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Douglas, I have drawn portraits for a living for thirty years. I really love it. But when I paint a very serious oil, I will trace or transfer for the layout. Nothing wrong with that. However, the art of drawing is a dying art, I feel, in today's world. No one knows how to draw, not even the professors of art. I was trained as a child in a children's art school. We learned classic techniques of drawing. However, my teacher, (my grandfather) could not sit down and draw from life. He was too much illustrator, drawing out of his imaginmation, to be a live portrait artist. He used the grid method for painting serious oils, which worked splendidly for him. And he was a master in the art of pencil drawing.
I do not say that everyone has to be able to draw. But, my painting was very much improved after a year or two of drawing every day, all day!!! Still, I will trace for a tight oil, because I cannot trust my trained eye enough. It lets me down a bit.
I met a man who trained in Italy who was not allowed to do anything for the first year but copy drawings of the masters, line for line!!!!! It drove him crazy. But, he learned the value of the classic styles of line work, shading and technique. It is the "boot camp," as you said it. I highly recommend it. It is something that can be learned. But there are no short cuts, if you want to master drawing. It is time and experience.
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