" you shouldn’t t copy the shapes or you shouldn’t just copy the reference" = don't copy a reference object by drawing flat shapes, but understand the forms to recreate a 3 dimensional world on a flat surface

You might feel like your learning has come to a halt, but I suspect you've just reached a plateau. If you make it through this, you'll level up. Just keep going. You CAN copy the reference. Many artists do, especially when starting out. If your reference is good, you can make pretty good art that way. However, if you only train that way, it's all you'll be able to do. You won't be able to construct figures or modify references in a believable way unless you understand 3d form. Beginners copy, masters ANALYZE. Convert what you're seeing into 3d shapes and understand what you're looking at in simple terms. It is a hard skill to develop, and it takes time. Accuracy is...alright. It's good to be able to copy something exactly. If you are content with copying, that's 100% okay if it brings you joy. One question to consider: how often are you called upon to copy something exactly? When you go out and paint a landscape for an hour, you don't have time to put down every detail. When you paint a portrait and the person's hair is a really uninteresting shape that creates a weird tangent, it would be better to change it. If a figure pose is stiff, you might want to exaggerate it. What about if you need to draw a dragon? There are no photos of dragons to copy, unless you plagiarize. Not everything you see is equally important and often your reference won't be perfect. Really good artists are not blindly copying every little detail. They simplify and prioritize. They understand things simply. The beginner sees a tree and sees the leaves, and starts by drawing them one at a time. The master sees a tree and sees the big, simple shapes. What it means to study anatomy is that you are learning how the human body is put together, like a machine. A car mechanic needs to know about all the parts of a car so he can properly fix it. He can take it apart and put it back together. Anatomy allows you to do the same thing with the human body. When you know anatomy you actually begin to see it on the human figure, and then you can accentuate it. If you don't know the muscles of the back, you won't see them properly. You'll just see a bunch of lumps and bumps, even if you're looking right at it. Knowing anatomy allows you to organize all that chaos and understand it. "Oh that's the border of the scapula....I'll add a little curve so it really feels like it's wrapping around the back." Feel free to message me if you have any questions or need any suggestions on learning resources.