'Australia's Age of Dinosaurs' 5 stamps for Australia Post, 2013 “Uncovering Patagonia’s Lost World.” December 1997 “Attic Scene, NGS Centennial.” February 1989 “Discovering the New World’s Richest Unlooted Tomb.” October 1988 “Sealed in Time: Ice Entombs an Eskimo Family for Five Centuries.” June 1987 “Jason’s Voyage: In Search of the Golden Fleece.” September 1985 Selected Illustration Work National Geographic Magazine articles:

The Artist’s Guide to Sketching, (coauthored with Thomas Kinkade) Watson-Guptill, 1982 Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist, Andrews McMeel, 2009ĭinotopia: Journey to Chandara, Andrews McMeel, 2007ĭinotopia: First Flight, HarperCollins, New York 1999ĭinotopia: The World Beneath, Turner Publishing, 1995ĭinotopia: A Land Apart from Time, Turner, 1992 Books by James Gurney Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter, Andrews McMeel, 2010 His book, Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter (2010) was Amazon’s #1 bestselling book on painting for over 52 weeks and is based on his daily blog. He is a popular lecturer at art schools, movie studios and game companies, and he teaches occasional workshops. Solo exhibitions of his artwork have been presented at The Smithsonian Institution, The Norman Rockwell Museum, The Norton Museum of Art, The Delaware Art Museum, and other venues. The inspiration that came from researching these scenes of ancient life led to a series of lost world paintings, including ”Dinosaur Parade” and ”Waterfall City.” With the encouragement of retired publishers Ian and Betty Ballantine, he committed two years’ time to writing and illustrating Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time, which was published in 1992. His has worked on more than a dozen assignments for National Geographic magazine, painting reconstructions of Moche, Kushite, and Etruscan civilizations. His freelance illustration career began with paperback book covers, where he developed his characteristic realistic renderings of fantastic scenes, often using posed models and handmade maquettes for reference. During the same period, he worked as a background painter for the animated film Fire and Ice, co-produced by Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta. Prompted by a cross-country adventure on freight trains, he coauthored The Artist’s Guide to Sketching in 1982.

He studied archaeology at the University of California at Berkeley, receiving a degree in anthropology with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Born in California in 1958, the son of a mechanical engineer, he taught himself to draw by reading books about the illustrators Norman Rockwell and Howard Pyle.

James gurney national geographic