Friday, May 4, 2018

Drawing is Seeing - Draw First


Sketch
Photo by Amy LV




Students - Throughout this spring, I have been fortunate to spend time drawing and writing with young people.  I have read and heard that to truly see something, a person must slow down.  I have learned that by drawing an object, you come to understand it in a new way. I discovered this again this spring.

When you draw something, in a way, you become this thing.  I adore John Moffitt's poem To Look at Any Thing, a poem about becoming, about slowing down.

If you wish to get to know an object, try drawing it first. Then write.  Visit The Private Eye, one of my favorite learning sites, to discover more.

In other pinecone news, we just lost a very tall spruce at The Poem Farm.  It broke and Mark cut it and then it fell.  

Fallen Spruce
Photo by Amy LV

Now I am harvesting pinecones.  Many to smell, many to draw, many to use for crafts.  If you have any fabulous pinecone craft ideas, please leave them in the comments. I want to make pinecone goodnesses WITH MY HANDS.

Over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, I could not feel more fortunate to host the sixth grade notebookers of Michelle Haseltine's class for the first ever notebooks blog takeover!  Every single day of May, a new student or pair or group of students will share tips and ideas for notebooking.  Please stop by for inspiration and writing ideas!  And leave a comment.  Someone will win a cool new notebook each Friday!

Brenda is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup at Friendly Fairy Tales.  Each week we gather together, sharing poems, books, and poetry ideas all at one blog.  All are always welcome to visit, comment, and post!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

17 comments:

  1. Lovely poem & drawing. I paint on the side, and you are so right: drawing is seeing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your poem, Amy, and the sketch, too. I have used Moffat's poem, too. As for cones, if you have a chance to collect fir cones, too, you will like this story, one I've used with my class: https://www.wnps.org/education/resources/documents/K-5_Q&E/2nd_grade/2-2b.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such a rich blog post Amy, I love your sketch of the pinecone, it drew me to your post! The poem is lovely – with so much truth within the lines I'm sorry about your tree, I was at a workshop at our Chicago Botanic Gardens and we made little houses out of parts of trees, I think pinecones are also lovely just to look at on their own. Thanks also for the link to John Moffitt and that fascinating blog, and your notebook blog. You've offered us a visual cornucopia in a very small space!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely poem, Amy -- a simple, yet profound revelation in a small space. Sorry about the spruce!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aw - we lost two pine trees from beetle infestation at our old house, so I know it's a little heartbreak, isn't it? We saved baskets and baskets of pinecones when it was cut down, but I regret to tell you we did nothing more interesting with them than make Christmas trees, cinnamon-scented hangings for the door, and tree ornaments with them painted with metallic paint. None of them are terribly unusual, but the smell was lovely. ☺

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the time features in your poem. Harvesting a pinecone and watching it breathe is incredible. On cold rainy days it tightens itself to stay warm and on sunny warm days it opens and raises its' arms to the glorious warmth and light. Fascinating to watch!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! I love reading Michelle's comment above. She came to mind when I read your poem because she is such an artist and poet too. I wonder what I can find to draw with words today?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Proof that inspiration can be found all around us, even in the most seemingly humble of places!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm interested in this drawing/writing connection. Years ago My teaching partner and I collected a large collection of twigs with buds on them. Each student had their own twig that they had to observe, draw, and make notes about what they saw. The most remarkable thing was both how focused they were and how much more detailed these drawings became over time. They became acutely aware of the smallest change. I only wish now that we had written poetry to go with them. We never repeated this because many of those buds released pollen into the confined spaces of our classrooms....

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your poem inspires me to try sketching--something I never do! I love the recognition that slowing down helps us to see the beauty in things, and I can see why you adore John Moffitt's poem. I've already printed it out to add to my notebook. I'm so sorry about your tree, but how wonderful that you're creating things of beauty from its many divine pine cones.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I was surprised to come to your site and find out the Orion poems were gone. We had been playing catch up this week. We did the final poem on Wednesday and poof! Thursday, they were gone. I hope you can make them into a book, so I can have them back in that way.
    Drawing is a way of seeing. I learned about contour drawing years ago and go back to it from time to time. Your poem, like many of your poems, invites us in to your world of creating. I am loving With my Hands and so are my kiddos. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Pinecones show us interesting math, too, as they spiral or tile.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes yes yes - I don't really know what something looks like until I draw it. :0) Yay for you all for letting the fallen spruce continue to grace the world in new ways, and thanks for all the links.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I remember sketching horses by memory, and then realizing parts that I wasn't sure of in proportion or angle. Such an eye-opener to then go and look up close with the intention of remembering for later sketching. It does give you that extra insight. It really would be a good thing to pick up again.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great reminder.

    Too bad about the tree!

    ReplyDelete
  16. So nice to stop and sketch a pinecone. :) There is a loving feel to the lines that resonate with me deeply.

    ReplyDelete
  17. So much power in writing through drawing! I’m currently experiencing the benefits of it firsthand with a group of 5th-grade students. What a great connection this post will be for them!

    ReplyDelete