Renowned for his uncanny ability to incorporate amazing detail and imagination into stunningly realistic fantasy settings, James Gurney teaches budding artists and fans of fantasy art step-by-step the techniques that won him worldwide critical acclaim.

This is a terrific book, highly recommended not only for young artists but anyone with an interest in traditional art technique.An award-winning fantasy artist and the creator of Dinotopia, James Gurney instructs and inspires in Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist. (Mark Schulz, Publishers Weekly)ĭinotopia author and plein-air painter Gurney offers a practical, well-organized, and informative handbook for artists of all levels. Still it was no surprise to the author-artist-blogger and his long-time publisher Andrews McMeel when his recently released second volume of art instruction, Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter, became a bestseller for AMP immediately upon its release in December 2010, selling out its 10,000-copy run in just two months. James Gurney's series of illustrated fantasy adventure stories, beginning with 1992's Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time, produced a generation raised on Gurney's highly realistic paintings of an entirely unreal subject. Not only does he eloquently describe all the effects of color and light an artist might encounter, but he thrills us with his striking paintings in the process.' -Armand Cabrera, Artist 'James Gurney's new book, Color and Light, cleverly bridges the gap between artistic observation and scientific explanation.

A glossary, pigment index, and bibliography complete what will ultimately become an indispensible tool for any artist. Gurney cuts though the confusing and contradictory dogma about color, testing it in the light of science and observation. Beginning with a survey of underappreciated masters who perfected the use of color and light, the book examines how light reveals form, the properties of color and pigments, and the wide variety of atmospheric effects.

A researched study on two of art's most fundamental themes, Color and Light bridges the gap between abstract theory and practical knowledge. James Gurney, New York Times best-selling author and artist of the Dinotopia series, follows Imaginative Realism with his second art-instruction book, Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter.

This art instruction book is the follow up to the acclaimed Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist. From New York Times best-selling author of the Dinotopia series, James Gurney, comes a carefully crafted and researched study on color and light in paintings.

Imaginative Realism by James Gurney