You got the concept of this lesson! Nice attention to detail with the grid paper following the perspective line as well. I did notice that in the second drawing, it looks like the cabinets on either side of the room are outside of the lines that you made to define the floor. You have good bones to start adding detail here. Think about ways you could add character to these scenes. Maybe the one with the grid paper is the office of a disorganized architect. Have fun with it!

Hard to say. I try to keep things as simple as possible and very step by step. It's a challenging subject though.

When starting out with these for the first time, spending more than 5 minutes is definitely okay, and even encouraged. It helps to spend the time working out how each part of the body relates to one another, and going through this process is key to eventually cutting down on the time. Already, you can see that there's a lot of good simplification in your drawings as you reduce the figure to the essential lines. When it comes to the foot, if you continue thinking about the foot as a simple wedge shape, you can connect it to the energy flowing in from the leg. The heel, which can be a simple square end, also serves as a good landmark to indicate the ground plane and the foot's direction. When it comes to demos, I think there's a lot of value in following along with them as it helps engrain the process into your hand, as art is much more about practice than theoretical knowledge. That said, everyone learns differently and if you find it frustrating, give it a try solely watching first then doing the assignment on your own -- as long as you're still practicing the assignment, the lessons should still effective as training. Hope this helps!

When Stan said that gesture is not contour, he is really trying to encourage you to use sketchy lines and find the movement of the drawing, which you have done well in your drawings! If you continue on with this assignment, try to shift your focus from copying the contour lines, to finding the energy in the shapes first, and then using long, controlled strokes to design them. Good luck :)

It looks like you’re getting it. I like the drawing before you added the eyes I think. The proportions look great. Sometimes it’s ok to walk away if it feels too frustrating. It’s ok to draw slow. You don’t want to draw faster than your thoughts and when you’re new, you might be slow. But just like with anything else, it gets faster and easier with some practice. You could compare it to weightlifting. Something that seems too heavy now, can feel like nothing in a few months if you work out regularly. Keep it up! I think you’re doing just fine.

These are lovely drawings. Don’t be afraid to make darker marks sometimes too.