/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

Im kind of at a loss with this "hussar" I was trying to draw (mostly from memory). The initial figure sketch looked so promising, but it just turned out to be such an ugly fucking disaster.

(I know some of the initial sketch is erased, and I did that by accident after it was finished and I moved on to the next step)

This stuff happens a lot with me, and I dont know what the next step to improve should be. What should I read? What do I need to practice? It just seems like im going nowhere and it really blows. The face I tried to put on this thing was just as abysmal. I just dont feel like im getting anywhere at all. am I simply fucked?