The Unified Theory of Mister Pitts # 12 -Getting to Know George Turner
My Mom and I Spend the Afternoon With a Real Professional Artist.
Mr. George Turner, Staff Artist for the Amarillo Globe-News, was interested in me and impressed by both me and my mother. I was, in turn, impressed with George Turner. Not in awe so much, but that too, but he made an impression on me that stayed with me. What he did with his creative work showed me an example I hadn't seen before, of what a person could do in life.
He was a multi-faceted artist and creator. He wrote books on a variety of subjects, subjects that were his personal interests and passions. He illustrated all manner of things, including the books he wrote.
Most impressive to me in that moment though, was the work he did for the newspaper in his very cluttered and fascinating office. An editor or writer would bring him an idea, something for which they did not have a photograph or something the editor simply felt would be better conveyed with an illustration. Mr. Turner would then look at reference photos in his “morgue” (a term used by artists in those days to describe a file of reference photos and illustrations). Then he would create an illustration to meet the needs of the editor.
This, to me, was magic. But it was a kind of magic I thought perhaps I could learn to do myself. To pull something out of my imagination and put it on paper using pencils, inks, pens, and brushes… I knew I had the basic skills and was already doing this, and I knew I could get better with practice.
Then, “he got his typewriter off the shelf…” This feels like a cliffhanger, and it kind of is, but I am not in peril. My mom is there. Everything is awesome.