James Gurney Art
@jamesgurneyart.bsky.social
đ€ 12685
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Creator of Dinotopia and artist/author of Color and Light and Imaginative Realism.
My kids and their friends posed for a lot of the kids in Dinotopia. More:
jamesgurney.substack.com/p/q-and-a-su...
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Q&A Sunday: Making the Impossible Seem Inevitable
Questions about separatism, pacifism, subcreation, retro-tech, and fantasy tropes
https://jamesgurney.substack.com/p/q-and-a-sunday-is-dinotopia-a-land
15 days ago
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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...
26 days ago
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How George Catlin painted a chief of the Mandan tribe
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
about 1 month ago
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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...
2 months ago
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For every human on earth, there are about three chickens.
2 months ago
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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 minutesâjust enough time to finish.
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
2 months ago
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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
3 months ago
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Is there a Santa Claus in Dinotopia? Not exactly. Nibor Dooh is more of a reverse brigand. He takes everything youâve got and gives you what he took from the last person.
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
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Is There a Santa Claus in Dinotopia?
[Via Instagram] Graham, Never heard of such sightings, but if there were, it would be all the tavern-talk of Thermala.
https://open.substack.com/pub/jamesgurney/p/is-there-a-santa-claus-in-dinotopia?r=n4b58&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
3 months ago
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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...
4 months ago
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You, too? Music by Kevin MacLeod. Sketchbook by Talens. Assorted fountain, parallel, calligraphy, and flex pens.
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4 months ago
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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-...
4 months ago
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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, âFRAGILE HUMAN SKELETAL MATERIAL.'"
jamesgurney.substack.com/p/the-story-...
5 months ago
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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?
5 months ago
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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...
5 months ago
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This painting will be auctioned at Heritage on Nov. 4, 2025.
fineart.ha.com/itm/pulp-pul...
5 months ago
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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...
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Where My Vision of Childhood Came From
.The roots of Dinotopia and my love of Wordsworth
https://open.substack.com/pub/jamesgurney/p/childhood-is-an-awakening?r=n4b58&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
5 months ago
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(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-...
6 months ago
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Painting the Pre-Electric Night
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
6 months ago
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Milt Kahl used contour blends in this drawing of an adolescent Bambi. What's a "contour blend?" Answer here:
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
6 months ago
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Marty Owings on YouTube: "If you read the book it will unlock many secrets to being a better sketcher."
youtu.be/G3hhyFvCHEA?...
7 months ago
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Quick sketch of a lady taking a photo on the ferry. When I look again, she's gone.
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7 months ago
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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...
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7 months ago
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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.
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7 months ago
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Mixing time lapse and real time in the same shot.
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7 months ago
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Is dusk light COOL (left KrĂžyer) or WARM (right C. Hassam)?
jamesgurney.substack.com/p/art-coloni...
7 months ago
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Artists at the Olde Lyme colony played "The Wiggle Game". An artist would draw a few random, squiggly linesâ"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...
7 months ago
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Art colonies that revered twilight.
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
7 months ago
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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.
7 months ago
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âHow do you place a figure in an invented space?â and other questions from Jacob.
jamesgurney.substack.com/p/questions-...
7 months ago
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Sno Cone shack, sketched in gouache at the county fair. Watch videos:
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
7 months ago
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Finding the story in a landscape painting.
youtu.be/3tQPp_QEryc
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Finding the Story in a Landscape Painting
YouTube video by James Gurney
https://youtu.be/3tQPp_QEryc
8 months ago
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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
8 months ago
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I paint a stranded boat and answer your questions.
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
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New Video About a Stranded Boat
Watch it first on Substack
https://open.substack.com/pub/jamesgurney/p/new-video-about-a-stranded-boat?r=n4b58&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
8 months ago
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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...
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Which Colors Are Primary?
And how should artists think about primaries?
https://open.substack.com/pub/jamesgurney/p/which-colors-are-primary?r=n4b58&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
8 months ago
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The French word ârepoussoirâ 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...
8 months ago
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Edwin Austin Abbeyâs 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...
9 months ago
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Steve Jobs wanted the personal computer to be like a âbicycle for the mind.â How has that vision worked out so far?
jamesgurney.substack.com/p/a-bicycle-...
9 months ago
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A strange tree I saw on a forest hike. At the link, four explanations.
jamesgurney.substack.com/p/strange-tr...
9 months ago
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I try to achieve a finished impression as quickly as possible, and then refine the details.
youtube.com/shorts/-AuuN...
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10 months ago
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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.
11 months ago
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For centuries artist have used darkened mirrors to help them view a real landscape to look like art.
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
11 months ago
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Pitfalls of virtuosity: What is good technique, and when does it go too far?
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
11 months ago
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Each of us needs to find that peaceful center, that happy place, where we can be our best selves.
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11 months ago
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I Called a Meeting of the Owls
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
11 months ago
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Drawing moving objects is a whole different challenge compared to drawing things that hold still.
tinyurl.com/mr7bp2dn
12 months ago
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Hope everyone is enjoying the new book. I'm curious: What are you working on in your own sketching practice?
jamesgurney.com/products/the...
12 months ago
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Your questions about the color black. Art: Coles Phillips
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
12 months ago
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Do we need to fail a lot in order to succeed?
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
about 1 year ago
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Getting back into art: asking people to share their stories of returning to art-making after a long break.
open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...
about 1 year ago
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Earl Shinn described the kind of criticism that he encountered in theFrench academies. When they said âyou have failed to capture the movementâ they might be referring âto the most inert things, as the sweep of a lock of hair ; the lay of a fold of drapery.
jamesgurney.substack.com/p/criticism-...
about 1 year ago
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