One of my favorite things to do with my school supplies when I was going to school was to play with my geometry set. I'd trace around the protractor, the two triangles, and draw circle after circle with my compass.
Drawing the circle was tricky on thin paper because it was so very easy to allow the central point of the compass to shift in the middle of drawing it. The result would be anything BUT the circle I intended. The ends wouldn't meet, and it would look sloppy. It took practice to get it to stay put while the pencil went around and formed the circumference, touching exactly where it started. That central point was the anchor of the whole thing. It was tricky to get it to work!
A similar diversion was my old Spirograph set. Yes, I had one!! I eventually lost the pins to hold the anchor bracket down to the paper, but that set of little plastic rings, cogs, pins and pens brought me more hours of "whoa-isn't-that-cool" than almost anything else in whatever free time I was allowed to have growing up.
But the problem with the cogs and the ring was the same as with the compass. It depended on everything staying where it was supposed to stay. I ruined countless Spirograph artworks because the cog - or the pins - slipped out of the anchoring ring. The result - usually a dark mark bisecting the entire masterpiece - was not salvageable. And that was in the days before erasable pens. ;) So, I found the best way to do it successfully was to make sure it was all anchored well before starting, and to take my time while allowing the cogs to carry the pen - while I concentrated on keeping the pressure against the wheel steady. Just as I had learned with the compass.
Everyone needs an Anchor that won't slip away or shift.
I know Who mine is.
I wonder what - or who - is yours?
Drawing the circle was tricky on thin paper because it was so very easy to allow the central point of the compass to shift in the middle of drawing it. The result would be anything BUT the circle I intended. The ends wouldn't meet, and it would look sloppy. It took practice to get it to stay put while the pencil went around and formed the circumference, touching exactly where it started. That central point was the anchor of the whole thing. It was tricky to get it to work!
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| Spirograph art - here's the link |
But the problem with the cogs and the ring was the same as with the compass. It depended on everything staying where it was supposed to stay. I ruined countless Spirograph artworks because the cog - or the pins - slipped out of the anchoring ring. The result - usually a dark mark bisecting the entire masterpiece - was not salvageable. And that was in the days before erasable pens. ;) So, I found the best way to do it successfully was to make sure it was all anchored well before starting, and to take my time while allowing the cogs to carry the pen - while I concentrated on keeping the pressure against the wheel steady. Just as I had learned with the compass.
Everyone needs an Anchor that won't slip away or shift.
I know Who mine is.
I wonder what - or who - is yours?
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