Florence Turnour's Blog

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.