>>7614211
>the dusted back texture looks so cool
It's the brushes doing most of the work. Smooth Pencil and Diffuser Smudge brushes from Lane's Master Pack if anyone was curious.

>>7615140
Any particular proportional mistakes in particular? It's hard to notice them until someone points them out. When the reference has non-ideal proportions, do you idealize them?
You're right about the cross-contours. I've been using too many 2D shapes and blocking in flat values of tone to save time. But that flattens out the forms.
Tried to make the lines wrap around the form more in these ones. Is this what you meant? I gotta practice this more, hard to get them to wrap around properly.

>>7615704
Finding a nice sketching brush helped me get used to doing it on digital. Also LoveLifeDrawing has free photo refs that have easier poses.