Courses – basic requirements

I recently decided to treat myself to a course in botanical drawing. I have been drawing and painting plants for many years, but just like work, updating one’s  hobby skills is never a waste of time. I had two aims in attending the course – learning new techniques, and meeting others who live locally and who share an interest in the art.
I was disappointed in the day although it was a pleasant enough time. Analysing just what was missing I realised that it were the basic course requirements.
We were not introduced to each other, nor asked for the information.
There was no real teaching or imparting of information of techniques, we were recommended to buy a good book and learn from that.
Which is excellent advice – but a practical demonstration is invaluable.
On the bonus side, it rekindled my interest in the literature dealing with botanical illustration – there are some beautiful examples, many of them brought to the course by the instructor, so overall it was a nice day.