iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Covering a Knicks game with sketchbook on location.

View of basketball court at Madison Square Garden, painted in gouache.

In the ESPN broadcast truck, the sound guy makes sure you hear the squeak of the shoes and the swish of the net.

Sports commentator Stephen A Smith, sketched from life pre-game.

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

At the peak of their influence around 1970, illustrators charged huge fees and drove Ferraris. The right half of the chart tells a grim story, and that’s even before AI enters the room. Is the party completely over, or is there a tiny glimmer of hope? jamesgurney.substack.com/p/when-illus...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Between 1900 and now, illustrators used a changing set of painting media. Oil dominated at first. Gouache and casein had their heyday mid-century. Acrylic gradually replaced casein. But by the year 2000 digital trounced them all. jamesgurney.substack.com/p/which-medi...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

An experiment with writing (and speaking) backwards. jamesgurney.substack.com/p/backwards-...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

This original oil, "Brachio Barn" from "Dinotopia: The World Beneath" is coming up for sale on Tuesday from @heritageauctions , link fineart.ha.com/itm/pulp-pul...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

STUDIO UPDATE: I've been hand-designing and writing my next book, "Gouache in the Wild"....plus keeping my commitment to writing for International Artist Magazine and my Substack blog "Paint Here." Like with the Dinotopia books, design comes before writing!

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

British painter Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) hung out with travelers for six weeks during hop-picking season and did some of his best plein-air paintings. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

How George Catlin painted a chief of the Mandan tribe open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Substack post: "Art schools in the age of AI." Image: "Market Day" 1907 by Frank Calderon, who wrote a book and ran a school for painting animals. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

For every human on earth, there are about three chickens.

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

I was halfway into a sketch of a chicken when a kid ran through the barn whacking every cage. The birds all panicked. A girl saw my distress and offered to hypnotize it. She got it into a trance for 8 minutes—just enough time to finish. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

We were blowing the Himalayan horn around the bonfire in the full moonlight, and Smooth, the husky, started howling as if something deep was speaking through him. More on my Substack post: "Forgotten Dreams."https://jamesgurney.substack.com/p/forgotten-dreams

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Is there a Santa Claus in Dinotopia? Not exactly. Nibor Dooh is more of a reverse brigand. He takes everything you’ve got and gives you what he took from the last person. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

open.substack.com

Is There a Santa Claus in Dinotopia?

[Via Instagram] Graham, Never heard of such sightings, but if there were, it would be all the tavern-talk of Thermala.

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

I was a happy kid, but I came from an unhappy home. My mom was a chain-smoking alcoholic, prone to unexpected outbursts. Learning to draw was my way out. I did this pen and ink drawing from observation of a rocking chair when I was 13 years old. More on Substack. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

You, too? Music by Kevin MacLeod. Sketchbook by Talens. Assorted fountain, parallel, calligraphy, and flex pens.

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Far and away the greatest concern people have right now is lazy brain syndrome caused by AI. More on my Substack. jamesgurney.substack.com/p/questions-...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

On Substack today, the story of how I acquired a human skull. "It came in the mail the other day. It was wrapped in about 15 layers of packing material, which intensified the suspense. The box said on the outside, ‘FRAGILE HUMAN SKELETAL MATERIAL.'" jamesgurney.substack.com/p/the-story-...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Are people noticing lately a lot of errors (such as lost payments, crazy accounting, etc.) from business associates (such as payment processors, distributors, etc.) who are using AI?

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

The first page of a sketchbook can be a bit daunting, even for experienced sketchers. So what I do is start on page 2. I can always come back later and do a knockout first page. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

This painting will be auctioned at Heritage on Nov. 4, 2025. fineart.ha.com/itm/pulp-pul...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

Children come into awarenesses that are brand new and highly charged. Emotions overtake them. Relationships emerge and develop. They stagger into the light of life with openness and expectation. More about childhood at my Substack: open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

open.substack.com

Where My Vision of Childhood Came From

.The roots of Dinotopia and my love of Wordsworth

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

(Left, my breakfast doodle. Right: Gemini takes a crack at it.) On Substack, I share 10 concerns about using AI as a creative collaborator. substack.com/home/post/p-...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Painting the Pre-Electric Night open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Milt Kahl used contour blends in this drawing of an adolescent Bambi. What's a "contour blend?" Answer here: open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Marty Owings on YouTube: "If you read the book it will unlock many secrets to being a better sketcher." youtu.be/G3hhyFvCHEA?...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

Quick sketch of a lady taking a photo on the ferry. When I look again, she's gone.

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Lettering is one of my secret joys, and I was so happy when Dover agreed to republish the book that inspired me at age 12. You can find it at my website: jamesgurney.com/products/art...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Lettering is one of my secret joys, and I was so happy when Dover agreed to republish the book that inspired me at age 12. You can find it at my website, jamesgurney dot com.

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

Mixing time lapse and real time in the same shot.

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Is dusk light COOL (left Krøyer) or WARM (right C. Hassam)? jamesgurney.substack.com/p/art-coloni...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Artists at the Olde Lyme colony played "The Wiggle Game". An artist would draw a few random, squiggly lines—"wiggles". They would then hand the paper to another artist, who had to incorporate those lines into a complete and often humorous drawing. More: jamesgurney.substack.com/p/art-coloni...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Art colonies that revered twilight. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

There's a place up on Agriculture Hill where you can see across to the spinning midway, feel the cool spray from the gardening display, smell the french fries and chicken sandwiches, and hear the crowd laughing at the juggler.

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

“How do you place a figure in an invented space?” and other questions from Jacob. jamesgurney.substack.com/p/questions-...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Sno Cone shack, sketched in gouache at the county fair. Watch videos: open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

On the new YouTube video, I redid the thumbnail and changed the title from "Painting a Stranded Boat in Gouache" to "Finding the Story in a Landscape Painting". youtu.be/3tQPp_QEryc

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Which colors are primary? One of the most basic art questions turns out to be not so simple. More on Substack today: open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

open.substack.com

Which Colors Are Primary?

And how should artists think about primaries?

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

The French word “repoussoir” refers to an object placed in the foreground of a composition that enhances the illusion of distance with other objects. More on Substack open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

Stanhope Alexander Forbes, A Street in Brittany, 1881

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Edwin Austin Abbey’s advice to art students: focus first on learning the basic skills and science of your craft, and wait until later to explore the artistic or creative side. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Steve Jobs wanted the personal computer to be like a “bicycle for the mind.” How has that vision worked out so far? jamesgurney.substack.com/p/a-bicycle-...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

A strange tree I saw on a forest hike. At the link, four explanations. jamesgurney.substack.com/p/strange-tr...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

I try to achieve a finished impression as quickly as possible, and then refine the details. youtube.com/shorts/-AuuN...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

A landscape painter named Konstantin Kryzhitsky (1858-1911) took his own life when it was revealed that he copied from a photo. We're grappling with other ethical issues now, but the pressures are still real.

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

For centuries artist have used darkened mirrors to help them view a real landscape to look like art. open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Pitfalls of virtuosity: What is good technique, and when does it go too far? open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Each of us needs to find that peaceful center, that happy place, where we can be our best selves.

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James Gurney Art @jamesgurneyart.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

I Called a Meeting of the Owls open.substack.com/pub/jamesgur...

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