Heya, just got back home, so slowly catching up with everything online!
From my end I can without doubt say my work has improved as I've gone through anatomy classes. Just knowing what you are looking at in a reference helps you structure it in your drawing and when constructing a character knowing the main parts, and including them helps the overall work look better even if there are still gaps and refinement to be done.
I frequently do a few comparisons against myself to appreciate just how far we've come as we've moved through the different lessons.
Here's a quick comparison which works since it's the same character through the years of learning drawing.
![](https://d1s0ws440m13mk.cloudfront.net/original/4X/e/0/2/e02c0207838eed2b802558add22f88381830688d.png)
Worth noting the first one was pretty much done with no references, as of 2022 I started using references more, but even within using these, as I understood anatomy better, I was able to give the overally parts better "form".
Another quick comparison with a different female character:
![](https://d1s0ws440m13mk.cloudfront.net/original/4X/a/8/5/a8584e1439a3856062e67de631431510d92de9db.png)
Lots of practice too of course. As you said, the struggle IS real. And even after all this time, I have a hard time working without references, but I've slowly made better use of them.
It's not all cherry of course. Many times I do work I'm just not satisifed with, recently I did a piece I didn't like as much as I couldn't help but notice the cracks. We are frequently our harshest critiques. It's really important to appreciate what we do even as we acknowledge what to improve.