Tuesday, March 16, 2010

What Does “Permanent” Mean?



The word “permanent” appears on many different art products, but it’s a confusing term. On many graphic art products, such as inks or felt-tipped markers, it really means “waterproof,” rather than “lightfast.” Many calligraphy or fountain pen inks, such as the brown inks in the drawing above, are not waterproof, but they’re reasonably lightfast, considering that most handwriting isn’t usually subjected to light for long periods.

The sketches are for sky galleys, part of the planning for Waterfall City, from Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time.

9 comments:

Eugen Caitaz said...

Very cool! It's skeatches by Leonardo De Vinci????! :)

Vincent Boyer said...

Great sketches !
I love your art and dinotopia !!
I follow your blog almost every day and it's very helpful and inspirational !
I just wanted to say it to you.

Cheers from France

Unknown said...

i believe it means, damn i need a new shirt. haha nice post

El Ermitaño Amaya said...

James! I've been a secret follower for months of your blog and today I decided to jump into the light, and let you know that you're a great help for lots of "artists" across the globe. Just to make my point, I tell you that Im from Argentina! Keep it up! Great blog, great artist!

Tom Hart said...

Hi James -

Do you use any special rig for the photos you take of your own artwork that you post on Gurney Journey? It just dawned on me that you must have developed a "Gurney System" for that by now, and that we might profit from what you've learned.

And thanks, as others here have mentioned, for continuing such a wonderful blog!!

Claire Vrabel said...

I second tom's suggestion! :)

James Gurney said...

Tom and Claire--Nothing fancy--I use a camera on a tripod, sometimes indoor and sometimes outdoor. I'll do a post on it sometime--thanks for asking.

David--don't forget, faded clothes are cool. Don't they sell them that way new in the store?

Jenea--I wish they were by da Vinci. Then I could retire.

El E. Amayo and Vincent--Thanks for saying hello, and I'm glad you enjoy the blog. All the way from Argentina and France! That's amazing.

Steve said...

David may have been referring to clothing becoming faded, but I thought he was referring to a certain artist who left his pen in his pocket when sending it through the wash. The permanent nature of the ink could result in the need for a new shirt. I might be wrong.

James Gurney said...

Steve, Oh, you're right. Even though that fountain pen ink was supposed to be washable, it pretty much wrecked the shirt. There was some brown component to the ink that wouldn't come out.