My favorite mini-review comes from a reader named Amanda R.: "James: In a world of art-instruction seafood buffets, I thank you for teaching me how to fish.” Amanda, you got what I was trying to do!
In the current issue of International Artist magazine, there’s a longer review that goes into some detail:
Setting the Standard
"James Gurney’s new book, Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter,
is the book every artist has been waiting for One of the first things that is evident from James Gurney’s new book is that what the illustration world gained in Gurney’s successful career as the creator of the Dinotopia series, the fine art world lost. Gurney’s landscape, cityscapes and figurative paintings—many of which are included in the book to illustrate each section—are masterworks in their own right and he could easily be represented by any of the top realist galleries in New York if he chose that career instead.
"While many artist books end up being more vanity than content, Gurney’s book breaks down Color and Light in a way that I’ve never seen before.
"Gurney is able to get to explain the scientific aspects of color, light and shadow without becoming preachy or academic. In fact, his method of explaining even the most complex painting terms and techniques is simple, to the point and accessible to artists of all skill levels. Gurney’s inquisitive mind and personal desire to understand even the most difficult artistic concerns is what really drives the book.
"For example, instead of offering just a general discussion of shadows within a landscape or still life painting, Color and Light, breaks it down into smaller, manageable chapters on the separation of light and shadow, half shadows, occlusion shadows, three-quarter lighting, frontal lighting, edge lighting, light from below and even Contre Jour — a type of backlighting where a subject blocks the light.
"Gurney’s take on these topics is refreshing as, instead of falling back on overly technical explanations of such effects, he offers accessible and easy to use explanations aimed at actually helping an artist solve problems that come up during the painting process.
"For example, when discussing Frontal Lighting, Gurney offers this advice: “It’s a good lighting to choose if you want to emphasize local color or pattern—to feature a fashion or costume, for instance.” This is the type of sound, straight forward advice that Gurney offers throughout the book.
"Gurney’s understanding and mastery of light is only equaled by his explanation of color in the second half of the book. His pigment wheel is a true work of science and understanding, with pigments charted by hue, value, chroma and CIECAM hue angles. Gurney has a lot to say on color and asks artists to rethink the color wheel.
"To him, there are many problems with both the traditional color wheel and the Munsell System. He believes that the idea that red, yellow and blue are the primary colors is something that should be questioned. To him, any of the “infinite hues on the outer rim of the gradating wheel could make an equal claim as a primary.”
"Gurney’s proposition is to replace these older and problematic models with what he calls the “YURMBY” wheel. In this new version of the color wheel, the RGB is placed evenly between CMY to create a universal color wheel. For Gurney, the six equal primary colors then become yellow, red,magenta, blue, cyan and green.
"Every chapter in Color and Light serves a specific purpose and all of it is useful, valid, and tried and true methods of understanding how one can create three-dimensional images on a two-dimensional surface. His discussion of what he terms lightfastness—the resistance given pigment to fading as a result of expose to light, is an indication of the level he has gone to accurately explain all aspects of the painting process.
"At twelve complete chapters and over 200 pages, Color and Light is destined to become the new standard for artists from beginners to even the experienced artist looking to hone their skills or pick up authoritative information on any of the multitude of problems that an oil painter may encounter while practicing their craft.
"Even the index is useful — with a detailed glossary of terms, a comprehensive list of pigments and their properties (complete with a list of historic and not-recommended pigments) and finally a carefully thought out list of recommended reading (with titles ranging from Goethe to Ruskin and John Stobart) and internet resources."
is the book every artist has been waiting for One of the first things that is evident from James Gurney’s new book is that what the illustration world gained in Gurney’s successful career as the creator of the Dinotopia series, the fine art world lost. Gurney’s landscape, cityscapes and figurative paintings—many of which are included in the book to illustrate each section—are masterworks in their own right and he could easily be represented by any of the top realist galleries in New York if he chose that career instead.
"While many artist books end up being more vanity than content, Gurney’s book breaks down Color and Light in a way that I’ve never seen before.
"Gurney is able to get to explain the scientific aspects of color, light and shadow without becoming preachy or academic. In fact, his method of explaining even the most complex painting terms and techniques is simple, to the point and accessible to artists of all skill levels. Gurney’s inquisitive mind and personal desire to understand even the most difficult artistic concerns is what really drives the book.
"For example, instead of offering just a general discussion of shadows within a landscape or still life painting, Color and Light, breaks it down into smaller, manageable chapters on the separation of light and shadow, half shadows, occlusion shadows, three-quarter lighting, frontal lighting, edge lighting, light from below and even Contre Jour — a type of backlighting where a subject blocks the light.
"Gurney’s take on these topics is refreshing as, instead of falling back on overly technical explanations of such effects, he offers accessible and easy to use explanations aimed at actually helping an artist solve problems that come up during the painting process.
"For example, when discussing Frontal Lighting, Gurney offers this advice: “It’s a good lighting to choose if you want to emphasize local color or pattern—to feature a fashion or costume, for instance.” This is the type of sound, straight forward advice that Gurney offers throughout the book.
"Gurney’s understanding and mastery of light is only equaled by his explanation of color in the second half of the book. His pigment wheel is a true work of science and understanding, with pigments charted by hue, value, chroma and CIECAM hue angles. Gurney has a lot to say on color and asks artists to rethink the color wheel.
"To him, there are many problems with both the traditional color wheel and the Munsell System. He believes that the idea that red, yellow and blue are the primary colors is something that should be questioned. To him, any of the “infinite hues on the outer rim of the gradating wheel could make an equal claim as a primary.”
"Gurney’s proposition is to replace these older and problematic models with what he calls the “YURMBY” wheel. In this new version of the color wheel, the RGB is placed evenly between CMY to create a universal color wheel. For Gurney, the six equal primary colors then become yellow, red,magenta, blue, cyan and green.
"Every chapter in Color and Light serves a specific purpose and all of it is useful, valid, and tried and true methods of understanding how one can create three-dimensional images on a two-dimensional surface. His discussion of what he terms lightfastness—the resistance given pigment to fading as a result of expose to light, is an indication of the level he has gone to accurately explain all aspects of the painting process.
"At twelve complete chapters and over 200 pages, Color and Light is destined to become the new standard for artists from beginners to even the experienced artist looking to hone their skills or pick up authoritative information on any of the multitude of problems that an oil painter may encounter while practicing their craft.
"Even the index is useful — with a detailed glossary of terms, a comprehensive list of pigments and their properties (complete with a list of historic and not-recommended pigments) and finally a carefully thought out list of recommended reading (with titles ranging from Goethe to Ruskin and John Stobart) and internet resources."
-----
More about International Artist Magazine
24 Amazon Customer Reviews
