You'll want to follow people in the industry as well (I've found Nate's blog in particular an enjoyable read). A lot of the practical knowledge accumulates in the brains of the guys who actually get hired to do crypto work. It's an interesting feedback loop to be sure.

Also, it's my impression that start of the art papers aren't really necessary to start off with. The implementation errors people make in their code are flaws that have long been published, sometimes for decades.