A good lesson is for students to realize that a drawing can be accurate without being perfect. The illusion of realism is something you are a master of and it is remarkable, I love your videos thank you for sharing,
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but could you please elaborate? Wouldn't you need to be as close to perfect as possible in order for it to be truly considered accurate? I just don't see how they don't coincide I guess.
@@jilliancrawford7577 Year old reply, but what the heck :). I assuming he means that you can paint very realistic looking things without them being absolute clones of the original subject. Also pure watercolor paintings everything is not painted or at least usually not needed to paint in details. More important subjects where you want to draw the viewers attention can be more detailed and other parts can be painted more loosely. Human brains are also good at filling the missing information if it's hinted well in the painting. This turtle on the other hand wasn't a real live subject, but he painted it like a live one. As a last thing I would say that at least I don't want to be a copy machine that just copies something unless it's a study then I can can try to copy more what I see.
this is excellent! James, I bought your book, Imaginative Realism, at The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and was in disbelief when I opened the cover to find that you had drawn a T-Rex on a skateboard in it and signed it. I thought maybe it was just printed until I looked at EVERY copy of the book and saw that there was subtle differences in every drawing. Too cool... Thanks for that
The one I got, T-Rex is painting on an easel. I thought the same at first that it might of been a print, but it definitely was a real drawing! Very cool of him to do that.
I'm shy about working outside because I know I'm not that good so it was nice to hear you acknowledge it and suggest a solution. Thanks + love the magnet idea for container!
The only way to "get good" is to do it, so get outside and draw. In a few years you will be getting admirers and you will STILL say that you're not good. The better we get, the more we know we can improve.
It is a joy to watch you work, and a pleasure to listen to you describe what you are doing. Did you know that the oldest living tortoise in the Galapagos Islands just passed away. Your painting is certainly a beautiful tribute to that species. Like all your steampunk graphics too!
+Travis Wilson The company (founded in 1915) is actually called Caran D'Ache; the founder named it after a French satirical cartoonist, who in turn had taken his name by Francocizing the word карандаш!
I really appreciate the balance between detail and "imperfections". Rather than being clinically perfect, the line is expressive and human, and the textures - if you look close - satisfyingly gritty. And still very realistic.
This was very helpful! I appreciate the way it was filmed. Always at the moment i thought: "ok, why did he do that?" you showed the studied object. I especially liked the part at about 3:40 where Mr. Gurney starts blending the pencils and the watercolors. This looks very effective - the textures came out very, very well - it's just so satisfying to see all of this come together into such a fine study. Thank you for this excellent demonstration. It's appreciated!
Huge fan ever since I met you in Connecticut at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center over the winter (Maybe you remember my 3-eyed owl). Thanks for being an inspiration- I've been practicing ever since.
I love your videos and the effort you put into them. Your commentary is truly what's so awesome about watching these videos, helping us understand how you illustrate.
I loved you books when I was a kid and i still have a tattered old copy next to my computer now I'm an adult. It continues to be a source of imagination and joy and I love getting lost in the world you made. I guess that's why they say a picture tells 1,000 words. Thanks for this tutorial. Very zen.
I just bought some Prismacolor water-soluble pencils and a water brush. Great video showing how to use them with watercolors. I have two of your art books which I enjoy very much. Beautiful tortoise painting.
9 years later still interesting! Am I safe to say that; whatever you can do with watercolor, gouache can do the same (when diluted enough).. But whatever you can do with gouache you cannot do with watercolor.. So why choose watercolor over gouache (price maybe)?! However both mediums are able to be enhanced with colored pencils, I just see more usability with gouache..
Thought it was pretty good with ur color choice + seeing how you used the colored pencils to give it texture but was not surprised why as soon as scrolled down the page and saw it was James Gurney :D
Thank you for the video! A long time I only colored pencils, but now I started to mix them with water color and its great how much time you save. This introduction really helped me.
Huge fan! I was wondering, do you have anything underneath the paper to make sure nothing bleeds through, or is it all technique on the watercolor paper/it is thick enough?
That is just amazing! I want to start back up drawing and do this watercolor stuff never have before so I’ll be going to Hobby Lobby. Can you suggest what items I need to start with? Thanks!!
James, please, could you tell me the name of the song towards the end of the video (at 4:11). I looked through the videos of Kevin Macleod but I couldn't find it... :(
From in my boyhood painting, I have had a significant preference for the watercolor & colored pencil (&/or colored markers, too) combination(s). As you stated, for one, this combination really affords the user a great deal of opportunity to do easy detailing, &, I might emphasize, detailing that is still very much professional & of no less satisfying outcome than straight watercolor, or, for that matter, straight colored pencils or straight markers. Thanks for the demo & share, James Gurney.
The subjects hold really still! Great idea. My father is a funeral director.. I wonder what he’d say if I wanted to practice there? Just kidding. Anyway, he’d say no. 😉
That was so nice to watch...I love the way you rendered the topography of the plates of the upper shell. Mixing the media like that is definitely something I'll be trying.. Thanks for taking us along on your artistic journeys Mr. Gurney....Kindest Regards :-)
your video is great, just from the beginning starting to show how to paint with as less as talking as possible, give your video 5 stars and I will keep watching you from Germany! Thank you for the great Video and to share with us your great painting abilities! Alfredo Hernandez from Germany
Hi, have you ever tried to do tutorial to paint TV series or movies? I would like to learn how to realize sketches of horror movies and or TV series like Stranger Things or IT.
I realize this is an 8 year old video, but it is new to me. I appreciate the explanation of what you are doing and why and how you use reactivating to your best advantage, and even the tip that a natural museum is a good place to do some art. I have never seen any artists in our museums or zoos, here in Houston, but maybe I could at least have a seat on a bench with watercolor pencils to lay down the idea and finish them at home. Brain food… nom nom nom! Thank you sir!
Really nice technique ! I'll try to use it for my vacation homework (we are forced to use at least 3 different techniques) could you tell me if soft 30° cross hatching in colored pencil works when the water is no longer humid ?
I wish it were quiet in museums. I usually take pictures there and go home to draw (:p) rather than sit down on the spot. I like quiet settings when I draw.
This is the perfect technique I can use for a landscape painting that will accent my illustrative skills without having to waste a lot of time on the painting portion of the work, while still bringing in lots of color and lighting. I can't wait to try it out. Thanks!
Is there a learned technique to drawing so quickly and accurately at the same time? Or is it just years of doing it by the book, and then getting good enough to skip the etching marks? Or is it just a talent that I'll never acquire? I'm always frustrated watching people like you draw so quickly and get these results without sketch marks, and making it look like poetry in motion. You all seem to draw in a similar manner that I see often, but have no clue where it's coming from. Am I even asking this correctly? Or is my ignorance so extreme that you don't even get what I'm asking?
It's a fair question and you asked it well. Drawing accurately but quickly is a skill that you can develop with practice. I don't do things 'by the book' because I don't think there's a single book that has all the instruction. You have probably run across explanations of making measurements with your pencil, such as in my video Street Painting in Indiana: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-c1FynskNtjI.html That's a good basic strategy. There are also methods that involve measuring slopes, comparing sight size, evaluating negative shapes, using a cropping frame, or checking vertical alignments with a plumb line. These skills generally involve seeing the 3D world as if were two-dimensional. Setting up your painting or sketchbook close to your line of sight can be a big help in achieving accuracy. Marc Dalessio has a good tutorial on this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-G0QeUviRgqY.html When I'm drawing quickly, I usually try to use a few of these methods just to make sure I'm reasonably accurate, and an experienced artist will do some of them instinctively, or "in their heads." If accuracy really matters for a particular, I may spend much more time on the preliminary drawing, and a light lay-in or "sketch marks" may be part of the process.
Thank you for that response. I'll certainly check out the links you provided. One more thing (for now?), part of that comment (concerning the notion that "you all seem to draw in a similar manner"), regards what appears to be the physical technique you're using. I'm kind of aware what you're doing and kind of not at the same time. It's like understanding (through reading about it) what a magician is doing with slight of hand, but not really being able to understand it in real time. The movements are really fluid but purposeful. I'm not trying to flatter you. I'm frustrated and jealous. I've known artists whom I've seen doing this in person. It's still a mystery. When I draw, I think I still look like a little kid doing it. I get pretty realistic renderings, but it's slow and my lines look sketchy, rather than confident. Oh well. I'll check out the links. Thanks for your time.
Wow! Thanks! Nobody's ever answered me so thoroughly. I just realized who you are. I got your book, "Imaginative Realism" for Christmas. I've been too busy with parenting duties, etc. to even open it. I will now. Thanks for the links. I'll check out your web site regularly.
James, can you tell me where you purchased the flat retractable travel watercolor brush that I see you use in many of your paintings??? I cannot seem to locate a flat, most sold are rounds...
@@jasonmullins6638 Thanks, my question was because some artists after finishing with watercolours, they add retouches with regular colour pencils just to define some features. Such artists like Lioba Bückner here in RU-vid..
@@jasonmullins6638 I'm new to watercolours after painting in acrylics and oils for few years. It's a difficult medium and not very forgiving. Take care.
Excellent performance. Let me tell you this: why don't you take a photo? Waste of time in the museum. We benefit from technology while the painting. isn't it?
There's great value in working from life, Murat Sahin. Photos lie in all sorts of ways. Camera lenses often distort proportions, flatten values, and misrepresent colors. Working from life allows us to taken advantage of our natural binocular depth perception. Photos often flatten depth of field. Plus, working from life is more fun!
What Vgudorf says below is true. I often feel that I don't really observe anything unless I draw it, and once I draw it, it's mine, in my head. At best the photos are a convenience, but they don't substitute for observing.
