Observing reflected light with croquet balls.Īll artists should know how shadows are cast, not only in a studio demo using croquet balls flooded with artificial lighting, but also with cylindrical forms found outdoors when wind, rain and even pollution change appearances as the day progresses into night. Even if you are a Post-Modernist setting up a 3-D tableaux in a gallery, you need to know how to light your work so the public will focus on what you’re conveying. OK, you say you’re an abstract painter, what’s in Color and Light for you? To be good at non-representational compositions you need to know the rules, then you can break them. In The Hair Secret, Gurney suggests, “a large brush, keep the forms simple and try to state the largest masses.” An inset of a commercial mop head and gift wrapping ribbon illustrates how hair behaves when hit by light–another example a reader can easily try. I’ve abbreviated, “It takes about half a city block to transition from full sunlight to full shadow.” Explanations are always backed up with Gurney’s paintings and diagrams so the reader can visualize the complicated theories. In his more scientific chapter, Atmospheric Effects, Gurney concludes with a three-part summary for the section, Cloud Shadows. Enlarged headlines give readers quick answers when thumbing through sections as in Candlelight and Firelight where Gurney says, “candlelight, lantern light, and firelight are all yellow-orange in color.” In Color and Light, Gurney poses topics, using a two page format, parceling out solutions both verbally and illustratively. We all live in the world, yet miss amazing amounts.

Written in a convenient cookbook style, he imparts artistic elements, rules-of-the-road, that take painters on a journey, becoming keener observers while perfecting their artistic endeavors. Imaginative Realism’s sequel is Gurney’s Color and Light.

These works are then carefully lit and photographed for book illustrations, removing all traces of original scale. Finished 3-D compositions get rendered into oil paintings. In this book, Gurney takes all levels of artists on his journey from HB pencil and compact sketch book onto maquette construction using garden variety cardboard and modeling clay. James Gurney’s famed Dinotopia series, enchanting adventures juxtaposing mythical creatures and humans against fantasy backgrounds, morphed into his how-to book, Imaginative Realism.

Gurney’s “Color and Light” offers a host of tips and techniques for artists of all levels.

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