I loved Tamora Pierce's "Tortall" and "Circle of Magic" books, growing up, and Alanna: The First Adventure is the first of them that I read (fittingly titled, as it turns out). It's the first place my mind went when I saw this challenge.

Do you have any advice about how to study a range of fundamentals? I’m self-teaching, and I know that I need to work on figure drawing (for example). Would it be a bad idea to also work on painting or color and light as I’m working on more basic drawing skills?