Jim Gurney's 45-minute painting of a car dealership

A lot of people play with their cellphones or read while waiting for something. Jim Gurney, the creator of Dinotopia, paints small watercolors. (See my previous post about Jim's painting of a mud puddle.)

NewImage

I brought my car to the dealership for a service checkup. The service guy told me it would take about 45 minutes.

He pointed me to a waiting room, which had a coffee machine, some magazines, and a TV set. But I was tired of hearing about Romney and Obama. So I headed onto the sales floor. I found an empty chair next to the snack machine. I laid out my watercolor gear on a desk and got to work.

The hazy daylight streamed in through floor-to-ceiling windows. Clusters of red, white, and blue balloons hung from the ceiling. A sports car sat in the middle of the room, its silver paint mirroring bright highlights from the windows.

The sales people seemed transfixed by their computers. One guy played digital solitaire. They took no notice of me. When I was finished with the painting, I showed it to them. They took photos of it with their cellphones to put on their Facebook pages.

Jim Gurney's 45-minute painting of a car dealership

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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http://boingboing.net/ Rob Beschizza

The dealership was nuts not to buy it! If ever there was an appropriate time for a car salesman to say ‘Let me go and talk to my manager.”
- http://twitter.com/writebastard Ian Wood
  
  I can get you undercoat for that watercolor for $150. That’s normally $375. Heckuva a deal, really. I can probably get alloy wheels for it, too, but let’s start with the undercoat. Manager’s kind of a hardass, you know? And just between you and me–seriously–I get two trips “back to the office” per deal. So let’s make ‘em count, know what I’m saying?
Sean McKibbon

Please illustrate a comic book with watercolours like this!
hobomike

I’m also pleasantly surprised they still sell Miatas.
http://twitter.com/beep54orama B E Pratt

In a way, I am sorta surprised that he didn’t get hit with some sort of copyright/IP suit. Maybe upper management (or their lawyers) haven’t seen it yet. Great picture, though.
- http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
  
  I don’t think you understand IP, I know it was a joke, but just to let you know it doesn’t make any sense.
  - http://twitter.com/beep54orama B E Pratt
    
    While I get your meaning, it STILL wouldn’t surprise me to see a lawsuit based on IP. Things are just that nuts. See: The Oatmeal :)
    - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
      
      The only IP claim im aware of with regard to Inman vs Carreon came from Inman :)
    - Just_Ok
      
      Geez, now we’s got the Oatmeal-Carreon law: as a conversation grows, the probability of bringing the case up approaches 1.
awjt

“Balloons, wonderful happy balloons.”
http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

Awesome style, I’ve been gunning for this effect with water colour, it looks more effortless than it is.

Dinotopia though?! Only ever saw the Sky series, but man was it bad.
- Mark_Frauenfelder
  
  He created the Dinotopia series of books. Did you se them? They are stunning.
  - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
    
    I haven’t seen them, will check them out!
    
    Have you seen the TV Show? The budget was FAR too low for what they were trying to achieve, which probably made it very difficult to enjoy.
  - benher
    
    Gurney cites the Dino series often in his masterpiece “Color and Light.” It’s really an indispensable addition to any artist’s library – a steal on amazon as well!
    @beschizza:disqus I’ve seen your skills with the tablet! Thought you might be interested in this particular gem. It helped me work out a lot of “lighting issues” that had troubled me for years.
mattvanhorn

My dad does this kind of thing as well. http://web.mac.com/chuckvanhorn/iWeb/Chuck%20Van%20Horn/Gallery%203_files/slideshow.html?slideIndex=3
and some bigger stuff: http://web.mac.com/chuckvanhorn/iWeb/Chuck%20Van%20Horn/Gallery%201_files/slideshow.html?slideIndex=1
- http://boardgamegeek.com/user/mcdrunk McDrunk
  
  Wow, both are great however the Coast Guard one is amazing.
  - mattvanhorn
    
    Thanks very much. I’ll pass along the compliment.
    - cousin229
      
      They are beautiful congratulaciones to your father thank you for sharing them!
rtresco

I would snatch up any ACE fantasy, sci-fi book with a Gurney cover back in the day. Fan for life.
teapot

“The sales people seemed transfixed by their computers. One guy played digital solitaire. They took no notice of me. When I was finished with the painting, I showed it to them. They took photos of it with their cellphones to put on their Facebook pages. “

Art and poetry. I gotta make this guy’s blog a regular visit!