James Gurney (born June 14, 1958) is an American artist and author known for his illustrated book series ''

Dinotopia ''Dinotopia'' is a series of illustrated fantasy books, created by author and illustrator James Gurney. It is set in the titular Dinotopia, an isolated island inhabited by shipwrecked humans and sapient dinosaurs who have learned to coexist p ...

'', which is presented in the form of a 19th-century explorer's journal from an island

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

cohabited by humans and dinosaurs. Gurney is also a

paleoart Paleoart (also spelled palaeoart, paleo-art, or paleo art) is any original artistic work that attempts to depict prehistoric life according to scientific evidence. Works of paleoart may be representations of fossil remains or imagined depiction ...

ist who depicts and restores in his paintings extinct fauna such as both avian and non-avian dinosaurs.

Early life and education

Gurney grew up in

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, the youngest of five children of Joanna and Robert Gurney, a mechanical engineer. Encouraged to tinker in the workshop, he built puppets, gliders, masks, and kites, and taught himself to draw by means of books about the illustrators

Howard Pyle Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy. In 1894, he began ...

and

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

. He studied

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, receiving a bachelor of arts degree in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

with

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

honors in 1979. He then studied illustration at the

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred R. ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, for a couple of semesters.

Career

Prompted by a cross-country adventure on freight trains, he and

Thomas Kinkade William Thomas Kinkade III (January 19, 1958 – April 6, 2012) was an American painter of popular realistic, pastoral, and idyllic subjects. He is notable for achieving success during his lifetime with the mass marketing of his work ...

coauthored ''The Artist's Guide to Sketching'' in 1982. Gurney and Kinkade also worked as painters of background scenes for the animated film '' Fire and Ice'' (1983), co-produced by

Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (born October 29, 1938) is an American animator and filmmaker. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatric ...

and

Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He is ...

. Gurney's freelance

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...

career began in the 1980s, during which time he developed his characteristic realistic renderings of fantastic scenes, painted in oil using methods similar to the academic realists and

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

illustrators. He painted more than 70 covers for science fiction and fantasy paperback novels, and he created several stamp designs for the

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

, most notably ''The World of Dinosaurs'' in 1996. Starting in 1983, he began work on over a dozen assignments for ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'' magazine, including reconstructions of the ancient Moche,

Kushite The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙 𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX grc, Κυς and Κυσι ; cop, ''Ecōš''; he, כּוּשׁ ''Kūš'') was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, centered along the Nile Valley in wh ...

, and

Etruscan civilization The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roughl ...

s, and the Jason and

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

voyages for

Tim Severin Timothy Severin (25 September 1940 – 18 December 2020) was a British explorer, historian, and writer. Severin was noted for his work in retracing the legendary journeys of historical figures. Severin was awarded both the Founder's Medal ...

. The inspiration that came from researching these archaeological reconstructions led to a series of lost-world panoramas, including ''Waterfall City'' (1988) and ''Dinosaur Parade'' (1989). With the encouragement of retired publishers

Ian Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

and

Betty Ballantine Betty Ballantine (born Elizabeth Jones; September 25, 1919 – February 12, 2019) was an American publisher, editor, and writer. She was born during the Raj to a British colonial family. After her marriage to Ian Ballantine in 1939, she moved ...

, he discontinued his freelance work and committed two years' time to writing and illustrating '' Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time'', published in 1992. The book made ''The New York Times'' Bestseller List, and won

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...

, World Fantasy, Chesley,

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

, and Colorado Children's Book awards. It sold over a million copies and was translated into 18 languages. Sequels of ''Dinotopia'' that are both written and illustrated by Gurney include ''Dinotopia: The World Beneath'' (1995), ''Dinotopia: First Flight'' (1999), and ''Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara'' (2007). Original artwork by Gurney from the ''Dinotopia'' books has been exhibited at the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, the

Norman Rockwell Museum The Norman Rockwell Museum is an art museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, dedicated to the art of Norman Rockwell. It is home to the world's largest collection of original Rockwell art. The museum also hosts traveling exhibitions pertaining to ...

, the

Royal Tyrrell Museum The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (RTMP, and often referred to as the Royal Tyrrell Museum) is a palaeontology museum and research facility in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. The museum was named in honour of Joseph Burr Tyrrell, and is situ ...

and is currently on tour to museums throughout the United States and Europe. Most recently, he has written two art-instruction books: ''Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist'' (2009), a book about drawing and painting things that do not exist; and ''Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter'' (2010). These books are based upon Gurney's blog posts, in which he gives practical advice to realist and fantasy artists. On February 21, 2012, Gurney was inducted as a Living Master by the

Art Renewal Center The Art Renewal Center (ARC) is a non-profit, educational organization, which hosts an online museum dedicated to realist art. The ARC was founded by New Jersey businessman, author, and art collector Fred Ross. Particular emphasis is given to ...

. The dinosaur ''

Torvosaurus gurneyi ''Torvosaurus'' () is a genus of carnivorous megalosaurid Theropoda, theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 165 to 148 million years ago during the late Middle Jurassic, Middle and Late Jurassic Period (geology), period (Callovian to Tithoni ...

'' was named in honor of Gurney in 2014.

Personal life

Gurney lives in Rhinebeck, New York, in the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

of New York State.

References

External links

* , Gurney's official website
Dinotopia official site

James Gurney blog

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurney, James 1958 births 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American painters 21st-century American male artists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American painters American art writers American fantasy writers American illustrators American instructional writers American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American stamp designers Art Center College of Design alumni Dinotopia Hugo Award-winning artists Living people National Geographic people Novelists from California Novelists from New York (state) Painters from California Painters from New York (state) Paleoartists People from Rhinebeck, New York University of California, Berkeley alumni World Fantasy Award-winning artists Writers from Palo Alto, California

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading

External links