Florence Turnour's Blog

A short time ago, Colby Sharp ( @ColbySharp on Twitter) asked illustrators how big they make their drawings. He used #IDrawThisBig to share the results on Twitter. (Follow the link, to see the feed.) I learned that some artists draw small at first, and then enlarge their drawings to produced more detailed illustrations. Recently, I read or heard a picture book artist with a background is in animation talking about the importance of having a clear silhouette. I thought I might have an easier time getting my silhouettes clear a very small drawing. I also got to look through a sketchbook belonging to Illustrator Barbara Malley ( @BarbaraMalley on Twitter) which had densely packed pages of tiny detailed images. So with these ideas in the back of my mind, this morning I watched my children draw tiny little pictures in their drawing books. I always want to tell them to draw bigger, mainly so I can see what they're up to, but this time I thought the better of it. I enlarged one of B...

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...

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.