Construction of Roman Capital Letters

Edward Catich demonstrated that the Roman letters on Trajan's Column were created with a brush, not a chisel. His research challenged the long-held assumption that the inscriptions were solely the work of stonemasons. 

Catich was a Roman Catholic priest, calligrapher, and expert on the Roman alphabet. His work, especially his book "The Origin of the Serif," published in 1968, has shaped our understanding of Roman lettering and calligraphy.

In the following Instagram video, Tom Kemp revives Catich's brush technique:

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A post shared by Tom Kemp (@tom_kemp_)

Miyazaki's Watercolor Wisdom

Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki says: 

• Do not paint stickily and paint after wiping the extra paint and water off. 

• Don't paint with too much pigment and water on your brush, to the point that it's dripping with paint.

• Paint thinly the bright part.

Read the rest at the post Miyazaki's Watercolor Wisdom

Why isn’t there a good Dinotopia movie?

Here's the short answer: It’s not easy to create an adaptation of the first two books that preserves the utopian appeal of the world, but also introduces enough conflict to make it work as a three-act drama for adults. If you make it too sweet, it feels corny or preachy; but if you give it too much edge, it feels wrong for Dinotopia.

In today's Wednesday deep dive on my Substack page, I share my thoughts on the challenges, pitfalls, and opportunities of adapting a dinosaur utopia to the film medium.

Creative Ruts vs. Wide Focus

One of the challenges of my career has been how to channel all my crazy vocations and avocations.

 

Which is why I laughed when the editor of Watercolor Artist Magazine (Spring 2024) asked me about dealing with issues at the opposite extreme.

Art Dog Learns About Substack

James Gurney's Newsletter "Paint Here" on Substck

 

Line Weight Hierarchy

If you draw in line, there’s a principle called line weight hierarchy. Thicker lines seem closer and more important, while thinner lines float to the background.

Examples by Charles Dana Gibson, Gustave Doré, and Alphonse Mucha at the link.

Custom Knitted Vest

Jeanette custom-made this vest with the v-neck a bit lower so that I can get to my shirt pocket, which always has reading glasses, fountain pen, and pencils in it, for drawing emergencies.

The design is based on the Shaped Vest (Plan 14) in Priscilla Gibson-Roberts’ book “Knitting in the Old Way.”

After she swatched it for gauge, she set it up on size 7 needles, at 4.75 stitches/inch. Six rows equals one inch in stockinette. The pattern is pretty basic—just a matter of doing some math, beginning with that essential chest measurement and length, and then turning the percentages into stitch counts. It’s also completely seamless too. I love it. It’s just like a second skin.

If you’re on Ravelry, you can find Jeanette at “gurneyknitter”

Two Unknown Art Students Riding the Rails

Before he was the Painter of Light, and before I was the creator of Dinotopia, Tom Kinkade and I were two unknown and penniless art students.

We had grown weary of sitting in windowless classrooms enduring lectures about art theory. We hatched an audacious plan to drop out of school for a while, hop on a freight train, and discover America.

Our goal was to document everything in our sketchbooks. Our heroes were Lewis and Clark, John Steinbeck, and Jack Kerouac. My mother was so terrified of the fate that might befall me (her brother was killed by a freight train) that she took out a life insurance policy on me.

On September 16, 1980, a friend dropped us off at the Los Angeles freight yard. We spotted a boxcar with an open door, threw our backpacks into it, climbed aboard, and sat in the shadows waiting for the train to start rolling east.

(Read the rest on Substack)

Lighting and Photographing a Maquette

If you want to paint an imaginary scene that’s lit by believable outdoor light, set up the maquette outdoors.

Set it up against a simple backdrop. Spin it around and try lighting it from different angles. 

Everything will scale correctly—meaning the quality of the light, shadows, and reflected light will be the same as they would be at full scale, relatively speaking.

Read the full post for free on Substack

Should You Paint Your Reference Maquette?

There are various options for painting reference maquettes. 

Should you paint it white, gray, or polychrome?

Read the free post on Substack