James Gurney’s Self-Education Journey - Draftsmen S3E04
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lesson video
James Gurney’s Self-Education Journey - Draftsmen S3E04
comments 5 submissions
Passy Deng
I like James' inspiring statement - "Don't just watch it, do it," echo Stan's statement, "you only consume to help create something new." I am happy that some of my favorite artists are mentioned in the podcast, such as Norman Rockwell, John Singer Sargent, Alphonse Mucha, Jean-Léon Gérôme, etc. Whoever made the Lesson Notes, THANK YOU! Love learning about new artists and perspectives!
LESSON NOTES

James Gurney is our podcast guest this week! He’s the creator behind Dinotopia and the author of “Color and Light” and “Imaginative Realism”. James talks with us about how he was able to succeed with his own art education and how it deviated from traditional art schools. We also take a look at popular art books that you can study from, try to imagine what the future of art education looks like, and talk about the struggles of using animals as live models.

Where You Can Find James’s Stuff
Website
Gurney Journey blog
Youtube
Gumroad

His Books (affiliate links)
Imaginative Realism by James Gurney
Color and Light by James Gurney
Dinotopia by James Gurney

Books and Resources

(some contain affiliate links)

Composing Pictures by Donald W. Graham

The Artist’s Guide to Sketching by James Gurney

Howard Pyle Weekly Drawing Sessions (Blog Post)

Perspective Drawing by Ernest Norling

Drawing Made Easy by Edwin Lutz

How to Draw Animals by Jack Hamm

Cartooning the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm

Norman Rockwell Illustrator by Arthur Guptill

Art Alphabets, Monograms, and Lettering by J.M. Bergling

Gurney Journey Dover list

Drawn to Life by Walt Stanchfield

Figure Drawing For All It’s Worth by Andrew Loomis

Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis

Gurney Journey Best Art Instruction Poll

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

The Human Figure by John Vanderpoel

The Practice of Oil Painting and Drawing by Solomon J. Solomon

The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed

Negotiating a Book Contract by Mark Levine

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

Animal Painting and Anatomy by Frank Calderon

Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard Williams

Grand Central Academy of Art

Robert Rodriquez 10 minute Film School

Art Babbitt animation

Heinrich Kley sketchbook tour

Pete Beard


Referenced Artists:

James Gurney

James Gurney

Rico Lebrun

Rico Lebrun

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

N.C. Wyeth

N.C. Wyeth

Los Angeles Natural History Museum

Los Angeles Natural History Museum

Rhode Island School of Design Nature Lab

Rhode Island School of Design Nature Lab

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts - Cast Hall

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts - Cast Hall

Thomas Kinkade

Thomas Kinkade

Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth

Adolph Menzel

Adolph Menzel

Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter

James Montgomery Flagg

James Montgomery Flagg

Mort Drucker

Mort Drucker

Frank Brangwyn

Frank Brangwyn

John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent

Bob Ross

Bob Ross

Jon Gnagy

Jon Gnagy

Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha

Jean-Léon Gérôme

Jean-Léon Gérôme

William-Adolphe Bouguereau

William-Adolphe Bouguereau

J.C. Leyendecker

J.C. Leyendecker

Dean Cornwell

Dean Cornwell

Howard Pyle

Howard Pyle

John Berkey

John Berkey

Tom Lovell

Tom Lovell

Harry Anderson

Harry Anderson

Mark English

Mark English

Bernie Fuchs

Bernie Fuchs

Bob Peake

Bob Peake

Fire and Ice movie

Fire and Ice movie

John Ruskin

John Ruskin

Asher Durand

Asher Durand

W. Heath Robinson

W. Heath Robinson

T.S. Sullivant

T.S. Sullivant

James Gurney cartoons

James Gurney cartoons

Norman Rockwell cartoons

Norman Rockwell cartoons

Ian McCaig

Ian McCaig

Anders Zorn

Anders Zorn

Kim Jung Gi

Kim Jung Gi

Paul Chadwick

Paul Chadwick

Ron Harris

Ron Harris

Jeanette Gurney

Jeanette Gurney

Bryn Barnard

Bryn Barnard

Glenn Wessels

Glenn Wessels

Joe DeMers

Joe DeMers

Coby Whitmore

Coby Whitmore

Frank Schoonover

Frank Schoonover

Steve Doherty

Steve Doherty

SKB Workshop in Dubois, WY

SKB Workshop in Dubois, WY

Bruno Liljefors

Bruno Liljefors

Bob Kuhn

Bob Kuhn

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators
COMMENTS
Stan Prokopenko
Take a trip with us back to the Mesozoic Era! In today’s episode, we sit down with professional illustrator and creator of the Dinotopia series James Gurney.
Newest
@daniellee
2yr
I'm watching this in 2023. I love everything James said, what incredible advice and inspirational story! I hope that we are beyond taking advice to elon at this point, though.
@fores
5yr
Thank you guys so much! Wandering around on sns makes me self-conscious about not creating eye-grabbing stuff. Hearing this talk wakes me up from that haze.
Passy Deng
5yr
I like James' inspiring statement - "Don't just watch it, do it," echo Stan's statement, "you only consume to help create something new." I am happy that some of my favorite artists are mentioned in the podcast, such as Norman Rockwell, John Singer Sargent, Alphonse Mucha, Jean-Léon Gérôme, etc. Whoever made the Lesson Notes, THANK YOU! Love learning about new artists and perspectives!
Jesse Yao
5yr
That was really inspiring! Personally I've always had a hard time finding art parents so all those resources that you guys mentioned seem really interesting to me. It was also really surprising to know that James went to UC Berkeley, since I'm a student there right now (finishing up freshman year) :D
Christopher Lebreault
Thank you for this episode. As someone trying to go the "self education" route , i gained a lot from this episode! Obvious reasons for the air quotes lol. Something I would like to see in episodes is either a list or link to the mentioned artists. I usually listen to this podcast while out and about, so trying to find the artist mentioned can be really challenging at times. Thanks again!
Mike Jara
5yr
Glad this was a helpful episode @Christopher Lebreault. Regarding a list of artists mentioned, have you looked in the Lesson Notes tab above. There is a long list of the artists and examples of their work.
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