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Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter (Volume 2)
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. This art instruction book will accompany the acclaimed Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist.
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. A researched study on two of art's most fundamental themes, Color and Light bridges the gap between abstract theory and practical knowledge. 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. Gurney cuts though the confusing and contradictory dogma about color, testing it in the light of science and observation. A glossary, pigment index, and bibliography complete what will ultimately become an indispensable tool for any artist.
This book is the second in a series based on his blog, gurneyjourney.com. His first in the series, Imaginative Realism, was widely acclaimed in the fantastical art world, and was ranked the #1 Bestseller on the Amazon list for art instruction.
"James Gurney's new book, Color and Light, cleverly bridges the gap between artistic observation and scientific explanation. 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, 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. A researched study on two of art's most fundamental themes, Color and Light bridges the gap between abstract theory and practical knowledge. 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. Gurney cuts though the confusing and contradictory dogma about color, testing it in the light of science and observation. A glossary, pigment index, and bibliography complete what will ultimately become an indispensable tool for any artist.
This book is the second in a series based on his blog, gurneyjourney.com. His first in the series, Imaginative Realism, was widely acclaimed in the fantastical art world, and was ranked the #1 Bestseller on the Amazon list for art instruction.
"James Gurney's new book, Color and Light, cleverly bridges the gap between artistic observation and scientific explanation. 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
224 pages, Paperback
First published November 9, 2010
About the author
James Gurney
37 books411 followersBorn June 14, 1958 in Glendale, California. Raised in Palo Alto, the youngest of five children of Joanna and Robert Gurney (a mechanical engineer). Earned a B.A. in Anthropology in 1979 with Phi Beta Kappa honors from the University of California at Berkeley. Studied painting at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena,California, where he met his wife Jeanette. In 1984 they moved to the Hudson Valley of New York State, where they raised two sons, Daniel and Franklin.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews
October 7, 2011
Summary review: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Let me be very clear on this point. This book comes very highly recommended by me. James Gurney's coverage of the topic of colour and light is comprehensive. Plus it is accessible art instruction of a very high order. I've not come across any other book about colour by a practising artist and illustrator which covers this topic in such breadth and depth and makes it accessible as well.
* I've got ones which are more technical - but they're much less accessible.
* I've got ones which are as accessible - but they don't cover as much as he does
* It does not attempt to dumb down or omit important aspects of the way in which colour and light function and interact.
* It articulates very clearly how you can make choices about how to use different features of colour and light in a painting.
* it makes excellent use of images and graphics
This is a book for students and improvers and all those who want to know more about colour and how light and colour interact - in life and in a painting.
I am so confident about the impact of this book that I am happy to predict that if you buy and study this book your paintings will improve!
(Note: You can find my detailed review of this book on my reviews blog Book Review: Color and Light by James Gurney. I was sent a copy of this book to review in advance of publication.)
* I've got ones which are more technical - but they're much less accessible.
* I've got ones which are as accessible - but they don't cover as much as he does
* It does not attempt to dumb down or omit important aspects of the way in which colour and light function and interact.
* It articulates very clearly how you can make choices about how to use different features of colour and light in a painting.
* it makes excellent use of images and graphics
This is a book for students and improvers and all those who want to know more about colour and how light and colour interact - in life and in a painting.
I am so confident about the impact of this book that I am happy to predict that if you buy and study this book your paintings will improve!
(Note: You can find my detailed review of this book on my reviews blog Book Review: Color and Light by James Gurney. I was sent a copy of this book to review in advance of publication.)
December 5, 2012
(More pictures at parkablogs.com)
Color and Light is the latest book from James Gurney and it's fantastic. It is a very accessible guide that's filled with interesting and useful information on color and light. It's fortunate we have so many colors today at our disposable, and now with this book, something to help make sense of them.
The book talks about color in a very practical sense, as you would see them in life. The lessons are observations of light and colors from James Gurney's years of painting experience. He brings his points across with his own beautiful paintings as examples, clearly explaining why and how he uses colors. It amazes me the amount of work James Gurney has created over the years, and this book is filled with them, from his plein-air to Dinopedia paintings.
There are lessons on sources of light, light and form, understanding the color wheel, how light reacts with surfaces and other elements, and visual perception. You'll learn interesting things like why the moon looks blue, when happens to light when it travels through green canopy, tips on mixing colors, and a whole lot more. There are lots of tips and techniques included. The book is also well researched and I enjoy reading the history of color as they were used in the past by other artists.
It's really a no-brainer to pick this up if you're into creating art, or even if you just want to check out the beautiful paintings in the book.
Highly recommended reference. And you should also check out his other book Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist.
April 14, 2021
I learned more about color theory reading this book than I did studying illustration for two years at Pratt Institute 😑 A clear and concise collection of information about the science of light color as they relate to observational (and imagined!) realistic painting. I’ll be revisiting this book frequently in the years to come.
August 21, 2019
That book is hands down.
September 10, 2014
I’m usually not a fan of instructional art books. All to often, they devolve into breaking things down into a series of steps, or simply showing a the different stages of one image. While this breakdown might be helpful in creating that one painting or drawing, it rarely helps you develop the skills needed to apply to original work.
Thankfully, Color and Light is not that sort of book. Instead it is a wonderfully useful guide to how color and light works and how to incorporate them into your artwork.
That’s another benefit of the book – since it focuses on color and light and not on a specific medium, it is applicable for all sorts of media and field. While it’s geared towards artists, either traditional or digital, who create their artwork from the ground up, the information on color schemes could also be useful to a photographer.
This book is full to the brim of all sorts of useful information, from different types of lighting, to ways to think of the color wheel, to how you create different surface effects. Each topic is covered in a two page spread, which, while simple, effectively conveys what you need to now.
Which brings me to another topic. I can’t believe that I’m already five paragraphs into this review and haven’t mentioned how wonderful James Gurney’s art is. If you know anything about James Gurney, you’ll know that he’s the creator of Dinotopia, and luckily for us, he uses his own highly imaginative and beautiful paintings to help illustrate the principals in his book.
If you are at all interested in art, this is a book that you should at least flip through. Even if you don’t create your own artwork, you may very well want to marvel at the beauty inside this book.
Thankfully, Color and Light is not that sort of book. Instead it is a wonderfully useful guide to how color and light works and how to incorporate them into your artwork.
That’s another benefit of the book – since it focuses on color and light and not on a specific medium, it is applicable for all sorts of media and field. While it’s geared towards artists, either traditional or digital, who create their artwork from the ground up, the information on color schemes could also be useful to a photographer.
This book is full to the brim of all sorts of useful information, from different types of lighting, to ways to think of the color wheel, to how you create different surface effects. Each topic is covered in a two page spread, which, while simple, effectively conveys what you need to now.
Which brings me to another topic. I can’t believe that I’m already five paragraphs into this review and haven’t mentioned how wonderful James Gurney’s art is. If you know anything about James Gurney, you’ll know that he’s the creator of Dinotopia, and luckily for us, he uses his own highly imaginative and beautiful paintings to help illustrate the principals in his book.
If you are at all interested in art, this is a book that you should at least flip through. Even if you don’t create your own artwork, you may very well want to marvel at the beauty inside this book.
January 14, 2018
This is another book every art person should own. However, it is a little "hand-wavy" as most art books unfortunately are. James Gurney at least stays away from weird mythical art mumbo-jumbo, as he actually has a formal scientific background (archeologist). He has a very active, informative blog on which you can see his rather rigorous methods. This book is more like a discovery channel documentary than a serious textbook. Nonetheless, Gurney's attention to detail shines through and he at least alerts you to the existence of very subtle phenomena like that the difference in atmospheric density at high altitude IS artistically relevant. I treat this book as my little library of such isolated tidbits.
December 2, 2019
Great book with lots of examples and applications. Theories are carefully explained and applied. Kudos to James Gurney for making this available to us!
July 25, 2022
James Gurney is daddy 🥵 Sehr informativ, der Hype ist gerechtfertigt auf jeden Fall so
August 8, 2020
This book is outstanding for anyone interested in painting in any media. I learned more in this book than I ever learned in my college days - in art classes, illustration courses, color theory classes, etc. Each topic is broken down into manageable chunks, usually spanning a two page spread, and illustrated with examples of the topic at hand, and usually from the author's own works. I appreciate the valuable lessons on color and light, and the practical explanations of how to employ each idea. The book doesn't tackle the other great skill of artists, composition, which is probably just as important as color and light, but then it's not a total course. A good compositional theory book would be an ideal companion. Gurney is among the best teachers, I'm grateful to have discovered him and his books.
March 28, 2022
While not a painter myself, I can see how this book could become invaluable to one. The information was good and useful but did not overwhelm with jargon and concepts. The many color images illustrated (pun intended!) fit well and invited the reader to ponder and behold how the artist used the techniques being explained.
I picked this up because James Gurney is also the author of the Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time books that feature pretty paintings of dinosaurs. And can you really go wrong with pretty picture of dinosaurs living peacefully with humans?
Thank you to the local artist who rec'd this for inclusion in our Library!
I picked this up because James Gurney is also the author of the Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time books that feature pretty paintings of dinosaurs. And can you really go wrong with pretty picture of dinosaurs living peacefully with humans?
Thank you to the local artist who rec'd this for inclusion in our Library!
July 30, 2023
A great mix of the science of color, the painting techniques of color, and the emotional connotations of color. I read this book from start to finish (as all books are read) but this is the perfect book to come back to and read any page. The chapter breakdowns were in a reasonable order for such a complicated subject as well. I found Chapter 3: Light and Form, Chapter 7: premixing, and Chapter 10 atmospheric effects particularly helpful.
I now have a much better understanding of how to approach plein-air paintings and how to learn from them. I'm excited to try some out and then apply the lessons I've learned to my imaginative paintings.
I now have a much better understanding of how to approach plein-air paintings and how to learn from them. I'm excited to try some out and then apply the lessons I've learned to my imaginative paintings.
November 26, 2023
Това не е просто книга за рисуване, а безценна енциклопедия! Джеймс Гърни не само дава насоки в процеса по изобразяване на светлината и цветовете в една рисунка, но и разглежда всичко от научна гледна точка - каква всъщност е физиката на светлината, как нашите очи тълкуват цветовете и как хората възприемат различните комбинации от цветове от психологическа гледна точка. Това е книга, към която човек може (и вероятно трябва) да се връща периодично, защото всеки нов прочит би го научил на нещо ново - толкова пълна с информация е тя.
March 10, 2019
Дуже детальний аналіз варіативності світла й кольору. В книзі пояснюються всі можливі й неможливі варіанти джерел світла, принципи взаємодії матеріалів із світлом, формування різних типів тіней, зміни кольору залежно від освітлення чи довколишніх умов та багато іншого. Все підкріплене великою кількістю ілюстративного матеріалу.
March 7, 2023
A magnificent guide that lays the foundations for understanding the complexities of light and color interactions and how these concepts might be represented in the art. A highly recomended and must read modern classic for any painter and visual artist.
March 11, 2021
I will never be as good as James Gurney and I love that feeling
July 16, 2022
WOOHOO!! I finished! such a good book for ANY artist interested in using color or light for their work. seriously such a good read worth every second of my spare time.
May 27, 2023
Filled with useful and wonderful information to make one a better painter. Two chapters got a little bit too technical for me, but this is one that I'll keep near my desk to return to as I draw and paint.
February 13, 2024
Successfully "... Bridges the gap between abstract color theory and practical knowledge." I will be referencing this forever!
May 18, 2022
literally have been meaning to read this for 6 years, finally got to it - color theory is so fascinating??? this was so good, def going to have to get my own copy for reference
October 4, 2023
Comprehensive, easy read and very useful. I d recommend this book even to non artists because comprehending what you see in your every day life makes everything less dull
April 5, 2024
As a largely self-taught artist, this book is the single most helpful resource I have ever read on color theory. The information is well-written, but never cluttered. It’s like Gurney knows exactly how much to say on each subject; and part of this is due to the fact that he has an entire library of his own art to illustrate each of his points in (literal) vivid color.
This book came in clutch for a freelance project and, in the meantime, transformed how I look at color and light. I will be recommending and/or buying this for any and all of my artist friends.
This book came in clutch for a freelance project and, in the meantime, transformed how I look at color and light. I will be recommending and/or buying this for any and all of my artist friends.
November 9, 2013
Overall I found the book quite interesting, his works and illustrations are also often impressive and there are a lot of interesting fun facts in it... however these latter two points are also the places where I think the book could have been better. I was expecting based on the promotion for the book to be more of an educational book, with more teaching, instead a good portion of it seemed to be oriented towards showcasing the author's works and trivia. I would have appreciated it even more if the great works would have been dissected more and more of the descriptions would have been about the how to do it and less about the stories behind his particular works, the stories about the actual content, not about how he made it/problems he hit & how he solved them. That being said there is a LOT of interesting and fascinating content in there that got me thinking about a lot of stuff, and his skills and works are a great role model and inspiration for harder work. Very interesting book!
September 12, 2011
I would recommend this book to any artist wanting to paint in a more realistic style. James Gurney explains what is involved when painting subjects, both observed and imagined, when it comes to the use of color and light. He discusses color choices for specific situations and how light affects what we see and how we paint. This is not a "how to" book with specific suggested lessons, but every page has information that can be used for experimentation. The book is beautifully illustrated, mostly with works by Gurney, which visually explain each point the author is making. Since James Gurney works primarily in oils, this book will be especially appreciated by artists who work in that medium, though the principles can be applied to any technique.
October 24, 2020
If you're interested in learning to draw form, Bridgman and Loomis stand pretty tall as classics (though Scott Robertson's How to Draw is also essential if you're interested more in industrial design and modern techniques for perspective).
The giant gap that modern art left between decent traditional art education and cheap full-color books meant most classic texts on painting focus too much on medium and not enough on color theory - and when they do try to talk about color, they sound like philosophers attempting to describe it the colorblind. Every single page of Color and Light is full of gorgeous paintings that make the concepts in the text intuitive and revelatory. Even if you have no interest in working traditionally, this book is worth your time.
The giant gap that modern art left between decent traditional art education and cheap full-color books meant most classic texts on painting focus too much on medium and not enough on color theory - and when they do try to talk about color, they sound like philosophers attempting to describe it the colorblind. Every single page of Color and Light is full of gorgeous paintings that make the concepts in the text intuitive and revelatory. Even if you have no interest in working traditionally, this book is worth your time.
December 17, 2010
A companion volume to Gurney's excellent "Imaginative Realism," "Color and Light" provides intelligent, practical advice on what the author describes as "the painter's two most fundamental tools." Gurney discusses elements of color, color mixing, surfaces and effects, light and form, atmospheric perspective, and much more in clear, understandable terms. The book is lavishly illustrated with examples and includes a brief but comprehensive history of the title subjects from the Renaissance to the present. "Color and light" is an invaluable resource for anyone who paints—professional or amateur. Highly recommended.
February 14, 2020
I had high hopes for this book. It turned out to be a fraud. An ignorant quotes any source he found and randomly throws in color reproductions. Pages filled with generic writing about styles with no trace of understanding what's written:
- Classicism was not some noble pursuit, but the entrenchment of the king's artists as the newly created cast of university professors.
- color does not "creep in" magazines, but it is a difficult and costly process made gradually available to the masses through the effort of people Gurney does not care to know
- and so on.
- Classicism was not some noble pursuit, but the entrenchment of the king's artists as the newly created cast of university professors.
- color does not "creep in" magazines, but it is a difficult and costly process made gradually available to the masses through the effort of people Gurney does not care to know
- and so on.
May 7, 2017
This is definitely a good book, specially for people who use watercolor. It explains how light and color work on several different scenarios in a very thorough and detailed fashion, always with several examples. It also contains a ton of references and indications of other books on the subject. The book is heavy on technical content, but it is still a pleasant and informative reading. Definitely recommend it!
January 14, 2018
I am more of a sketcher, so perhaps not the most practical art book to me but it is a great insight on how a professional fantasy, science fiction, and palaeological illustrator goes to work.
Delving deeper into colour theory and the theoretical side of painting, it is perhaps a duller read than James Gurney's Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist, which I would advise to buy first. Unless of course, you are specifically looking for colour theory.
Delving deeper into colour theory and the theoretical side of painting, it is perhaps a duller read than James Gurney's Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist, which I would advise to buy first. Unless of course, you are specifically looking for colour theory.
July 25, 2012
James Gurney is the best. This book is a practical and unadorned guide to color and light, and from my limited experience the first book I'd recommend someone interested in the subject. The book is filled with useful information and contains no unnecessary fluff. Each section is paired with useful examples that clearly shows the principle he is discussing. I'll be returning to it for years.
August 4, 2012
For years I didn't read this book thinking it was about dinosaurs etc. This guy knows his stuff. This is serious information packaged in an imaginative cover, probably one of the most serious art instruction books out there & probably not for a beginner either, unless you are serious about learning.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews