These should be quick studies and should be thought of as paths not destinations. Now you can study the completed designs and begin to plan the final painting. Subject matter pulled from the Internet, books, and TV can give you the opportunity to make a statement about things that are happening far beyond your own limited visual plane. You may also be exposed to feelings more deeply emotional than are readily available in your everyday experience. The best way to find your own personal style of painting is to quit looking for it.
Technique is learned behavior but style comes naturally.
If you don't like the way you're painting now, make some changes, even if they are wrong. The other people are probably doing something else the way they think other people want them to do whatever it is. Most people are much more interested in their own projects than they are in yours, and that's a good thing because it lets you off the hook. You can now paint the way you want. There are very few areas in you life that permit you to do exactly as you please.