Though I'm new to retouching, I can see how having a little bit of an art backround will help me out here; especially where there isn't much of a clue as to how to continue the human form in areas that can barely be seen.

Drawing really was a severe slap across the visual sensitivities.

I'd highly recommend it!

You're right, it does become necessary at times to do some actual drawing in restorations but I try to avoid it as much as possible because no matter how well you draw it will tend to look drawn if there is too much of it in the image. I try to find body parts from other images where I can mostly and keep the drawing to a minimum. Unless, that's the technique I'm going for of course.
DJ

Depending on what needs enhanced, you can sometimes mask the faded area, copy it to a new layer, use multiply blend mode and tweak the opacity to bring out more of the faded details. Also, if you do draw in a missing portion, doing it on a new layer then using the blending and opacity controls can help soften the artificial look... as can adding variable amounts of noise or noise/blur...Just some thoughts.. good luck Tom