/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

Fell of the treadmill, now back at it again. Following along in Bridgmans Complete Guide to Drawing From Life.

I read the text and then spend quite a bit of time tracing with my finger/mind and thinking about why he placed the lines the way he did in the many included illustrations. I assume that's about how to go about following along these books that are heavier on illustrations than text. My question is if the pic related is too little "pen to paper" practice when doing a first pass through the material? Do most people try to copy and internalize a majority of the drawings, or do they cherry-pick those that seem extra useful - like I've done so far?