For me, a lot of this stuff only comes through trial and error. It's not ideal, but I think over time, both the trials and errors improve in quality. Basically

For me, a lot of this stuff only comes through trial and error. It's not ideal, but I think over time, both the trials and errors improve in quality. Basically as I work in the code, I see little things that could be easier or make the code clearer. Then sometimes I get ideas for big changes. Sometimes the changes make things worse, but that's why we have revision control right? I think the same goes for drawing. Just get something on paper and look for small changes. As you make changes, eventually you might see a larger change.