By Rebecca Ballenger, Coordinator, Outreach and Collections

In a collection already bursting with important works by children’s book illustrators, Worlds of Words added one more. The untitled piece from In the Land of Milk and Honey by award-winning illustrator, Floyd Cooper, recently went on display where visitors can see his unique oil wash on board technique.

“Floyd Cooper brings life to his work and that is especially visible in this piece,” says Kathy Short, Director of WOW. “His process is innovative and the result is spectacular.”

Cooper refers to his technique as a “subtractive process” whereby he paints an illustration board with oil paint and pastels, then he erases using a stretchy eraser to bring out the color and create a picture. He often demonstrates this technique for kids to show “that there can be different approaches to age-old problems.”

In the Land of Milk and Honey is the true story of Joyce Carol Thomas’s childhood trip from Oklahoma to California in 1948, when many African Americans relocated west. Publisher’s Weekly wrote of Cooper’s sepia-textured illustrations, “Light and joy are integral to Cooper’s hazy paintings.” The 20 by 15 in. painting Cooper donated to WOW depicts Joyce Carol Thomas on a train passing through what could be Tucson, judging by the mighty saguaro outside her window.

Floyd Cooper received a Coretta Scott King Award for his illustrations in The Blacker the Berry and a Coretta Scott King Honor for Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea and I Have Heard of a Land. His donation to WOW required a special mounting process to prevent the dust from settling so the color and texture will be preserved for patrons of all ages throughout the years.

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• Themes: Floyd Cooper, In the Land of Milk and Honey, Rebecca Ballenger
• Descriptors: WOW News