I
've been teaching drawing classes online for a little over a year now. This is one of those things where you don't realize how much you know about something until you're getting ready to tell someone else about it. I've been in the mindset that I was pretty good at drawing, but nothing like truly knowledgeable or professional, for a very long time. In this mindset, teaching was going to be a struggle, as I worried that I wouldn't have enough to give to my students, and that I would just be bullshitting for a while, hoping they didn't catch on. It took me a bit to find my stride, but now it's kind of crazy how much I can just talk about the craft of drawing. I go in, start critiquing my students' work, and am able to just monologue in a way that even I find surprising for extended periods of time, in ways that my students at least seem to find helpful. Certainly, I can see improvement in what they're doing.
Some things just sneak up on you. I've been drawing for such a long time, that it just became background noise. I forgot that I was teaching myself something difficult, and imbibing knowledge that others might find valuable. I'm by no means a perfect artist, and in the realm of color and painting I'm still woefully inadequate -- but I'm actually pretty damn good at drawing, at understanding perspective and posing, and good at telling people how to improve at these things. I'm okay at composition and design, tolerable at anatomy and shading; but it turns out, this skill set is enough. I'm good enough to teach, and what's more, teaching is making me better at art. Having to think things through, and be clear about what's most important, is itself teaching me how to solidify my fundamentals, and continue improving. It's been quite the experience. I just wish scheduling wasn't so damn annoying...