Florence Turnour's Blog

Today I enjoyed reading Mr. Schu's interview with Lizi Boyd , author of Flashlight and Inside Outside , wordless picture books with room to explore. Both of these books include cutouts that allow parts of the next illustration to show through, inviting you to turn the page. Mathew Winner also interviewed Lizi Boyd in his Let's Get Busy podcast .  In the interview, Matthew suggested that Lizi's illustrations invite children to create art in her style. In particular, in Flashlight Lizi presents spreads drawn with white paint on a black background, except in the flashlight's beam, which she paints in full color.  Matthew envisioned children drawing with white pens on black paper to imitate that look. I thought that was a great idea, and stored it away for future use. Today, my mother and kids walked in while I was watching the trailer for Flashlight on Mr. Schu's blog. "Oh, I love that book!" Art project time! We cut white triangles for the parts...

There's a rancho very close to the university here in Long Beach. It's tucked away in a gated community. We went there this afternoon to look around and draw a little. The kids sat down to draw and drew a couple of pictures before I mentioned casually that they should be drawing something they saw there at the rancho, rather than cars and bears and things. While I was drawing this corner of the Rancho, a man made a few hilarious attempts to get up into the enormous tree in the garden. I overheard a woman say to him, "You jump up and I'll give you a push." I thought that was likely to be great fun to watch, but I guess he thought so too, since they didn't try it. See how big the tree is? Thanks for looking!

I'm taking a watercolor class from  Moira Hahn . In this assignment, we considered value, painting a white object in black paint.  We were to choose between a cement squirrel, a cow's skull or a teapot. For me the choice was obvious, though I'm not quite sure why. Teapot In another assignment, we were to practice applying two gradient techniques in eight, credit-card-sized rectangles, and then paint something in the spaces. When I was little, I asked my mother (constantly), what should I draw? She always said "a giraffe." So when I was at a loss for this one, I thought I'd go back to my roots. I decided to think outside the box a little.

I painted this boy reading again, playing with the lighting. Here's the first watercolor of this boy reading . Thanks for looking!

Studying in the library. I found a book of faces. Thanks for looking!

Here is a boy reading Virginia Lee Burton's Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel . This is the painting I was planning in this post . Ironically, in the photo reference I used for this, the boy was using an iPad. Perhaps he was reading the eBook. Thanks for looking.

What's he reading? Can you tell? Boy reading

These are your bears on math. Love the bear-cam:  http://explore.org/live-cams/player/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

I've read loads of books since my last post. There is no way I'm going to keep up with that, given how much time I spend in the picture books at the library and bookstores.  It is a smaller task for me to keep track of some of my progress in art and illustration here. I'm taking a watercolor class from Moira Hahn , which is demanding and engaging. In our first assignment, we learned to apply a flat wash (aha moment if there ever was one). I painted the absence of a potato masher, three times. The Absence of a Potato Masher  In our second assignment, we learned some texturing techniques. Then I doodled on mine. Blue Sampler The techniques sampler was to prepare to paint a blue still life. I am not a person to have stuff and things about the house, so I went to Peer One (a borage of stuff and things), and purchased a blue and white botchy ball.  Moira said it reminded her of a bowling ball, and I decided to go with that for my project. Here is my sketch. Bow...

Today I went to Barnes and Noble. I read two books about libraries and how wonderful and supportive librarians can be. One had charming three-colored prints, and owls. The other was about Mouse and the pickle-loving Bear (I know, right?). TheMidnight Library, by Kazuno Kohara A Library Book for Bear, by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton (The link is to an inspiring interview with Kady from 2011; here is her website .) Next I read this Preschool book because it was on theme. It would've gone well with the books I read to my children when they were little. Books Always Everywhere, by Jane Blatt , illustrated by Sarah Massini The link goes to her (active) Twitter feed. Here is her (not so active)  website . Then I read an old favorite, because the books about books reminded me of it. The Fanatastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore, by William Joyce Then my airplane obsessed children appeared, so I read this book about learning to fly, sort...

At the airport people sit fairly still.

I decided it's time to get the photo references out for wings and legs. I started this one and realized that feathers are also an issue. This is my dunlin, in transparent watercolor (no gouache this tine).

Here is my second stack of birds inspired by  Carla Sonheim 's  Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed-Media Workshop . Yes, that's a yo yo. Thanks for looking.

I am enjoying my new book, Carla Sonheim 's Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals: A Mixed-Media Workshop . Here is my first stack of blob birds. Birds on a Twig

I am experimenting with color using this sketch, which I compiled from drawings I did at the beach. Thanks for looking!

Quick! Draw fast. Kids move. Thanks for looking!

This is a practice gelli print that I made when my mother was here. Off and on we talk about collaborating on a project in which I provide window fabric and she sews it into something wonderful. This print is on deil paper. I drew on the print with a thin liner, and then added color with colored pencils. High rise  This image was inspired by the children's book, The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown . Thanks for looking.

I have coined a new word: illustriteration. Pronounce it "ill-lust-ritter-ation." In my infinite wisdom, I have engaged in another art form, the art of illustration.  I am finding that much of illustration is iteration, hence the new word. I like creating with some constraint, making pottery that's functional or jewelry that's wearable.  Now, I am learning to make 2-dimensional artwork that illustrates. The internet is a fabulous resource to learn about illustration. Children's book illustrators use their blogs and websites to post their portfolios, advice, and wonderful trailers for their new books. An ad for this Craftsy class crossed my newsfeed just as I was considering this, and on a whim, I signed on. The class is great; the instructor Shadra Srtickland gets right to the point, inviting her students to create character, spreads and story and then illustriterate to make the whole project one piece. (See how useful my new word is?) For my class project,...