Anna rushed into the house, shouting for joy. She had discovered a nature specimen in the same spot where she found one last week. It was under a large coil of plastic drainage pipe lying near the garage. The older kids and I hurried outside to observe her treasure. Resting in the cool shadow of the pipe was an American toad. I gingerly picked up the little guy with two fingers and carried him into the house.
Anna’s enthusiasm prompted the older kids and I to gather around the living room table to draw. I got out a new set of Derwent watercolor pencils that I had recently purchased off EBay (Anna misplaced most of my other set). We had all the right colors: olive green, golden brown, brown ochre, copper beech, and terracotta. Derwent watercolor pencils are very soft to work with and we often use them dry. I held the toad extended in the middle of the table, and we began sketching. For the most part it stayed still enough for us to try some decent quick sketches, although Eric kept getting the rear view. When Anna came into the living room and saw what we were doing, she exclaimed, “Oh, you’re drawing the toad.” Promptly, she pulled up a chair to join us and the comments began to fly.
Anna’s Toad, age 8
“I think I’m drawing a fish,” Anna said.
“I can’t get the shape right,” Elizabeth said.
“There is no shape, it’s a blob,” Eric replied.
“I like bulgy toads,” Anna said. “It’s greenish, brownish, and bumpish.” I chuckled to myself. Only an eight-year-old would think of saying something like that.
Elizabeth’s Toad, age 12
We traded holding the toad and drawing it for a while, but everyone was struggling with its shape. I suggested that we try doing some blind contour drawing. Blind contour drawing is an exercise where you look only at your subject instead of your paper, while drawing a continuous line without lifting your pencil. This exercise trains your eyes to follow the contour or line of an object so that you can really see what you are attempting to draw. Children usually enjoy this exercise after they get used to it and helps them to process drawing in a different way. Except for a few distinctive characteristics, the finished drawing often looks nothing like the object they are trying to re-create–and that’s okay. The purpose of this exercise is to train your eye to see what is really there instead of what you think is there.
Elizabeth’s Blind Contour Drawing
Jill’s Toad
I started the blind contour drawing, but my paper kept slipping because I was trying to draw and hold the toad at the same time. Elizabeth reached behind her and picked some packing tape from the shelf. She tore some pieces off the roll and taped my card stock right to the table. Everyone else taped their paper down except Eric who was using a clipboard.
Eric’s Toad Parts, age 16
By this time there was a lot of lively banter going on around the table (a little too much for my taste). I really like to draw in a relaxed atmosphere, and let me tell you, this wasn’t it. By this time Eric had finished drawing and commented, “Anyone got a toad lollipop?”
Anna replied, “Eric, touch only with your eyes.”
Anna’s Christmas Tree
Suddenly, Anna began to draw a Christmas tree and we all cracked up. “It’s just like you said on your nature journaling interview with Richard Bell, Mom.” Eric said. He was referring to the example I always use about how children in the symbolic stage of art (generally ages 5-8) usually draw a green triangle to represent Christmas tree, and how completely happy they are doing that. Anna’s spiky triangular tree was somewhere between the symbolic and realistic stages (9-12), but it definitely wasn’t a toad.
“Nice toad,” Eric said.
“Everyone’s complimenting me,” Anna said.
Then Eric said, “We should make a DVD called “How to Kick Start Your Toad Drawing.”
“Mmmmm, not a bad idea,” I said.
Now lest you think our attempts at drawing the toad were all in vain, they weren’t. Quick sketching a live specimen can be very difficult, but it can also be a lot of fun for kids. Remind them that the goal is not to have a perfect drawing, but to enjoy the process of sketching. This can be very frustrating for more detailed-oriented children and adults, as well, but it’s important to try all kinds of drawing – all different ways – because in doing so you train your eye to see. Whether the end result looks exactly like your specimen is not important, especially if it hops away…
After the kids finished drawing I took pictures of the toad, and downloaded them to the computer, and then I let him go. A few minutes later my sister called and said that she needed a break and was coming over for a while. I told her to tell my niece Rachel (a talented nature artist) that I had a great amphibian specimen over here for her to draw. When she arrived, I let her choose a picture and she got right to work. As my sister and I chatted, Rachel rendered a highly colorful and stylized picture of the toad from the computer screen. Joan and I were amazed when we saw it. One thing I know is that the toad never looked this good in real life. I’m really glad we took the time yesterday to sketch from life. Not only did we experience many different ways to observe a toad, but we made lots of family memories, too, by drawing Anna’s amazing “discovery.” 
