Will "Color and Light" blow your modelling mind? - A book review

The book "Color and Light" by James Gurney (which you find at amzn.to/3W1zmYz), is written for traditional and digital realist painters. But can it be of use to us as modellers? Is it worth buying and will it help you level up your painting? Or will it just look pretty, sitting on your shelf?
Well, this book review will explore just that!
**This video is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something we'll receive a small commission. **
Check this book out on Amazon at amzn.to/3HGUNtj
or get the KINDLE version at amzn.to/3PyML7U
There are more kit reviews and things to explore (including my blog) at flyingravenstu...
Reference Videos:
As I mentioned, I first saw this book mentioned in a ‪@trovarion‬ video. If you haven't seen the Trovarion Miniatures channel yet, you should definitely check it out as he is an amazing artist and teacher! ( / @trovarion )
THE KIT I USE TO MAKE MY VIDEOS:
- Camera: Panasonic LUMIX DC-GH5
Amazon: amzn.to/3yq2b7b
Wex Photography tidd.ly/3rGFQhT
- Microphone: SYNCO Mic-M2S
Amazon: amzn.to/3T436C5
- Mic arm: WANBY 11 Inch Articulating Friction Magic Arm
Amazon: amzn.to/3Cgi0OP
- Camera stand: Flexible Arm, ULANZI LS08 Overhead Camera Mount,
Amazon: amzn.to/3ebYcnI
- Tripod: Neewer Portable 56 inches/142 centimeters Aluminum Camera Tripod amzn.to/3CHRejY
- Lighting GODOX SL100Bi
Amazon: amzn.to/3MlOBHK
Wex Photography tidd.ly/3CCwvxQ
- Editing software: Hitfilm Express #fxhome
- Stock video footage: www.pexels.com/

[@FlyingRavenStudios]

Do you have any amazing or unusual modelling books on your shelf? If you enjoyed my first book review, please let me know and hit the like button. If you are new to the channel, then welcome! If you want to see more content like this, then make sure you have subscribed and hit the notification bell to be notified whenever a new video comes out. Oh and do not forget you can explore more at flyingravenstudios.com/

[@Whoopwhoopwhoop]

Thanks for sharing this, really informative. ‘Draw Like a Boss’ is the book that I have benefitted the most from over the years.

[@FlyingRavenStudios]

Thanks! I will take a look at that book 👍

[@mikesalem-zs4ci]

I adore that book! That book is one of the first resources that got me practicing on a daily basis (well, nearly daily, cause daily is hard! Certainly at least four times a week).

[@davidmoss5424]

That's a really interesting review. I found the book very technical and was (and still am) somewhat out of my depth with a lot of it. Where it really helped me was with understanding the relationship of light and shade, simply by looking at the fabulous illustrations and then using that to help me try and understand what he was saying in the text. I could then try and incorporate those lessons into my model painting, without necessarily fully understanding the point being made in a specific topic. I did however buy another James Gurney book called Imaginative Realism and that completely blew my mind. Gurney is an astonishing artist and er, imaginator? Is that a word? No idea, but it describes his work in that book to me. Dinotopia is just incredible. James has his own KZbin channel which is aimed at artists working on canvas for the most part, but I'm trying to do some artwork on the body panels of my models and I find his comments really helpful.

[@FlyingRavenStudios]

Imaginator.... love that 😁. I have seen his other book and I aim to get hold of it soon! I didn't know about his channel. I will have to check that out. Thanks for the tip!

[@WillCalwell]

Forge World Modelling Masterclass is still my favourite reference book. I've spent 10 years using it.

[@FlyingRavenStudios]

Just trying to find an example to take a look!

[@davidmoss5424]

@@FlyingRavenStudios The ForgeWorld books are amazing. I have three of them. One for the Horus Heresy specifically, and the other two are more 40K in nature. It's fantastic to see the techniques they use to achieve the effects they want on the models. I painted a Greater Brass Scorpion using the techniques in one of the books and it helped transform the way the model would have looked if I had not understood how they achieved the effects they did. Totally worth buying, in my opinion.

[@FlyingRavenStudios]

I will keep an eye out 👍

[@parazatico9030]

I just had a look at it on Ebay. I like that painting style a lot.

[@chinocracy]

There's another Color and Light book by 3D Total. I wondered if there was a comparison video between that and Gurney's book. Also, color and light books may be useful for those who are both 2D artists and sacele modelers. Oh wait, I had another kind of modelling in mind, lol.

[@FlyingRavenStudios]

Thanks I will take a look

[@parazatico9030]

It's a great book, but, as you say, a certain amount of lateral thinking and logical extrapolation is required to apply it to model making. I found 'The Hair Secret' (P.158.) very useful for sculpting and drawing, well, hair. I don't think the whole 'Dinotopia' thing took off in quite the way the author may have hoped. Burne Hogarth's book, 'Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery' might be of use to anyone interested in scratch building and converting, though the author's classifications of drapery wrinkles perhaps get a bit much after a while.

[@FlyingRavenStudios]

Yes the hair secret was a good one. Another was all the different types of shadow!

[@Himle_]

Figures F.A.Q. - Figure Painting Techniques by Kirill Kanaev. Such a treasure trove. Only downside is that it's not ring bound (and tbh, it's a bit pricey). :'(

[@FlyingRavenStudios]

Thanks, I will take a look!

[@parazatico9030]

I hadn't heard of him, so I had a look. Wow. I'll get my coat... I also see what you mean about the book being a bit pricey!

[@Himle_]

@@parazatico9030 Yeah! Almost got free shipping from just ordering 1 book^^ But it's almost 500 pages (A4) so there's a lot of content.

[@parazatico9030]

@@Himle_ Sorely tempted, I must admit.