stripes

I think this is something a lot of artists experience. Your technical and observational skills will develop at varying rates so, at times, you'll be able to recognise more issues with your work than you can really deal with. This doesn't persist forever, as long as you keep working. I think you just need to power through, holding close the knowledge that you are improving, even if you can't see that immediately. Even if you dislike a drawing and trash it, you've still learned something from creating it, which will influence your next drawing :) I definitely feel similarly frustrated at times, and it helps to remind myself to keep a long-term perspective. Make sure you don't skimp on the 50% rule, since your ability to create the drawings you want to create won't improve significantly through just homework exercises!

You can definitely use reference in your own recreational drawing :)

As I see it, a warmup serves two purposes: It gets you ready to draw at your fullest ability, literally warming up your drawing muscles, and it keeps certain techniques/ideas fresh in your mind. Both of those purposes have utility as soon as you've completed at least one exercise, so I think that's when you should start doing warmups :) I start each day's drawing with a timed 15 minute warmup, and I think my following exercises are definitely of a better quality than they would be if I started them without warming up first! Since the warmups aren't assessed anywhere, there aren't any formal requirements for them, but I think it makes the most sense to warmup with whatever medium you're going to be using, which, in the case of the lessons, of course, is your fineliner :)

I've been spending 40-60 minutes doing one page of 4-6 boxes in one sitting, twice per day, broken up by equivalent periods of recreational drawing to satisfy the 50% rule, so I don't think what you're feeling is unusual at all! I don't think the challenge should take much less than at least a month to complete, and trying to finish it sooner just deprives you of all the valuable learning your brain performs subconsciously while you sleep, in between days of drawing boxes :)

Thank you! I'll be sure to incorporate all of that feedback :)