Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter (Volume 2) (James Gurney Art)

I had already bought and enjoyed James Gurney's previous book and was looking forward to reading this one. I was initially disconcerted by how much harder going this one was. I had read " Imaginative Realism" in one sitting but had to digest this one in chunks over several days. I was a bit disappointed that he only devoted 17 pages to paint and pigments which I felt could have been given more space and attention. Especially since some colours are better suited to oils than other media and the advice to just try them out to discover their properties seemed less than helpful. (Although I was rather pleased that one of the limited palettes he recommended was one I am currently exploring.) This said, there are a lot of interesting topics that are not usually covered separately in most books. The chapters on light sources were something I found inspirational, to the extent that I found myself looking closely at the qualities of reflected light in the cityscape I have been working on. There are sections in the book I am unsure about. The idea of gamut mapping to choose colours is an idea I find overly technical and unsympathetic and am unlikely to adopt. But generally I was delighted to find many things in this book that I had learnt by observation and to find out the scientific basis for them. It would have saved me a lot of trial and error over the decades if I had owned this book at college. There are also a good few interesting techniques to try out that are new to me. Although I tend to premix some gouache greys before starting to paint I haven't tried premixing most of the colours for a piece before I begin. Or pre painted skies to base plein air pieces on, come to that. This is an interesting book that I think any painter will derive some benefit from. You may not agree with everything the author advocates but it will definitely make you think. Unfortunately it is not a book for the complete beginner, unless they are willing to glean what they can and then put it away for later. But if you are already a painter it will not only confirm what you have already learnt but also give you a lot of new ideas. Definitely worth buying.

A brilliant tool for an illustrator. Definitely get this book.

This is quite simply the best book on 'colour & light' I have ever read. Quite simply it has reinvigorated my artwork after years of drifting through the motions. I wish the subject had been so well covered when I was at college. My background is in observational drawing & technical drafting, but for the last few years been pretty much cartooning, all pretty much b&w or limited to largely flat tones, so I went out & read Itten, Albers, Kandinsky to better understand 'colour theory' thinking that'd help. Wrong! Interesting, but of no real help to understanding how light & colour are effected in the real world. James Gurney's book on the otherhand is a treasure trove of explanations of how & why things look the way they do, ranging from shadows, daylight, nightlight, artificial light, reflective light, various angles of light and their effect on the scene and much much, more. It then also talks of chroma / values / palettes / contrast in realistic terms, & throughout is heavily filled with colour examples. There's a lot to digest, & I find myself referring to it often just to refresh my memory. Honestly, I can't recommend this book highly enough if you're looking to better understand light & colour and it's effects on the world around us, it is a real tour de force of observation & understanding on the subject, and in an extremely accessible writing style. Buy this, you won't regret it for a moment!

Excellent book. So much to learn from it. Packed with so much information

A decent quality book for the price and well laid-out. The author / artist is obviously very experienced & talented, and the book is good for covering a number of techniques & pointers relevant to light & shade. However, even though I used the 'look inside' feature before buying, I hadn't realised that so many of the examples and illustrations would be of dinosaurs, monsters, weird aliens and fantasy planet-scapes. There are some traditional images of what look like 1960s-70s American small town urban scenes, and of Clonmel in Ireland, but I would guess around 70% are fantasy-related. This made it feel like a manual for comic book artists or children's story / game illustrators, and I can't really relate to that. As the book's title included the term 'Realist Painter', I had expected more examples of real-life objects, people & landscapes rather than fantasy worlds.

Got this book after it being recommended. The paintings are spectacular references for use with any medium

This is an absolutely superb book and I cannot praise it enough. A ‘real education’ as they say. Let me explain why. Before you can execute works of art as an artist, you have to be a good basic artisan. If you do not master the material, you will end up being very limited in your artistic expression. Worse still, you will start to develop the kind of ‘art’ that serves to disguise the fact that you lack basic painting skills: distressed images, blurred images, eccentric colour choices. You produce trash. Since most art schools no longer teach these basic skills in a disciplined and rigorous way, the tragic consequences are all around us. Gurney’s book is a very strong introduction to two fundamental aspects of painting which are rarely properly understood: light and colour. It is very clearly written and didactical. It is written in that admirable American style that believes that the Common Man can do anything he or she wants to with study and application – and a good book on the subject. If you adore the classical masters (Greco, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Titian, Goya, Gainsborough, Reynolds) do not be put off by the surreal subject matter of many of the illustrations. The book will show you how to understand classical works of art much better. One last tip. The other skill you need to master is how to mix paint. By far the best way to learn is the Carder Methods (see DrawMixPaint.com) and associated videos on YouTube.

Super book with great advice

This is a fantastic study of "the basics" for anyone creating visual art. I print and paint miniatures, and this book has been incredibly useful for understanding everything from composition to contrast.

I've always been struggling with color theory & lighting and this book gave me a very broad insight! My art improved significantly after implementing everything I learned from this book, a must buy for all artist!

Incredible book that made me recollect my childhood; Gurney has invaluable advice in addition to beautiful artwork

Me gustó que llegó en buenas condiciones, el libro está increíble. James Gurney abarca muchos temas sin abrumar al lector. Comienza con un poco de historia del arte y va abordando cada tema por página. La parte de color me gustó mucho ya que siento yo es la más completa.

Its quite..an eye opening Like opening a window to another world..btw not exaggerating 😶..but the information is too ....too much and valuable. It will take time to understand all but...I can use little information from this book and get a lot done and improve a lot. It's that good....btw not exaggerating.