Gurney Journey

Special Delivery

2025年04月09日T12:40:00.003-04:00

Hope everyone is enjoying the new book.

I'm curious: What are you working on in your own sketching practice?

Crash of the Florist Van

2025年04月07日T13:20:00.001-04:00

This florist van crashed into something jagged, which sliced through it from under the headlight to the side door panel. (Ballpoint pen and gray markers, around 1980.)

This was one of the sketches we couldn't fit into the expanded and remastered edition of "The Artist's Guide to Sketching."

The Color Black

2025年04月04日T20:38:00.003-04:00

Art: Coles Phillips

Your questions about the color black. More on Substack

Freeway Overpass

2025年03月19日T02:26:00.000-04:00

FREEWAY OVERPASS, markers and charcoal, 11" x 17".
Why do thumbnails? It's a low-risk way of thinking visually.

My goal here is to capture a feeling of speed and drama. I want to convey the headlong race of forms stretching across the landscape

I try a few different compositions, but they don't work. The first thumbnail on the left is too cluttered with trees and poles. The overpass dips out of the picture, rather than surging out.

In the final art at the top of this post, I allow the eye to follow the movement of the overpass into the middle ground space. I accent this area with strong value contrast, hard edges, and very small shapes.

From The Artist's Guide to Sketching)

Sketching at a Police Helipad. What Could Go Wrong?

2025年03月10日T15:40:00.001-04:00

PATROL HELICOPTER, 1981, gouache on illustration board, 91⁄2" x 13".

Here's the story:
A field in Glendale, California, contains what I’m told is the world’s largest collection of police helicopters. It’s a calm, sunny day, ideal for trying out gouache paint. But I’m not expecting what’s about to hit me.

I pass through a gate in the chain-link fence and approach a building. Inside, two women with headphone radios are communicating with police helicopters around LA. One looks up, adjusts her headphones, and asks, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm an art student," I say. "I wonder if I could set up outside and paint a picture of that helicopter." I point through the large windows. "Is that one going to stay there for a while?"

She pauses for a moment, seemingly surprised by the request. "Sure, I guess so," she replies. "That one's not going anywhere for a while. Just stay on the grass and off the airfield." She resumes her work as a call comes in.

Outside, I unfold my stool near the landing area and lay out my paper towels, sketch paper, and extra panels.

I paint the sky gradient and distant mountains. Soon, I hear the faint sound of a helicopter. Like a speck, it grows bigger, approaching until it’s overhead.

Then it hits me—the downforce from the rotors knocks off my hat. Loose papers fly up and disappear behind me. The hot wind dries the paint instantly, and dust and gravel get in my eyes. I clutch onto the painting.

As the chopper shuts down, I pick the loose papers off the fence and pack my things. The pilot gets out and smiles as he walks by. "Sorry about that," he says. "I wondered what you were doing there."

[This painting is reproduced in color in the new edition of The Artist's Guide to Sketching. available in the USA from my little family web store.]

Step-by-Step of the Underdrawing

2025年03月08日T16:32:00.002-05:00

The Artist's Guide to Sketching isn't really a "how-to" book, but we do have a chapter with a with a step-by-step sequence explaining a method for achieving accurate measurements and perspective.

Here's how you do it: first rough in the big shapes, check measurements and slopes, draw perspective guidelines, then refine the detailed underdrawing.

Chris (CF) Payne says: "While all three of James’ books are profound and valuable, The Artist’s Guide to Sketching may be the best, if not the most important. The lessons are supremely important, and each presented with visual samples and clearly written text. I wish I had this book when I was young and hungry to learn. A perfect book for high school students just beginning their art education, and an absolute must for first year college art students regardless of their art major."

Gang Members as Models

2025年03月03日T19:49:00.001-05:00

Gang members may look intimidating, but if you catch them in public places, they make great models.

Two Young Gang Members, published in The Artist's Guide to Sketching

This idea applies to goths, bikers, punkers, ravers, metalheads & bodybuilders.
In my experience they’re keenly aware of the effect their appearance has on ordinary, mundane people. They know it’s a costume, either temporary or permanent (as in the case of body modifications).

Carmel Event March 15

2025年02月27日T20:18:00.000-05:00

Join me in Carmel, CA on Saturday, March 15 from 12:00-2:00 for a presentation and book signing.

I'll be talking about my friendship with Tom Kinkade and how it led to the book "The Artist's Guide to Sketching."

This will be the only public event in the Bay Area for this book (the other events are at art schools and animation studios), and the first time I've done an event at a Thomas Kinkade gallery, which should be an interesting experience for all of us.

Meanwhile in the Shipping Department

2025年02月25日T20:07:00.001-05:00

The new edition of The Artist's Guide to Sketching releases today, and I want to thank everyone for your enthusiasm and kind words.

We offered copies for sale in our little web store (sorry, USA only) and so many of you wanted signed copies that we had to enlist the help of the whole family to help us pack and ship.

We have already sent out over 800 copies, and many of you have received them, or you will soon.

If you ordered a copy and haven't gotten it yet, here's the update—we're almost caught up and hope to have every order that we receive by today in the mail by the end of this weekend.

So please hang in there; it will be worth the wait.

WAMC Radio Interview

2025年02月25日T08:57:00.000-05:00

Northeast Public Radio's Joe Donahue wanted to know this about sketching:

"Do you do it to relax?"
"What do you see that catches your eye?"
"When does a sketch become a painting?"
"How long can you focus on a subject?"
"What do you consider your main work these days?

This is why authors love to be interviewed by Joe Donahue.
He asks questions you can’t prepare for, which makes you think about your topic in a new way.
Link to Interview

Hopping Freight Trains

2025年02月24日T09:37:00.000-05:00

New post about riding the rails.

Sargent Wanted his Models to Talk to Him

2025年02月18日T20:32:00.002-05:00

John S. Sargent, like most portrait artists of his time, insisted that models moved and spoke while they posed, unlike the contemporary practice of having subjects hold dead still. More here.

Sketch Carpet

2025年01月30日T15:29:00.000-05:00

Nathalia says: "I wish you could have captured a quick, cheap digital image of all of the drawing you made and SOLD. Just to have a record. Ya know?"

Hi, Nathalia, this is the closest we've got: a photo of some of the sketches we did around 1980-1981. Most of them ended up on the cutting room floor. We probably had three sketches for every one that made it in the book, and many that have never been seen.

We had no way to sell them at the time, and I'm glad we didn't because it allowed us to rescan them for a much better printing of the new book compared to the first edition.

Sketching Book Reviewed

2025年01月20日T16:33:00.002-05:00

I’m grateful to Zoungy Kligge for the insightful review of The Artist’s Guide to Sketching by me and Thomas Kinkade.

Zoungy’s coverage includes side by sides of how the art looked in the 1982 edition compared to the way it looks in the new expanded and remastered edition. Here’s a link to his full review on Substack.

Las Vegas After a Fire by Thomas Kinkade, watercolor

If you are waiting for a pre-ordered copy, thanks for your patience. We’re working our way through a huge stack, signing each copy and including a few extra goodies in every shipment. You should receive a notification soon that yours is on the way, too.

Meanwhile here’s what folks are saying about the new edition:

"Every urban sketcher should own a copy of The Artist’s Guide to Sketching. In fact, if I could only have one drawing book on my shelf, it would be this one. It’s packed with that many insights about drawing on location, about everything from perspective to people sketching to nature and animals. But for me, the most brilliant section is about learning to capture motion by training your eye to freeze a gesture so you can record it in your sketchbook."
—Shari Blaukopf, co-founder of Urban Sketchers Montreal and author of The Urban Sketching Handbook: Working with Color

"This is a marvelous book, filled with the kind of wisdom you’ll never find in a classroom or library. Two artists paid their dues and learned valuable lessons on their cross-country sketching safari. They’ve passed those lessons on to us in a classic book, now expanded and remastered. Their practical pointers about drawing materials and techniques are important, but equally important is the inspiration we get from the story of the two travelers hopping freight trains and sleeping on rooftops, earning their way by the sheer love of drawing. Profusely illustrated, beautifully written."
—David Apatoff, Art Critic, The Saturday Evening Post

Get your signed copy of The Artist’s Guide to Sketching

What Should Art Schools Teach?

2025年01月11日T19:15:00.001-05:00

R. Ives Gammell, one of the keepers of the academic flames, makes an interesting point about art teaching:

"A painter’s training does not consist primarily in instruction as to the handling of his materials. Such knowledge is extremely important, of course, but it is not the main thing. The essential purpose of a painter’s training should be to equip him with the means of solving any problem suggested to him by his creative impulse."

Do you agree? What should art schools teach, and what should they not teach? Let me know in the comments.

On Substack; Gammell on Art Teaching

Chasing a Glitter Path

2024年12月21日T17:52:00.004-05:00

New YouTube video covers:

1. Pathways of light reflected on water,

2. Hotspot priming

3. Contre-jour lighting.

4. The poetic traditions of glitter paths and moonpaths.

Two Art Podcasts

2024年12月15日T16:02:00.001-05:00

I enjoyed my conversations with Michael Clawson, host of the American Art Collective Podcast...

and B. Eric Rhoads, founder of Plein Air Magazine and host of the Plein-Air Podcast.

A Brain Circuit that Detects Faces

2024年12月14日T04:50:00.000-05:00

A brain circuit in primates that rapidly detects faces has been discovered.

This circuit, involving the superior colliculus, explains how we quickly spot and focus on faces, which could be relevant for portrait artists, character designers, or anyone who draws or paints people.

According to a news release from the NIH, "The newly discovered circuit first engages an evolutionarily ancient part of the brain called the superior colliculus, which can then trigger the eyes and head to turn for a better look. This better view enables different brain areas in the temporal cortex to engage in more complex facial recognition."

The superior colliculus has also been found to play a crucial role in distinguishing objects from their backgrounds. PsyPost says:

"Researchers demonstrated that when the superior colliculus was deactivated, the mice had difficulty identifying objects against various backgrounds. This indicates that the superior colliculus is involved in a parallel pathway for visual processing, highlighting its significance in the brain’s overall visual system."

It's all a reminder to us artists that the viewer's attention is primed for seeing faces in whatever image we create. The ability to recognize, orient to, and identify people by their faces is built into our brain structures.

So if you put a little more time into getting that face exactly right, your time is well spent.

Matěják's Three Favorite Art Books

2024年12月02日T09:09:00.005-05:00

Thanks to YouTuber Jan Matěják for featuring my book Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter in your shortlisted recommendations.

He says: "This one is hands-down the most valuable in my entire collection."

You can get signed copies of Color and Light at our online store. It’s also our bestseller.

Problem Solving for Oil Painters by Gregg Kreutz

The Art of Still Life by Todd Casey

Tiny Triads

2024年11月30日T17:54:00.001-05:00

Here are two gouache plein air sketches painted with tiny triads.

Left: titanium white, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and Prussian blue.

Right: white, cadmium yellow deep, raw sienna, and brilliant purple.

Free Stickers

2024年11月24日T12:54:00.001-05:00

For the rest of the year, EVERY order shipped from my online bookstore comes with 4 FREE stickers.

Kudos to this Bookseller

2024年11月18日T03:20:00.001-05:00

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by James Gurney (@jamesgurneyart)

Book Signing This Thursday in Rhinebeck

2024年11月05日T15:18:00.001-05:00

I’ll be doing a book signing this Thursday, Nov. 7 at 6:00 at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, New York.

I expect to be signing: DINOTOPIA• COLOR AND LIGHT • IMAGINATIVE REALISM • LIFE LESSONS FROM DINOSAURS, plus we’ve got a preview copy that you can see of THE ARTIST’S GUIDE TO SKETCHING.

I’ll bring along a couple original paintings and do a brief talk and Q&A. Hope to see you there!

Lines and the Brain

2024年10月28日T23:04:00.003-04:00

Coles Phillips was a Golden Age illustrator who created illusory shapes as a compositional device, making our brains see what isn’t there. He became known for the "Fadeaway Girl," who disappears into the background.

More at my Substack article "Lines and the Brain," part 1 and Part 2.

Lightbox Schedule

2024年10月20日T13:44:00.000-04:00

Here are my events for Lightbox Expo in Pasadena a week from now. The rest of the time I'll be wandering around. I look forward to meeting you there.