James Gurney

James Gurney (born June 14, 1958) is an artist and author best known for his illustrated book series Dinotopia, which is presented in the form of a 19th century explorer’s journal from an island utopia cohabited by humans and dinosaurs. He lives in the Hudson Valley of New York State.

Early life

Gurney grew up in Palo Alto, California, the youngest of five children of Joanna and Robert Gurney, a mechanical engineer. [Jackson, Donald Dale. "Daring Deeds, Bold Dreams, in a Land Removed from Time", page 73. Smithsonian, September 1995] 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 and Norman Rockwell.

He studied archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a BA in Anthropology with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1979. He then studied illustration at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Prompted by a cross-country adventure on freight trains, he coauthored "The Artist’s Guide to Sketching" in 1982 and worked as a painter of background scenes [Bensimhon, M. “Living with Dinosaurs: Inside the Mind of a Man who Makes Fantasy Seem Real", page 54. Life Magazine, October 1992] for the animated film "Fire and Ice", co-produced by Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta.

Work

Gurney's freelance illustration 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 illustrators. He painted more than 70 covers for science fiction and fantasy paperback novels, and he created several stamp designs for the US Postal Service, most notably "The World of Dinosaurs" in 1996. Starting in 1983, he began work on over a dozen assignments for National Geographic Magazine, including reconstructions of the ancient Moche, Kushite, and Etruscan civilizations, and the Jason and Ulysses voyages of Tim Severin. 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 and Betty Ballantine, he discontinued his freelance work and committed two years’ time to writing and illustrating "Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time", which was published in 1992. The book landed on the "New York Times" Best Seller List, and won Hugo, World Fantasy, Chesley, Spectrum, and Colorado Children’s Book awards. It has sold over a million copies and has been translated into 18 languages. [Parks, John. "Fact & Fantasy: The Paintings of James Gurney", page 43. American Artist, November 2006]

Sequels to 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 of the Smithsonian Institution and the Norman Rockwell Museum, and is currently on tour to museums in the USA and Europe.

References

Further reading

*cite book|last=Debus|first=Allen A.|title=Dinosaurs in Fantastic Fiction: A Thematic Survey|year=2006|edition=1st ed.|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|location=Jefferson, North Carolina, and London|id=ISBN 978-0-7864-2672-0
*cite book|last=Hintz|first=Carrie|coauthors=and Elaine Ostry|title=Utopian and Dystopian Writing for Children and Young Adults|year=2003|publisher=Routledge|location=New York and London|id=ISBN 0-415-94017-6
*cite book|last=Reed|first=Walt|title=The Illustrator in America 1860-2000|year=2001|publisher=Watson-Guptill Publications|location=New York, NY|id=ISBN 0-8230-2523-3

External links

* [http://www.jamesgurney.com/ James Gurney official site]
* [http://www.dinotopia.com/index.html Dinotopia official site]
* [http://www.gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/ James Gurney blog]
* [http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/dinotopia/index.html Publisher's website]