ISO Sketch on Close Up

Today was my first day of Photography with a Digital Camera class. The picture itself is not that fancy...merely of photo of a note I took during class. We were discussing the elements of exposure and the sketch is an attempt to explain how ISO works. I guess what I like about the picture is not so much the sketch...but that I was able to capture the image as a close up...with the focus on the drawing itself and a fade to the notes above it. That is something I have always been interested in understanding...how a focus can be placed on a particular object while at the same time allowing for a fade or blurring of the distant view.