>>2370194
Here's my take,

You're supposed to study the foundations of art in order for you to have a solid understanding on what you want to draw or paint. It gives you a nice workflow since you know how the theory works.

It's similar to the foundation of any structure. You must have a solid foundation in order for the structure to stand firmly. A weak foundation might make the the building collapse halfway during the construction or will have a sloppy product afterwards.

>>2370194
If that's all you're doing? Yes. Creativity, like all things, is something you need to work at. Think of it as a muscle; if you don't give it some work, it's going to atrophy. If you haven't used it at all, don't expect it to be strong.

No it won't hinder your creative ability it will just halt it's progression
However if you're really retarded and listen to far too much Feng Zhu you'll probably develop a less creative way of thinking

Does anybody have the progression image of someones drawing of General Ackbar where it goes from drawing with alot of character to boringly over rendered 3d looking concept art?

>>2370194
No, not really. But if all you do is study, you're at a much bigger risk of burning out. Make time to just draw freely, or draw personal work, alongside the studies. I know that may seem obvious to some, but others need to hear and most importantly do this.

While we're at it, can extensive gesture drawing and abstraction lead to symbol drawing? I've started making certain kinds of marks without even looking at the reference simply because I've made that same mark a thousand times without worrying about how accurately it describes the model. I can't stop doing it. Has gesture ruined me?