James Gurney (previously at Boing Boing) is the fantastic illustrator and painter of the "Dinotopia" series of books. He's done many fine demo videos of plein air painting techniques on his YouTube channel and now he's launched his newsletter, "Paint Here."
He shares lots of great information and includes brief demo videos. Recent postings tell about his early career with fellow jouneyman painter Thomas Kinkaid, show how to light a reference maquette, and answer questions about creating paintings with believable creatures. All great stuff! (For more content you can upgrade to a paid status level.)
In a time of disappearing magazines (bye, bye Sports Illustrated!), web-based stock photos with free illustrations, and the race to the bottom with AI-generated imagery, having a paying career as an illustrator is more challenging than ever. I admire James Gurney's positive attitude and frank advice to others:
"Illustration is a proud calling. We should never forget how lucky we are to be able to conjure dreams out of thin air."
