Submissions From gurneyjourney.blogspot.com

 "A lot can go wrong when you paint outdoors, but wind is the biggest enemy." (James Gurney)

 "As we witness the resurgence of realism, plein-air painting, fantasy art, and illustration, most of the attention usually goes to the artists. But these fields wouldn't be where they are without key individuals in publishing, business, academia, teaching, collecting, and the museum world who are working hard behind the scenes to support what we do." (James Gurney)

 "Plein Air magazine created this label to explain your art supplies to TSA agents." (James Gurney)

 "The goal of the artist was to concentrate on the representation of the appearance of an object." (James Gurney)

 "Using colored flashlights, science presenter Steve Mould explains why the color magenta doesn't appear in the rainbow." (James Gurney)

 "Variety is the spice of life, and good drawing is a product of contrast." (James Gurney)

 "A masterpiece, it turns out, does not issue from fixed mathematical rules." (James Gurney)

 "Regardless of what system one prefers, it's good to keep in mind that real humans don't fit any rule, thank goodness. " (James Gurney)

 "The story gets more complex in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as artists begin to consciously adopt it in their work, and so it gets harder to separate fact from fiction." (James Gurney)

 "Was the golden mean a special, divine, or magical principle to Leonardo?" (James Gurney)

 "Although Greek mathematicians knew about Phi, there is not a shred of evidence that any Greek architect used such a system as a design principle." (James Gurney)

 "Two blog readers have shared some practical insights about tools for guiding painted lines." (James Gurney)

 "Title it something. "Untitled" is a title. It's fine if you have one painting called "Untitled," but it's a headache for art historians or grandchildren who have to agree whether to call them Untitled 1, Untitled 2, etc." (James Gurney)

 "Title everything you do, if for no other reason than so you can find it again on your computer." (James Gurney)

 "The poll results are now final for the crowd-sourced list of best classic art instruction books." (James Gurney)

 "A lot of people simply avoid foliage altogether because it's so hard to paint." (James Gurney)

 "In this free online color test, you can slide around the little squares in each line to try to make a continuous gradation of hues." (James Gurney)

 "Pioneering realists loved to paint unmade beds for the very reason that they were so quotidian and so un-arranged." (James Gurney)

 "At some point Rockwell must have felt that his original conception was too literal, too much "on the nose." His finished composition removes Tom Sawyer entirely." (James Gurney)

 "One way to achieve a soft, moody look in a painting is to ease the transitions across the edges. " (James Gurney)

 "According to an article on the Wired blog by Betsy Mason, science benefits when people draw their field notes by hand. " (James Gurney)

 "Here are my top ten suggestions for how to draw glasses." (James Gurney)

 "Everyone has to develop a reference strategy that suits their goals." (James Gurney)

 "Like ripples in water, light vibrations radiate out from the source, bounce off objects, and travel into your eye." (James Gurney)

 "Look at the variety of highlights. And remember: a highlight is a reflection of the light source on a wet or shiny surface." (James Gurney)

 "Keep a sketchbook just for image generation, rather than observation. Use it not only for creature designs and other stuff from your head, but also for quick copies from whichever old masters you like." (James Gurney)

 " In able hands, decoration is a gift, a joy, virtue. Decoration is not a frosting applied to form. When it's well orchestrated, it meets our fundamental desire for visual rhythm, order, and variety of scale. " (James Gurney)

 "A new study from Duke University revises our idea of how the visual system works." (James Gurney)

 "Maybe fearlessness is really another word for letting loose that wild impulse, the artistic imp." (James Gurney)

 "We've always had the studio as part of the home, which meant having our kids coming and going while I've been painting." (James Gurney)

 "Getting weight in figures comes from thinking about the force of gravity when you do your figure drawing. Take the pose yourself, and you'll know things you miss when just looking at it." (James Gurney)

 "Eyewitnesses said that when John Singer Sargent painted in watercolor, he "groaned, swore (if no ladies were present), exclaimed, whistled to keep his spirits up, growled in rage when things went wrong, and then shouted in triumph as he completed his work to his satisfaction." (James Gurney)

 "Far more convincing - and useful - is Tolstoy's notion that art is the deliberate transmission of emotion. It applies to dance, theater, painting, music, and all other forms. And it is immensely practical to the working artist, because it provides a clear test for the aesthetic value of a particular work." (James Gurney)

 "Don't paint a figure; Paint a person. Don't paint a head; Paint an individual. Be accurate, but see beyond the surface. Beware of pictures that are correct but lifeless." (James Gurney)

 "Artists rarely create in a vacuum. Even if you paint alone, you've got to consider the feedback of art directors, patrons, or galleries. If you're a student, you have to present your work to teachers and to your peers for critiques, and sometimes you're called upon to criticize others' artwork." (James Gurney)

 "Those who describe realism as slavish imitation miss this point. One artist's paintings can be true to nature but emphasize different aspects of visual truth compared to another artist. The way you paint is a record of how you see." (James Gurney)

 "Cultivate an ever-continuous power of observation. Wherever you are, be always ready to make slight notes of postures, groups and incidents. " (John Singer Sargent)

 "Mastery, he said, comes from steady practice, the willingness to embrace failure, and a positive attitude. " (James Gurney)

 "Sometimes I search far and wide for an exotic or "artistic" motif to paint. But I end up having the most fun painting a humdrum, ordinary subject that was sitting next to me all along. " (James Gurney)

 "Look for movement in color - warm to cool, light to dark. It is all around us: sky, earth, grass, walls, etc. Areas will go back in space if slight amounts of complement are added." (Tom Lovell)

 "Rockwell painted this 11-inch-square image in 1943 with 45 deliberate errors as a response to the finicky letters he received from fans. That didn't stop the letters from coming; Rockwell commented that he received a letter from South America noting 184 mistakes." (James Gurney)

 "Next time your gallery dealer asks you for an Artist's Statement, don't despair." (James Gurney)