Colour and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter

Description

A researched study on two of art's most fundamental themes, Colour and Light bridges the gap between abstract theory and practical knowledge. Beginning with a survey of under appreciated masters who perfected the use of colour and light, the book examines how light reveals form, the properties of colour and pigments, and the wide variety of atmospheric effects. Gurney cuts through the confusing and contradictory dogma about colour, 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 no.1 bestseller on the Amazon list for art insturction.

James Gurney's unique blending of fact and fantasy has won Hugo, Chesley, Spectrum, and World Fantasy Awards. His work has been featured in one-man exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution, the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Delaware Art Museum, and the U.S. embassies in Switzerland and Yemen. He lives with his wife, Jeanette, in the Hudson Valley of New York State.

This is a terrific book, highly recommended not only for young artists but anyone with an interest in traditional art technique. (Karen Haber, Locus) Dinotopia author and plein-air painter Gurney offers a practical, well-organized, and informative handbook for artists of all levels. (Chronogram Magazine) 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.... 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. (Mark Schulz, Publishers Weekly)