Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter

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 Doesnâ€™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 indispensible 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

Customer Reviews:

I needed this 20 years ago

By J. L. Singh - November 28, 2010

Here I am an artist with three art degrees... and I never learned most of this information! My main degree was in painting and Illustration!!!! Honestly the most I learned was about cool and warm color and value - that's IT!

This book is easy to grasp, pithy and organized in such a way that you can go right to the area you are interested in without having to scan the entire book. I learned more about how to use color and paint light in the hour I ravenously scanned through it than I did in all those years of college. If you wish to learn anything about painting you must have this book!

It may seem such a simple subject, but how to set up a palette is one of the MOST confusing things an artist learns. Many times you just pick up a palette that someone else used and wing it until you get comfortable with it. Mr. Gurney actually takes so much of the mystery out of how to choose your palette of colors and how to work with what you have in that palette. This section... read more

Marks a new standard in color theory

By H. Blair "Midwest Bookseller" - November 28, 2010

(I gave this book my first fully-supported 5 star review I've ever given on amazon.com)

This book replaced at least 2 books on my shelf upon arriving and reading. It takes artists' color theory and describes it in a way that is both approachable and understandable to the beginner and professional alike.

Compared to a lot of people who have written reviews for this book (not only here but on third party sites), I have had a different trail to tread as far as trends in both art and art instruction compared to not only Gurney but artists who were taught from the 1980> . I've been drawing for about 13 years, and started right about the time that digital art was beginning to enter the playing field as a mainstream media/medium (late 90s). An advantage of that is that you were being exposed to both traditional drawing techniques and digital drawing techniques at once, where for today's generation of artists it seems that digital media has nearly swallowed many of the... read more