Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist

Digital illustrating has driven the handmade illustrating business to extinction. But this book is still useful for other artists. If you are a traditional painter, it doesn't matter your movement of choice, it could be photo/hyper-realism, realism, academicism, pop art or even cubism. It will show you how stories were painted out of handwritten descriptions in the pre-photographic era, and how using the same principles storyboard artists today create entire cinematic universes merely out of handwritten and mostly verbal descriptions provided to them by directors, location scouts and screenwriters. If you are a budding storyboard artist or merely a traditional artist interested in creating original paintings in line with any movement at all, this book will show you how, and teach you the invaluable vocabulary to carry out the entire process.

its been some days since I got this book, really loved the overall product and its content which is helpful if you want to pursue traditional painting on mystical creatures this is the book for you, helpful for digital artist also but only for understanding colours no digital tutorials, as this is specially for traditional artist, but go for it if you want to expand your knowledge about how pro do their work from starting to finish.

James Gurney is a true God when it comes to imaginative realism. A Master piece.

This is a must read for any serious artist. A gem of a book

The book was in the poorest of the poorest condition when it arrived. Soaked and the pages all sticky........

I am afraid I judged this book by its cover and really didn't think that this was the kind of book that would be suitable for me or that I would enjoy. But having encountered James Gurney online and discovered that, rather than just painting dinosaurs, he was a far more traditional painter than I had imagined and decided to give it a try. I am delighted that I did. This is an excellent book written by a painter for other painters and full of interesting insights. It is definitely not for beginners since it assumes that you can already paint and draw well and are willing to work devotedly to conjure up a realistic depiction of an imaginary scene. He is consciously drawing on the heritage of the golden age of American illustration (which I like too) and takes you through all the steps he takes from thumbnail sketches to finished pieces, which is fascinating. There are a couple of drawbacks : his studio setup, kit and workshop facilities are way beyond what most of us can aspire to so I wish he could be a little more aware about these limitations most of us face. ( Plasticine and cardboard maquettes lit by an Anglepoise work fine for us lesser mortals.) This could be daunting or reduce one to paroxysms of envy. There is very little about any other medium except oil paint and you also have to have a high tolerance for dinosaurs . However these are minor quibbles. There is not only the enjoyment of being taken through his process of work but a lot of useful information to be gleaned en route. In fact I was so impressed that I immediately ordered his other book - "Colour and Light". So I can unhesitatingly recommend this to any other realist painter who wants some insight into Gurney's way of working and how to depict an imaginary world.

Esse livro é uma verdadeira bíblia para todos os artistas, mas principalmente para os que trabalham com ilustração especulativa (fantasia, ficção-científica etc). Caso você não saiba do que se trata, é um livro de referências para técnicas de desenho e pintura (utilização de referências, práticas para sketchbook etc). Provavelmente você vai morrer sem ter testado todas as técnicas que ele descreve, de tão completo que é o livro. A única ressalva que faço é que, se você for um artista iniciante, NÃO COMPRE esse livro, porque ele não vai ser útil pra você. Foque em aprender os fundamentos, porque apenas depois disso os ensinos desse livro vão te contemplar.

Ein beeindruckendes Buch voller Wissen, Erfahrung und vor allem: fantastischer Illustrationen. James Gurney zeigt nicht nur Techniken, sondern auch Denkprozesse und Herangehensweisen, um Dinge zu malen, die es in der Realität nicht gibt – aber trotzdem glaubwürdig wirken. Das Buch richtet sich eher an fortgeschrittene Zeichner und Maler, die bereits ein solides Fundament mitbringen. Für Einsteiger kann es etwas überwältigend sein – aber alleine die Bilder und Skizzen sind schon eine große Inspiration. Eine deutschsprachige Version wär dann auch schön gewesen.

やっぱり、日本語版にしておけば良かったかなと思ってます。もう一冊買おうかな〜！ とても魅力的な絵の数々。恐竜と鳥好きな私の好みにぴったりだわと見ていたらSFな世界のリアリスティックな？空想世界 が広がっていて、英語がほとんどわからなくてもとても感動します！ 恐竜の模型を作製してから、スケッチするという手の込んだ作者のこだわりにびっくりしました。 是非手にとって鑑賞して頂きたいジェームス・ガーニーさんの傑作本です！

What's not to like? Grade A art book with plenty of lessons.