Fantasy dino maquettes and budgies abound as James Gurney shows you around his work space.
James's studio is a cross between a toy shop, a creature FX lab and a curio cabinet.
I specialise in painting realistic images of things that can’t be photographed. My imagination only takes me so far, so I sculpt 3D reference maquettes.
In the foreground of the photo are a butterfly ornithopter, an elf alien, a BoarCroc and a satyr.
Maquette of Pan, made during the creature design class I offered last summer, where students worked from a live goat, a human model and three ram skulls.
The day starts with a few cups of coffee, or sometimes tea from the pot I found on a research-sketching trip to North Africa in 2008.
Not all of my sketching junkets are so exotic – I also sketch in fast-food parking lots and farmyards. Some of the oil sketches on the back wall are from observation – the cloud study was painted in July, and the two head studies come from a figure-drawing class.
On the slanting drawing table is an oil painting of a gryposaurus for the National Wildlife Federation.
I need music: Bach for perspective, Mozart for figure work, Brahms for skies and Tuva throat music for mixing paint. My pet budgie sings the loudest when I play Verdi.
Playground for my budgie, Mr Kooks, who keeps me company while I work.
Beyond the Aladdin's lamp is a set of dip pens. I used to be a calligrapher, and I still love to write in the copperplate style. Maybe it's a reaction to the blandness of email.
Brushes include bristle filberts, nylon flats and sable watercolour rounds.
The skull on the counter is a drawing aid and a memento mori. Behind it are architectural maquettes made of cardboard and styrofoam.
The hand-painted colour wheels and optical illusions were for my (then) upcoming book called Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter.
Colour charts, colour wheels and optical illusions for my art book.
The dinosaur painting is surrounded by skull photos, sketches and a reference maquette. The premixed strings of oil colours on the freezer paper palette help me control the mixing gamut of the colour scheme I want.
All in all, this studio is a cross between a toy shop, a creature FX lab and a curio cabinet.
Get top Black Friday deals sent straight to your inbox: Sign up now!
We curate the best offers on creative kit and give our expert recommendations to save you time this Black Friday. Upgrade your setup for less with Creative Bloq.
