Florence Turnour's Blog

This week, I decided to participate in Illustration Friday. The organizers give a topic illustrate, which this week was Outside , and participants can post their entries. Of course I didn't get mine done until Saturday, so I didn't get to submit it. Go Outside! by Florence Turnour Here's why it took me forever, other than that this kind of thing always takes me forever. First I drew a bunch of sketches. Not all of them made the final cut.   Then I scanned them in and arranged them into my composition. Then I decided that I should paint the pieces separately, and assemble them in Photoshop. Why? I don't think this particular project really called for this, but I was a little afraid I'd screw up when I was 90% done, so I did it in bite sized pieces. Of course, I painted the background image much larger than my scanner, so I had to scan it in in four, count'em four pieces. Once the background was assembled, though, the rest came together q...

I have been reading and listening to interviews by picture book authors and illustrators for several months now. Here are some favorite things I've encountered. The Let's Get Busy Podcast by Matthew Winner Matthew Winner is a Maryland Elementary School Librarian who interviews picture book authors, illustrators, kidlit notables and everyone in between. Matthew has such a genuine enthusiasm for picture books that the folks he interviews are instantly at ease, which inspires them to talk freely about their work, inspiration and experience. I follow him on Twitter. @MatthewWinner Watch. Listen. Connect. Blog by Mr. John Schu John Schu is an Illinois Elementary School Librarian who shares interviews with picture book authors and illustrators of new picture books. He often features, and sometimes debuts short video trailers, which are charming introductions to the up and coming books. I follow him on Twitter. @MrSchuReads Seven Impossible Things Before Breakf...

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...

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...