Saturday, May 29, 2010

Introducing Color and Light

On Thursday I traveled to New York City to visit the Book Expo, the annual convention where the publishing industry presents the fall book titles.

At the Andrews McMeel Publishing booth I signed posters for Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter (224 pages, Fall 2010).

Andrews McMeel is known for their cartoon collections and gift books, but art books are something new for them. When I first presented the idea for Imaginative Realism a couple of years ago, the head of the company was a little skeptical whether there would be an audience for such a book.

Nevertheless, Andrews McMeel went all out to support the book, just as they did for Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara. The total commitment that they made was a great risk for them.

It was a risk for me, too, but I was rescued by you, my audience. In the last six months since the release of Imaginative Realism, it has reached the #1 position on Amazon.com in the categories of both art instruction and painting, and I was surprised to learn that it is already in its third printing.

So I am very appreciative to of each of you readers of the book and the blog for helping support my work in the rough waters of this economy.

The advance response for Color and Light has also been very encouraging. Here is a sampling of some of the preliminary reaction:

“This is the book I wish I had in art school”
Dylan Cole, Concept Art Director, Avatar

“This is the text book that we’ve been searching for but until now, never existed.”
Mark Tocchet, Chair, Illustration, University of the Arts, Philadelphia

“There has been a profound lack of a clear and comprehensive volume on color and light for the representational painter until now. James Gurney’s outstanding new book gives traditional and digital artists the means to give accurate and compelling expression to their subject matter.”
Nathan Fowkes, concept artist for DreamWorks and teacher at the L.A. Academy of Figurative Art

“James Gurney’s new book, Color and Light, cleverly bridges the gap between artistic observation and scientific explanation. Not only does he eloquently describe all the effects of color and light an artist might encounter, but he thrills us with his striking paintings in the process.”
Armand Cabrera, Artist

"The world we all see is a light painting. Gurney gives you the tools you need to understand and paint the light you see."

Tobey Sanford, Photographer and Author of Capturing Light

“James Gurney’s book Color and Light is a rich compendium of practical information vital to any artist concerned with depicting visual reality. With a fresh intelligence, Gurney moves from foundation principles for creating form and premixing a palette, to advanced concepts of color gamut mapping. He gives us a new look at the traditional color wheel, and essential advice for the plein-air painter. I enthusiastically recommend this book to my students.”
Ed Ahlstrom, Professor of Painting,
Montgomery College

Andrews McMeel Publishing's page on Color and Light
Amazon's page on Imaginative Realism and customer reviews
Order Imaginative Realism signed.

28 comments:

  1. Jim,

    Congratulations! I am sure Color and Light will be as great of a success as Imaginative Realism is. I can't wait for its release.

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  2. Thanks for the generous words, Armand. Your paintings and your blog are a big inspiration.

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  3. Mr. Gurney,

    I am very excited about the new book, and I will be getting a copy as soon as I can. As I think I've said before, Imaginative Realism has become my most prized book in my small studio library.
    I also wanted to let you know that I bought Journey to Chandara the other day and I was so thrilled with the new vision of Dinotopia that emerged. And the publisher did such a fine job with the elegant binding and the bookmark! Thanks for doing these great books, they are a real treasure to be discovered.

    -Will

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  4. Thank you for the quick links to online ordering! I put in a pre-order this morning. I'm looking forward to writing this off on my taxes as a significant learning tool for my painting. *grin* :)

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  5. Also, will you by any chance be traveling near Nashville, TN this year for any signings or conferences?
    Thanks!

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  6. Congratulations with the success of Imaginative Realism - it is well deserved. It sits on my shelf right there with books by Andrew Loomis, Harold Speed and Daniel Parkhurst and fits right in with that company. I am confident that Color and Light will be a great book as well!

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  7. Sounds fantastic! I'll have to add it to my amazon wishlist :]

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  8. I already decided as soon as you announced it that I would get this book when it is released. Imaginative Realism is such a good book that I have no doubt Color and Light will be a good buy too. I can't wait!

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  9. I've just added it to my alerts list on Abebooks... (rubbing hands)

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  10. Will you be offering signed copies of Color and Light? If so -- and equally important -- will they be delivered to the post office by unicycle?

    Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing and using the book. Many thanks for all you do, Jim.

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  11. In order to give you a background, I bought Imaginative Realism after having read your article in ImagineFX magazine, and was very impressed after reading it. Every time I read through it I learn something new. I started following your blog after than and I'm looking forward to the next book, which I am certain I will buy as well.

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  12. Waiting, waiting, waiting... and so excited!

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  13. Congrats on your success! I just got a copy of imaginative Realism the other day and am blown away, it'll take many years of practice to fully absorb it's contents, thanks so much for distilling all that wisdom!

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  14. OK, I'm planning to get the book - but where can I get the poster? Signed? Will you be coming to Toronto? (please, please, please?)

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  15. Congratulations! and thank you for your awesome autographs at the Delaware Art Museum!

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  16. Congratulations on the success of Imaginative Realism, I love my copy.

    I can't wait for the Color and Light book! I'm glad that we got a glimpse of some of the content here and I'm sure that it will be fantastic.

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  17. The reason "Imaginative Realism" is selling well is that it is a damn good book. The excellent production helps too.

    The Quozl picture alone is worth the price of the book.

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  18. I'm really looking forward to seeing the new book. If it's as good as Imaginative Realism is then it will be a best seller.

    Maybe even one of those ones which goes on being a best seller year after year? :)

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  19. Thanks, everybody. Steve, I hope to do some videos later in the summer.

    Katherine, your website is mentioned in the bibliography as one of the best resources on the Web.

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  20. Thank you again for the nice posters, that painting is beautiful!! Looking forward to the book

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  21. Is there any way you could push up the release date of this book? Just a tiny little bit - like a month or two? Pretty please? :-)

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  22. Kingworks--I wish I could speed up the release, but it's just going to press this week, and Andrews McMeel really goes the extra mile with quality printing and binding, which takes time.

    Don and Will Kelly, thanks for noticing the quality of the production work that they do.

    Susan, I'd love to come back to Toronto, but no definite plans yet. I'll give away some posters in the next few months if I can think up some fun contests.

    CGB and David, thanks for the confidence--the book is definitely crammed full of information. Steve, I'm sure how the unicycle will factor into the deliveries from our little website store, but YES, we'll offer signed copies as before.

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  23. This is gonna be great! I can't wait to get a copy. Awesome, Mark Tocchet gave a review of your book, he was teacher at U of Arts. Best wishes with the book, James!!

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  24. As editor of Imaginative Realism and Color and Light, I can assure you that the author puts in as much, or more, work into his book. His standards are our standards. We are proud of these two volumes, and I am so pleased to read in the comments that we lived up to expectations.

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  25. I owe it to the guys at Sidebar for introducing me to your work, Mr. Gurney, and in turn to 'Imaginative Realism'. It's the perfect resource for a recent grad like me, and a must-have for every artist from all walks of life. Congrats on the well-deserved success, and I absolutely cannot wait for Color and Light!

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  26. Wouldn't it be fun to have both the first and second best selling books in those categories.. Knock on wood... Mark my words! It's well deserved!

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  27. Congrats! I really love Imaginative Realism and am really looking forward to getting a copy of Color and Light. Do you know when it is going to be available?

    -Shannon

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  28. Mia, I really enjoy the Sidebar comic and fantasy artist interviews. For those not familiar: Sidebarnation.com

    Shannon, the new book will be out by November 2010.

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