James Gurney takes you on six plein air painting adventures using a portable rig that includes watercolors, water brushes, and water-soluble colored pencils.

He explains all the materials and then demonstrates techniques that bridge the gap between drawing and painting. Each of the six examples is thoroughly documented with a variety of camera angles and with thoughtful commentary at every stage.

James Gurney coauthored "The Artist's Guide to Sketching" and is the author and illustrator of the New-York-Times bestselling "Dinotopia series". He wrote "Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist" and "Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter", both of which grew out of his popular daily art blog "GurneyJourney".

He specializes in painting realistic images of scenes that can't be photographed, from dinosaurs to ancient civilizations. He is also a dedicated plein air (outdoor) painter and sketcher, believing that making studies directly from observation fuels his imagination.