Fedodika the Koala

[Amit Dutta]

Glad to see you focusing on some fundamental stuff.

I want to address a misunderstanding you seem to have about the point that we all mostly seem to be making about applying study to "imagination" work.
You said " I, on the otherhand, have for the past four years pretty much only done painted studies or characters from imagination; heeding very closely to their advice."

I can't speak for others, but that has never been my advice, so I apologise if I wasn't clear enough.
My advice has always been the practical testing of your study learnings regularly.

study-practical application-analysis-adjust > study-practical application-analysis-adjust

Each iteration is one complete "learning cycle" if you like.

A learning cycle is completed in the application of a period of study to a practical situation, and then checking to see where the sticking points are. You then grease the groove with study again or move ahead depending on what your measures of success are and how you gauge you performed against them.

What is personal and flexible are the measures you use to test success, and what the period between these stages is.
AJ said somewhere 20 minutes, study to practical application according to neo.
I think it totally depends what level of study you are at and the subject matter. I think a week of study and then applying is probably fine on the longest end of the scale, but the practical application and analysis should come as shortly after your period of study as possible to get the best results.
I personally would err on the side of more frequent periods of practical testing of the study focus, again dependent on what the specific skill you are learning is.

Now I NEVER started this way, and in fact only realised the power of this learning cycle when I was already nearing the skill to be able to freelance. This is highly useful if speed of improvement and efficiency of learning is the goal. Wish someone told me this when I started. Up to you how you decide to apply this info.