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multilingual_s's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
Beautiful illustration and a great insight into the technical aspects of fantasy illustration!
trike's review against another edition
5.0
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.
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.
therearenobadbooks's review against another edition
5.0
This book completes the other (Color and Light). It has a lot of art, examples and it explains well the process of creating an object/sculpture in order to create a painting after ( the figure that is represented on the book cover). He explains that we can paint the imagination by creating it first, then it's a matter of setting the light correctly on the studio and paint what you just sculpted or composed on your table.
If not, this and the other book are amazing to keep as a collection, because of the amount of full page art.
It might be a little overwhelming for beginners.
If not, this and the other book are amazing to keep as a collection, because of the amount of full page art.
It might be a little overwhelming for beginners.