Game jams
Game Jams have really helped me gain experience, and rapidly develop references and assets in a short period of time. The latest Game Jam I was involved with was the GMTK jam 2021 over 48 hours, and while there’s always issues with what you want to achieve and what is accomplished, I always find the experiences fun.
My itch.io account where I do most of the jams is here: https://itch.io/profile/pieington