Hello Glen, I don’t believe it is a wax on/wax off kind of thing. Yes the fundamentals are so so important, and you should always practice them, but only practicing and focusing on the abstract concepts like gesture and drawabox can be a waste of time if not paired with other things. I believe abstraction is most affective when mixed with something more concrete. Practicing and rendering an image will help you go back to the fundamentals with a fresh eye. I’ll give you an example, my fascination with animation has taught me the importance of gesture and exaggeration by seeing it applied in the real world. And practicing shading has taught me there is no substitute for good proportion and form no matter how good the illusion of light is. My advice is not to focus too much on what you want your finished drawing to look like, this will hinder you because you will fail and get frustrated easily. Focus instead on your process: The approach, techniques and workflow you apply to a drawing. Practice them until they becomes second nature. Having a good process is the key rendering something in your mind accurately. Learn about light and shading, read about art history, look at art from masters and their process, and most importantly: draw, draw and draw! Copy art from other artists who are slightly above your level instead of the masters who are too advance. Buy sketchbooks that are meant only for you, this can help you let go of the idea of “neatness” and draw without fear. Draw the world around you starting with the simplest objects in your house, or copy quick sketches of faces and bodies. It is a slow process, but a very fun one if you remember to draw without fear. It is better to draw something you’re not happy with, then to avoid drawing because of it. You can always learn and try again from a bad drawing. Nothing good comes from avoiding to draw. Unfortunately you will get frustrated and discouraged at times, it is the nature of art and of drawing, the eternal process of trying to put what is in our minds out in the world. But by letting go of expectations and learning to love the process of drawing, you’ll improve and have fun doing it. I hope this has been helpful!