More Classroom Magic — Drawing

Tonight, it’s another musing on Magic, the Magic of drawing.

A skeptical person may say that drawing is a skill, or even a talent, and sure, I suppose they’re right.

But they’re not seeing what’s really important. There’s a special feeling when you let yourself draw. When you’re little, you’re creating something real with your crayons. You’re taking what only exists in your heart, and making it real on paper in the world.

We know that something breaks in us, though, at some point, for most people, our inner critic judges our drawing skill, a skill at some point cannot keep up with our expectations. We see reality, and our drawings don’t look enough like it. We see the drawings of the kids who love to draw, and we can’t do that. so many of us give up.

Let’s look at the kids who keep going for a moment. They hold Magic in their hearts. They have the Magic and the power of love, a love that says, “I know it’s not perfect, but I love it, and I’ll keep doing it because doing it and getting better is more fun than not doing it.” You could talk about vision here, you could talk about perseverance, you could talk about grit or growth mindset, and technically, you’d be right. But remember, Magic is often just the ability to do something that doesn’t make sense. Yes there are words to describe what you’re doing, but that love, that development of talent and skill, they don’t make sense. And it’s beautiful.

Let’s talk about how when you let yourself draw, and you don’t give up, people watching you, at some point, say, “Wow! How do you do that?” And yes, you know that there are certain movements that make things look right. As you become more experienced, you know that you don’t even need to be “that good” if you can master some little techniques that, when repeated, create the illusion of reality. Oops? What was that word? Yeah, illusion. Not only are you doing things that other people don’t understand, you’re creating an illusion out of nothing. Where have you heard that one before. That’s right, Magic!

Lastly, let’s talk about what happens when you show someone that you don’t need to make something look real. I mean, we’ve got cameras for goodness’ sake, why do we need to make it look real? When you give a person the permission to be imperfect with their drawing — and their doodles — you give them the ability to reconnect with creating Magic. And what does that do for them? If they let themselves draw as they’re learning, students retain information better than if they read about it, or even if they read about it and talk about it. When you draw as you learn, you’re creating what you’ve learned. You’re storing it in your mind, and your drawings are easier to access with a glance than notes, or than in scanning your texts to study. When you let yourself draw, that creation isn’t just the illusion of making something real. You’ve made it on paper, and you’ve made it in your heart.

Lastly, let’s talk about what happens when we share our drawings. Sharing drawings, initially, is an act of bravery. You’re saying to someone else, “I made something, this was inside me, judge me.” I mean, you’re not saying that in actual words, that would pretty strange, but that’s what you’re doing, you’re opening yourself up, you’re being vulnerable with your creation. That open heart is a special kind of Magic that sharing our drawings (and other creations) helps us to access. It’s a generous act. You’re sharing part of your heart with someone. There is so much exponential power, so much big stuff in the seemingly small here. When you share artwork with an open heart, you’re dealing with some pretty powerful Magic.

And sure, again, I’m sure you could go ahead and explain this all with psychological terms, and that would be instructive, but the Magic of it all is beautiful to me.

Magical Cat and Other Drawings on Avery Multi-Use Lables (5433)