well, i have had my deviantart account for 5 years, I've been drawing longer; however, I do not draw often enough to get good quickly. This progression has been very slow, I have been busy working and going to university.
I spend a lot of time researching before I draw, I blame that 6 years of post-secondary. I have a big reference section on my harddrive to archive a bunch of stuff that I look at when I'm not sure how something could look (like folding on clothes, metal texture, hair, eyes, etc.). It is also very categorized to make it easy to follow. If only I spent that time drawing instead of researching and organizing!