I have found OpenGL 4.5/4.6 to be a sweet spot for students currently learning graphics in a semester course. SDL_GPU is otherwise a good intermediate I would consider.
I remember for myself: learning a new API (opengl), new paradigm (gpu programming), and new language(glsl) all on top of learning graphics concepts is a lot. OpenGL 4.5 and 4.6 are modern enough to get started and there are good resources to learn the 3.3+ stuff that I have built on.
See my website(mshah.io) for my paper on some of the 'why'.
I remember for myself: learning a new API (opengl), new paradigm (gpu programming), and new language(glsl) all on top of learning graphics concepts is a lot. OpenGL 4.5 and 4.6 are modern enough to get started and there are good resources to learn the 3.3+ stuff that I have built on.
See my website(mshah.io) for my paper on some of the 'why'.