A Course in Drawing the Natural World

I am taking a MOOC with Newcastle University in Australia.  What is a MOOC?  A Massive Open Online Course.  The course is to teach accurate drawing of nature: plants, animals, insects, rocks, etc.  According to a podcast the BBC produced about this MOOC, it is the first of its kind for an artistic subject.  There are about 12000 students. Overwhelming.  However, I've found a Facebook group with only about 350 people in it and it is easier to share and engage with this smaller group.  Here are some of the exercises/assignments for the first four weeks.

There's  a lot of emphasis on keeping a field journal and painting while observing specimens. I don't plan to do much of this.  I sort of buy the value of working from the actual item, but as I am not doing this for science I think I'll just take a picture and work from that.  The flower I picked while in Florida at Bud and Pat's was wilted before I had got my beer and settled in to draw it.

But if it makes me more observant, it should also make me a better artist.

PS.  To get permission to cut a piece off this Cassia Pat introduced me to the homeowner saying that I am an artist.  I didn't correct her, but it still doesn't sound true.