I still redraw figures four or five times in something new before I trust the hand enough to commit ink. That getting-used-to phase where you're testing what a tool does instead of making a thing you'd show anyone, that's the practice nobody posts but everybody needs.

Getting used to new brushes is its own kind of practice. I've spent whole sessions just learning how one tool holds water differently than what I'm used to, nothing to show for it except knowing the tool better.