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

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

An excellent book. If you are looking to paint or draw realism it really breaks down the process. Recommended.

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

Practical usable information. It wasn’t written in the extensive exploration of topics that I was expecting maybe because it simply isn’t necessary, and perhaps because the information is given is for you to experiment with and use as you see fit. After all… “Its a guide.” Hence 4 stars despite anything from Gurney deserving 5 stars.

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.

Super book with great advice

An amazing insight into the world of James Gurney. Based on his wide ranging experience in the art and film world he explains the complex nature of the reaction of colours to different types of light source in a series of short explanations that are covered in two pages. In fact the entire presentation within the book is based on compact two page explanations of each aspect he deals with giving a written explanation and illustrated with associated paintings and diagrams. His approach is a revelation and provides a fascinating record of his thoughts and achievements in the normal and fantasy worlds that he is famous for (eg Dinotropia). I found this to be a fascinating and informative read and would recommend it to anyone interested in art and/or fantasy art.

Warum gibt es solche guten Bücher nicht auch auf deutsch? Wer Probleme hat, in seinen Bildern richtig Licht und Schatten zu setzen ist mit diesem Buch sehr gut ausgestattet. Es gibt mehrere unterschiedliche anschauungs Bilder mit unterschiedlichen Erklärungen auf Englisch (auch wenn man wie ich, nicht so gut englisch kann, ist es in Teilen verständlich und dann selbterkläend). Es sind da zwar einige Fantasy Bilder enthalten, was der Landschafts- oder realistischen Malerei keinen Abbruch macht, da hier ja erklärt wird, wo Licht und wo Schatten sein muss, was man in jedem Bild dann selber umsetzen kann.

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!

Aun no he terminado de leerlo entero y ya puedo asegurar que se trata de un grandísimo libro. Tienes que saber de qué se trata aun así, pues no te enseñará técnicas de dibujo, estilos o trucos. Sin embargo sí que te enseña algo imprescindible que muchas veces los que aprendemos por nuestra cuenta a dibujar ignoramos, que es la teoría de color, de cómo la luz y los colores reaccionan ante cualquier tipo de objeto y situación. Una cosa importante del libro que destacaría es que te explica los motivos de cada cosa, no se limite a decirte qué color tienes que poner, sino que intenta dar sentido al motivo de que sea así, y por tanto ayuda a aprender, no simplemente memorizar. El libro está desarrollado desde un punto de dibujo más tipo óleo en su mayoría, pero que eso no te eche para atrás si no es tu estilo, pues al final la teoría es la teoría, sea en el estilo que sea. Muy recomendable.

One of the best books on Light that is recommended by many artists. Very informative, enjoyed reading some of it.

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