Artwork and story from C.nick

A Self-taught Art Teacher’s Dilemma

I’m C.nick, I’m in my 20s and just this year I got a job teaching art. I’m very excited that I get to do what I love and share that love and excitement with others.

But one of my challenges is that I’m mostly self-taught and I feel that I, like a lot of other self-taught artists, do good work when I have a ton of references but lack a strong foundation. Particularly with the human body. It’s like I can draw body parts, such as the feet and hands, well enough by themselves, but can’t quite put together the puzzle that is the human body.

Where this leads to as a teacher is I either avoid demonstrating the skills altogether, relying on telling them to students, or I demonstrate them to a substandard level. Making the students lack confidence in their work because I’m unconfident in mine.

I’ve heard great things about the Drawing Academy and I’ve been following the newsletter, seeing the improvements people have made has been very inspiring. I would love to win so that I can improve my own art and be better equipped as an art teacher.

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