/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

Okay /ic/ this is my second time posting in the whole board after months of lurking. I'm tired of basically nonexistent progress and it's about time I started taking myself and my art more seriously so I'll ask a few questions because I know where I wanna get to, but definitely not how to get there.

1) I have a Staedtler Liquid Point 7 type pen, and I'm trying to create all sorts of strokes with it, but it doesn't seem to be working. When I press harder, or when I stroke more slowly, the ink leaves itself more heavily, but just barely. Is this supposed to be normal, did I get a "bad" pen, or is my technique simply going about the wrong interpretation of how different stroke densities function?

2) (I'm not asking how to, but rather) how do YOU make figure drawings? I want to understand how others try it so maybe I can open up a little more on how this works.

Pic more or less related