Looking at vs. Seeing

Have you ever spent the day looking at an oyster shell?

That's pretty much how I've spent my day. We had oysters Thursday night and some of them were remarkably beautiful inside - the color and composition of the markings were lovely. I decided to spend some time with one I found particularly beautiful and make some drawings and paintings of it. The one above is from a contour drawing with added watercolor.

I re-read Zen Seeing, Zen Drawing by Frederick Franck last night. I recommend it. He describes how really observing something while you draw can open your eyes to a whole new way of seeing. I've felt this. It is like a form of meditation. As you draw you keep your eyes on the subject, while your pencil "caresses" the image onto the paper...