Looking good so far mate! A few pointers on the gestures, I think you are focusing too much on construction while doing these, while construction is super useful, when you are doing gestures you should focus on just the motions for the most part.
There is no one way to do this, and Marc recommends starting with a line of action, if the line is straight, you will have a rather static pose, the more you curve the more force or action on the pose, the more it is at an angle, the more dynamic or out of balance (think falling down, or with the use of the legs, running or jumping etc) After your line of action, try making the rest of the body by being mindful of using specific lines or marks, many refer to em as CSI (C curves, S curves and straights), simplify the contours to those three lines and just try to feel the flow of the pose, after you get a good gesture, construction can go on top and you will get a more dynamic figure in the end, but if you start with construction and no gestures you may tend towards more static seeming figures. Nothing wrong with either, just something I note on this exercise to get the most benefit outta it
cheers