James Gurney | Sacrificing Detail for a Moody Light Effect @JamesGurney | Uploaded October 2021 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
James Gurney paints a street scene in Greenport, Long Island in the morning light. His goal is to capture a fleeing light effect by using a warm priming color, "photographic" lens flares, and a glaze that reduces or sacrifices detail. Because he's painting in gouache and watercolor over a casein priming, the glaze is risky because gouache reactivates when it's rewet.
THEORY OF SACRIFICES
“Nature instills sentiments in the spectator through the selective sacrifice of details in order to improve the overall effect.”
--George Barret, The Theory and Practice of Water Colour Painting: Elucidated in a Series of Letters
“Painters without experience often weaken the effect they wish to produce by a prodigality which multiplies uselessly the figures and accessories of a picture. It will not be long before they learn that, the greater the conciseness and simplicity with which a thought is interpreted, the more it gains in expressive force.”
—Jules Breton, The Life of an Artist, An Autobiography
GOUACHE, WATERCOLOR, and CASEIN PAINT
Zinc White: amzn.to/3DJHmDF
Azo yellow: amzn.to/3AomPDn
Pyrrol Red: amzn.to/2XdPcS7
Transparent Orange Iron Oxide: amzn.to/3lHghLn
Ultramarine blue: amzn.to/2Sm4FyB
Prussian blue: amzn.to/2JVbVwb
Sepia: amzn.to/2X7Ulgs
Richeson casein set: amzn.to/2Huk4u3
OTHER MATERIALS
Pentalic watercolor sketchbook: amzn.to/2L989y2
Water cup: amzn.to/2soTw2L
Homemade sketch easel: gurneyjourney.gumroad.com/l/sketcheasel
Rigger brush (synthetic #3) amzn.to/3AJoW4i
Richeson travel brush set: amzn.to/2xwq1Rr
Richeson “Grey Matters” brush set: amzn.to/2YeNO0P
Water cup: amzn.to/2soTw2L
CAMERAS and AUDIO
Pocket camera (Canon SX620): amzn.to/3lIbtVW
Mirrorless camera (Canon M6): amzn.to/3BJIjeU
Stereo mics/recorders (Rode Wireless Go II): amzn.to/3mVsMSP
Stereo recorder (Zoom H2n): amzn.to/3aFjCUP
Tripod: amzn.to/2xrRaFc
VIDEO TUTORIALS:
“How to Make a Sketch Easel” (DVD and download options): jamesgurney.com/products/how-to-make-a-sketch-easel
"Gouache in the Wild" : jamesgurney.com/products/gouache-in-the-wild
"Casein Painting in the Wild": jamesgurney.com/products/casein-painting-in-the-wild
"GRADIENTS: Color, Form, Illusion." jamesgurney.com/products/gradients-color-form-illusion
BOOKS BY JAMES GURNEY:
Color and Light: A Guide for Realist Painters: jamesgurney.com/products/color-and-light-a-guide-for-the-realist-painter-signed-by-james-gurney
Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist: jamesgurney.com/products/imaginative-realism-how-to-paint-what-doesnt-exist
Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time: jamesgurney.com/products/dinotopia-a-land-apart-from-time-signed
OTHER OFFICIAL SITES
Instagram: instagram.com/jamesgurneyart
Pinterest: pinterest.com/GurneyJourney
GurneyJourney Blog: gurneyjourney.blogspot.com
JamesGurney Website: jamesgurney.com
Facebook group "Sketch Easel Builders": facebook.com/groups/403006076777641
Facebook group "Color in Practice": facebook.com/groups/160510955315435
Some of the links above are affiliate links, for which I make a small commission at no cost to you.
James Gurney paints a street scene in Greenport, Long Island in the morning light. His goal is to capture a fleeing light effect by using a warm priming color, "photographic" lens flares, and a glaze that reduces or sacrifices detail. Because he's painting in gouache and watercolor over a casein priming, the glaze is risky because gouache reactivates when it's rewet.
THEORY OF SACRIFICES
“Nature instills sentiments in the spectator through the selective sacrifice of details in order to improve the overall effect.”
--George Barret, The Theory and Practice of Water Colour Painting: Elucidated in a Series of Letters
“Painters without experience often weaken the effect they wish to produce by a prodigality which multiplies uselessly the figures and accessories of a picture. It will not be long before they learn that, the greater the conciseness and simplicity with which a thought is interpreted, the more it gains in expressive force.”
—Jules Breton, The Life of an Artist, An Autobiography
GOUACHE, WATERCOLOR, and CASEIN PAINT
Zinc White: amzn.to/3DJHmDF
Azo yellow: amzn.to/3AomPDn
Pyrrol Red: amzn.to/2XdPcS7
Transparent Orange Iron Oxide: amzn.to/3lHghLn
Ultramarine blue: amzn.to/2Sm4FyB
Prussian blue: amzn.to/2JVbVwb
Sepia: amzn.to/2X7Ulgs
Richeson casein set: amzn.to/2Huk4u3
OTHER MATERIALS
Pentalic watercolor sketchbook: amzn.to/2L989y2
Water cup: amzn.to/2soTw2L
Homemade sketch easel: gurneyjourney.gumroad.com/l/sketcheasel
Rigger brush (synthetic #3) amzn.to/3AJoW4i
Richeson travel brush set: amzn.to/2xwq1Rr
Richeson “Grey Matters” brush set: amzn.to/2YeNO0P
Water cup: amzn.to/2soTw2L
CAMERAS and AUDIO
Pocket camera (Canon SX620): amzn.to/3lIbtVW
Mirrorless camera (Canon M6): amzn.to/3BJIjeU
Stereo mics/recorders (Rode Wireless Go II): amzn.to/3mVsMSP
Stereo recorder (Zoom H2n): amzn.to/3aFjCUP
Tripod: amzn.to/2xrRaFc
VIDEO TUTORIALS:
“How to Make a Sketch Easel” (DVD and download options): jamesgurney.com/products/how-to-make-a-sketch-easel
"Gouache in the Wild" : jamesgurney.com/products/gouache-in-the-wild
"Casein Painting in the Wild": jamesgurney.com/products/casein-painting-in-the-wild
"GRADIENTS: Color, Form, Illusion." jamesgurney.com/products/gradients-color-form-illusion
BOOKS BY JAMES GURNEY:
Color and Light: A Guide for Realist Painters: jamesgurney.com/products/color-and-light-a-guide-for-the-realist-painter-signed-by-james-gurney
Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist: jamesgurney.com/products/imaginative-realism-how-to-paint-what-doesnt-exist
Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time: jamesgurney.com/products/dinotopia-a-land-apart-from-time-signed
OTHER OFFICIAL SITES
Instagram: instagram.com/jamesgurneyart
Pinterest: pinterest.com/GurneyJourney
GurneyJourney Blog: gurneyjourney.blogspot.com
JamesGurney Website: jamesgurney.com
Facebook group "Sketch Easel Builders": facebook.com/groups/403006076777641
Facebook group "Color in Practice": facebook.com/groups/160510955315435
Some of the links above are affiliate links, for which I make a small commission at no cost to you.
