Profile: James Gurney
James Gurney  Rhinebeck Park in Snow Oil 9 x 12" James Gurney is an internationally known author and illustrator, most notably for his Dinotopia books, about a fictional utopian island where sentient dinosaurs and humans dwell together. The first in the series, Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time, published in 1992, has been translated into 18 languages and has sold over two million copies. We became familiar with James Gurney, not through his fantasy/science fiction illustration, but through his wonderful art instruction book, Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter  ,
published in 2010. This comprehensive reference begins by exploring
light effects and color as used in paintings throughout different
periods of history. It then examines the effects of light on form and
the properties of color and pigments, color relationships and
atmospheric effects. Throughout the book, Gurney illustrates various light situations and color relationships by using many of his own paintings, including both plein air and studio landscapes. We contacted him to ask him more about both his background and about his landscape paintings.  West Point from Osbourne's Castle Oil 12 x 16" Gurney studied archaeology in college at the University of California Berkeley. Although he attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena for a couple of semesters, he is mostly self-taught. “I developed my own curriculum of self-teaching based on The Famous Artist's Course from the 1950's, Andrew Loomis's book Creative Illustration, and the teaching methods from the 19th Century French Academy, which involved fairly detailed anatomy and cast drawing. The best book for learning about French academic painting methods is The Academy and French Painting in the Nineteenth Century by Albert Boime, 1971. All this self-teaching from books was combined with daily outdoor sketching, which became such a passion that I ended up coauthoring a book on the subject for Watson-Guptill called The Artist's Guide to Sketching in 1982.” To read the entire
interview with James Gurney and to see more of his paintings, become a Member of The Artist's Road by clicking here. Already a Member? Click here to go to the the in-depth interview.
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Member ContentFree ContentThe Artist's Road Store Nocturnes - A Primer on Night Painting Filled with inspirational examples by the masters of nightime painting, this little book is sure to fire up your creative energies. Never tried painting at night? We show you how it's done with a step-by-step-oil demo and a tale of night painting in the wilds of Rocky Mountain National Park. The Primer on Night Painting - Nocturnes is a 7 x 7" PDF download with 40 pages of text and images. It includes a gallery of paintings by masters of the nocturne, information to inspire and encourage you in your plein air nocturne painting, an illustrated step-by-step demo and tips for working in pastel and oil. Also available in a softcover edition. Check out the tools and other products that we use in our own art and travels in The Artist's Road Store. We only offer things for sale that we enthusiastically believe in.
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