My kids and their friends posed for a lot of the kids in Dinotopia. More: jamesgurney.substack.com/p/q-and-a-su...

British painter Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) hung out with travelers for six weeks during hop-picking season and did some of his best plein-air paintings. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

How George Catlin painted a chief of the Mandan tribe open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Substack post: "Art schools in the age of AI." Image: "Market Day" 1907 by Frank Calderon, who wrote a book and ran a school for painting animals. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

For every human on earth, there are about three chickens.

I was halfway into a sketch of a chicken when a kid ran through the barn whacking every cage. The birds all panicked. A girl saw my distress and offered to hypnotize it. She got it into a trance for 8 minutes—just enough time to finish. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

We were blowing the Himalayan horn around the bonfire in the full moonlight, and Smooth, the husky, started howling as if something deep was speaking through him. More on my Substack post: "Forgotten Dreams."https://jamesgurney.substack.com/p/forgotten-dreams

Is there a Santa Claus in Dinotopia? Not exactly. Nibor Dooh is more of a reverse brigand. He takes everything you’ve got and gives you what he took from the last person. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

I was a happy kid, but I came from an unhappy home. My mom was a chain-smoking alcoholic, prone to unexpected outbursts. Learning to draw was my way out. I did this pen and ink drawing from observation of a rocking chair when I was 13 years old. More on Substack. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

You, too? Music by Kevin MacLeod. Sketchbook by Talens. Assorted fountain, parallel, calligraphy, and flex pens.

Far and away the greatest concern people have right now is lazy brain syndrome caused by AI. More on my Substack. jamesgurney.substack.com/p/questions-...

On Substack today, the story of how I acquired a human skull. "It came in the mail the other day. It was wrapped in about 15 layers of packing material, which intensified the suspense. The box said on the outside, ‘FRAGILE HUMAN SKELETAL MATERIAL.'" jamesgurney.substack.com/p/the-story-...

Are people noticing lately a lot of errors (such as lost payments, crazy accounting, etc.) from business associates (such as payment processors, distributors, etc.) who are using AI?

The first page of a sketchbook can be a bit daunting, even for experienced sketchers. So what I do is start on page 2. I can always come back later and do a knockout first page. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

This painting will be auctioned at Heritage on Nov. 4, 2025. fineart.ha.com/itm/pulp-pul...

Children come into awarenesses that are brand new and highly charged. Emotions overtake them. Relationships emerge and develop. They stagger into the light of life with openness and expectation. More about childhood at my Substack: open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

(Left, my breakfast doodle. Right: Gemini takes a crack at it.) On Substack, I share 10 concerns about using AI as a creative collaborator. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Painting the Pre-Electric Night open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Milt Kahl used contour blends in this drawing of an adolescent Bambi. What's a "contour blend?" Answer here: open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Marty Owings on YouTube: "If you read the book it will unlock many secrets to being a better sketcher." youtu.be/G3hhyFvCHEA?...

Quick sketch of a lady taking a photo on the ferry. When I look again, she's gone.

Lettering is one of my secret joys, and I was so happy when Dover agreed to republish the book that inspired me at age 12. You can find it at my website: jamesgurney.com/products/art...

Lettering is one of my secret joys, and I was so happy when Dover agreed to republish the book that inspired me at age 12. You can find it at my website, jamesgurney dot com.

Mixing time lapse and real time in the same shot.

Is dusk light COOL (left Krøyer) or WARM (right C. Hassam)? jamesgurney.substack.com/p/art-coloni...

Artists at the Olde Lyme colony played "The Wiggle Game". An artist would draw a few random, squiggly lines—"wiggles". They would then hand the paper to another artist, who had to incorporate those lines into a complete and often humorous drawing. More: jamesgurney.substack.com/p/art-coloni...

Art colonies that revered twilight. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

There's a place up on Agriculture Hill where you can see across to the spinning midway, feel the cool spray from the gardening display, smell the french fries and chicken sandwiches, and hear the crowd laughing at the juggler.

“How do you place a figure in an invented space?” and other questions from Jacob. jamesgurney.substack.com/p/questions-...

Sno Cone shack, sketched in gouache at the county fair. Watch videos: open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Finding the story in a landscape painting. youtu.be/3tQPp_QEryc

On the new YouTube video, I redid the thumbnail and changed the title from "Painting a Stranded Boat in Gouache" to "Finding the Story in a Landscape Painting". youtu.be/3tQPp_QEryc

I paint a stranded boat and answer your questions. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Which colors are primary? One of the most basic art questions turns out to be not so simple. More on Substack today: open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

The French word “repoussoir” refers to an object placed in the foreground of a composition that enhances the illusion of distance with other objects. More on Substack open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Edwin Austin Abbey’s advice to art students: focus first on learning the basic skills and science of your craft, and wait until later to explore the artistic or creative side. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Steve Jobs wanted the personal computer to be like a “bicycle for the mind.” How has that vision worked out so far? jamesgurney.substack.com/p/a-bicycle-...

A strange tree I saw on a forest hike. At the link, four explanations. jamesgurney.substack.com/p/strange-tr...

I try to achieve a finished impression as quickly as possible, and then refine the details. youtube.com/shorts/-AuuN...

A landscape painter named Konstantin Kryzhitsky (1858-1911) took his own life when it was revealed that he copied from a photo. We're grappling with other ethical issues now, but the pressures are still real.

For centuries artist have used darkened mirrors to help them view a real landscape to look like art. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Pitfalls of virtuosity: What is good technique, and when does it go too far? open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Each of us needs to find that peaceful center, that happy place, where we can be our best selves.

I Called a Meeting of the Owls open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Drawing moving objects is a whole different challenge compared to drawing things that hold still. tinyurl.com/mr7bp2dn

Hope everyone is enjoying the new book. I'm curious: What are you working on in your own sketching practice? jamesgurney.com/products/the...

Your questions about the color black. Art: Coles Phillips open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Do we need to fail a lot in order to succeed? open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Getting back into art: asking people to share their stories of returning to art-making after a long break. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Earl Shinn described the kind of criticism that he encountered in theFrench academies. When they said “you have failed to capture the movement” they might be referring “to the most inert things, as the sweep of a lock of hair ; the lay of a fold of drapery. jamesgurney.substack.com/p/criticism-...