Color and Light by James Gurney
“Color and Light” by James Gurney is one of my favorite “go to” art books. As most of you know, James Gurney is the author/illustrator for the Dinotopia book series. In his best selling instructional book, “Color and Light” James takes us through many helpful scenarios of how to set up our objects (or people) and light them to make it easier to paint. James discusses and illustrates the use of light on many subjects and how to portray that in paint. He then shows many examples of how one would apply that knowledge.
In “Color and Light”, James takes us through many diverse color schemes and clearly describes how to apply this information so anyone can understand no matter the level of painting that you are at – from beginner to advanced painter.
I highly recommend “Color and Light” to anyone who is starting out in art and/or in fantasy art. You will be delighted and enlightened and will refer to this book over and over again! 
James Gurney has a blog with extremely interesting facts and instruction. He demonstrates painting in goucahe and watercolor and shows videos of everything from his paint box as he travels to sketching on location. You can find him in the streets painting watercolors or gouache buildings and in the farms painting some of the animals. His videos are short but informative and very much worth watching repeatedly. He is a master artist who enjoys teaching art to all levels of students. I just can’t wait for his new book, video, blog, or DVDs come out. I am a subscriber of his channel.
I have attended an exhibit of James Gurney’s work and it is exquisite. I liken it to the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum. Photos can never do justice to the real paintings. James proves himself over and over again to be one the modern day masters.
James is also selling downloadable instructional DVDs for very reasonable prices. You can find all of his items on his website http://jamesgurney.com/site/
Sharon Morley, Artist, December 26, 2015 www.sharonmorley.com