From the award-winning artist, learn to see and shape the world in a way you never before imagined. An award-winning fantasy artist and the creator of Dinotopia, James Gurney instructs and inspires in Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist. Renowned for his uncanny ability to incorporate amazing detail and imagination into stunningly realistic fantasy settings, James Gurney teaches budding artists and fans of fantasy art step-by-step the techniques that won him worldwide critical acclaim. This groundbreaking work examines the practical methods for creating believable pictures of imaginary subjects, such as dinosaurs, ancient Romans, alien creatures, and distant worlds. Beginning with a survey of imaginative paintings from the Renaissance to the golden Age of American illustration, the book then goes on to explain not just techniques like sketching and composition, but also the fundamentals of believable world building including archaeology, architecture, anatomy for creatures and aliens, and fantastic engineering.
One of them is the directory allowed Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist By James Gurney.This book gives the reader new knowledge and experience. This online book is made in simple word. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST James Gurney, “Dinosaur Parade”. Oil on canvas mounted on on panel, 24 in x 48 in (62 cm x 122 cm).COURTESY The Fantastical World of Imaginative Realism BY KARA LYSANDRA ROSS Fantasy art is one of the most misunderstood categories of the contemporary realist movement.
It concludes with details and valuable advice on careers in fantasy illustration, including video game and film concept art and toy design. More than an instruction book, this is the ultimate reference for fans of science fiction and fantasy illustration. 'Gurney's Imaginative Realism is a gold mine for artists who want to create images that sing with authority and delight the viewer with rich otherworldly visuals.'
-Erik Tiemens, concept artist, Star Wars: Episodes II and III ' Imaginative Realism is an indispensable, flawless reference for vision makers in any discipline to create their own imaginative realms.' Costantino, ASAI, SI, FSAI, JARA, cofounder, American Society of Architectural Illustrators. My first 5-star book of the year. James Gurney is most famous for creating the Dinotopia books, but he's a painter who has also done a lot of Science Fiction and Fantasy book covers as well as a ton of work for National Geographic.
Imaginative Realism is aimed primarily at artists, but if you have an interest in art and the nuts and bolts of creating it, you'll probably like this book as it is akin to the behind-the-scenes features on a DVD. By the equivalent of Coppola or Kubrick. It's amazing to see the lengths Gurney goes to create a painting. Beyond just using photo references and life drawings, he builds models and maquettes in order to test shadows and foreshortening, among other things. Some of his dioramas are quite elaborate. The research he does is impeccable and thorough. He really thinks this stuff out.
I have a whole new appreciation of his craft. You'll also learn things as Gurney talks about the specifics of how to achieve a certain effect, or the history behind a style of painting. I even learned a couple new words, such as pareidolia, which is the natural human tendency to see faces in objects.
It really is jam-packed with information. This book is superbly laid out as well, something other book designers could learn from. Also on display are a variety of terrific paintings, with very few suffering from 'gutter loss' by being splashed across two pages. This book is a great tool for artists but also extremely informative for those interested in art in general or Gurney's in particular. (More pictures at parkablogs.com) If you are a regular reader of James Gurney's blog, Gurney Journey, you would expect nothing less. This book is as good as I expected.
He dispenses his knowledge as freely as he does on his blog. Here's what he says about his own book from the introduction: This is not a book about figure drawing, anatomy, or perspective. It's not a step-by-step guide on how to draw dinosaurs. It's also not a recipe book for a particular paint technique, although all these topics are addressed in passing.
What this book contains is a distillation of the time-tested methods that I've found to be most helpful for achieving realism in imaginative pictures. — James Gurney If you haven't got the hint from the title, this book is about making your art real and believable.
In every chapter, James Gurney shares with us what he learned when creating his paintings. There are topics on people, dinosaurs, architecture, vehicles, composition and his step-by-steps (not techniques but process). The tips he gives can be applied on other subjects as well. The importance of research is emphasized and the amount of research he does really shows. While creating an illustration on ship wreckage for National Geographic, he talked to survivors to get an accurate account. He found out there's a drummer boy who used his drum as a float and drew that in. He also acted out the various poses of sailors in distress, rather than drawing them from imagination.
The result is a painting that tells its story convincingly. The same goes for many of his other paintings. Another interesting read is the story of him trying to design a Dinotopian fire engine. When he presented his concept art to a professional fire engine designer, it was critiqued to have form but not function. There's lack of heat protection for the dinosaur, lack of understanding on how water hose works and a complicated water pump design.
The revised concept is a huge improvement in believability that I thought it actually might work. He has provided lots of photos and his own work in the book. You'll get to see how he stages the props for reference, sketches and drafts, plenty of commissioned work (especially from National Geographic), the bird on his shoulder while he's drawing, the lousy-art incinerator he created from mirrors and other entertaining stuff. Imaginative Realism is an enlightening and fun read. Highly recommended to professionals, beginning art students and those who wish to push their art to the next level in terms of depth.
Be sure to check out more work and writing from James Gurney at gurneyjourney.blogspot.com. On his blog, he talks about his work, art theories, insights and news from the creative field.
Gurney's guide to painting the imaginary is thoroughly detailed, carefully put together and covers an exhaustive list of topics. The methods and materials he documents, the techniques, disciplines and theories he covers and the examples he provide are not only educational the first time, they're also excellent sources to reference after reading. I highly recommend this book to anybody who has learned the basics of painting and wants to begin incorporating some advanced ideas and principles into their work. It has changed the way I paint every day at work - I can hardly give it higher praise than this. This is one of those books that you can read and then revisit again and again just to flip through.
Gurney is the king of preparedness, and it shows in his stunningly realistic worlds. Get ready to be blown away the effort that goes into it, but also the incredible payoff. Nothing is by accident. This book doesn't just show you how to make up creatures from your imagination, it gives you instructions on creating his level of lifelike creatures with shape, dimensions, flesh tones, and habitats that make sense.
You'll learn about making physical models and dioramas, staging them and lighting them, keeping files of reference materials, expanding your range by limiting your palette, where to find real-world inspiration for fantasy art, plus an absolute barrel-load of Gurney's work throughout his career.