version.

Awesome practice! I think your figures and shapes just look a little stiff. Maybe try introducing more angles, or exaggerating what angles, swoops, and swirls you are already using/seeing. I think the cafe sketches look the best (most expressive and lively) out of the bunch.

Great start! My advice is try to draw much lighter next time (e.g. don't press as hard when you draw), these are supposed to be quick and loose. Also don't use so many lines to get a contour down - sometimes it's good practice to limit yourself to 5-10 lines per sketch. Keep practicing and you will see tremendous improvement, especially if you have time to practice every day :) PS: I recommend placing the artwork on the floor or a desk/table during midday. I use the edges of my phone's camera window and the edges of my paper to line it up so it is not crooked (or as little as possible), and daytime sunlight is the best lighting you can get for taking a photo of your artwork. As long as the light source (eg window) is in front of you (you're facing it) your shadow shouldn't obscure your work either. This will make it much clearer and improve how it looks.