The Artist’s Guide to Sketching: A Handbook for Drawing on-the-Spot
Author: James Gurney and Thomas Kinkade
The first edition of Gurney’s and Kinkade’s book The Artist’s Guide to Sketching: A Handbook for Drawing On-the-Spot (affiliate link) is pictured above. The first edition was published in 1982. In recent years, this volume has become increasingly rare – which was a shame because there is so much useful information and inspiration in this book. It’s been long out of print and the listings for this book are wildly high in cost. I’ve seen prices between $75 to $3300 for a used copy. It’s a true gem of a book featuring two extraordinary artists: James Gurney and Thomas Kinkade. By the way, the cover art makes it look like a spiral-bound book. It’s an illusion from the printing of the dust jacket for this hardcover book.
While it is fun to obtain a rare edition, my main goal in adding a book to my library is for the information that it contains - not its rarity. This is a book that deserves to be made easily and affordably available to artists everywhere. Well, I’m pleased to hear that a new and updated version of this book was recently published! The title of the book has been slightly revised. It is now called: The Artist's Guide to Sketching: The Classic Book about Making Art on Location. I’m glad that the pretentious phrase en plein air was NOT used in the title! But that’s another story.
James Gurney has significantly improved this edition. According to the publisher’s notes: “This new edition restores the classic text with updated full-color visuals and a special section chronicling the book’s origins and the friendship, drawing on archives from Gurney and the Kinkade family estate.” I’ve ordered it (it’s less than $20 on Amazon) and I can’t wait to read it.
Here are the two books side by side for comparison:
This is the 1982 hardcover (with dust jacket) edition of The Artist’s Guide to Sketching – A Handbook for Drawing On-The-Spot (affiliate link), written by James Gurney and Thomas Kinkade. Used copies of this edition are rare.
The cover of the new 2025 edition of The Artist’s Guide to Sketching – The Classic Book about Making Art on Location (affiliate link) written by James Gurney and Thomas Kinkade. Note the subtitle change.
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Chapters and topics include:
Chapter 1: THE EXPERIENCE OF SKETCHING
Coping with the Weather, Sketching at Night, Sitting or Standing?, Dealing with Curious Spectators, Being Inconspicuous, At Home Amid the Elements
Chapter 2: MATERIALS
Sketchbooks, Pencils, Pens, Markers, Wash and Drybrush, Sketchboxes and Carrying Cases, Experiencing Your Materials
Chapter 3: ACHIEVING ACCURACY
When to Use an Underdrawing, How Much Underdrawing is Necessary, Establishing the Large Shapes, Measuring Lengths, Measuring Slopes, Using Perspective Guidelines, Constructing with Geometric Forms, Completed Underdrawing, The Final Execution
Chapter 4: CAPTURING MOTION
Freezing Motion: A New Way of Drawing, Learning to Observe Motion, Training Your Memory, Getting It Down Fast, The Scribble Approach, The Gestural Approach, The Mannikin Approach, The Tonal Mass Approach, When Your Subject Moves Unexpectedly, Places to Go for Motion Sketching
Chapter 5: CREATING MOOD
Choosing a Subject, Noting Impressions, Composing with Thumbnails, Selectivity, Center of Interest, Dramatic Opposition, Delicacy, Mystery, Structure and Expression
Chapter 6: USING IMAGINATION
Dare to be Creative, Being Imaginative On-the-Spot, Exaggeration, Changing Context and Scale, Using Anthropomorphism, Additions and Combinations, Feeding the Imagination, Becoming More Imaginative
Chapter 7: STUDYING NATURE
Nature: Your Personal Drawing Workshop, The Experience of Nature Sketching, Plants, Animals, Sketching at the Zoo, Natural History Museum, Clouds, Rocks and Landforms, The Benefits of Studying Nature
Chapter 8: SKETCHING PEOPLE
Finding Raw Material, Exaggerating Character Traits, The Cartoon Approach, Portraying People in Their Environment, Two Characters, Group Composition, The On-The-Spot Portrait, Making People Sketches Come Alive, Family and Friends: Your Free Models
Chapter 9: EXPLORING THE MAN-MADE WORLD
Begin with the Commonplace, Sketching the Home, Indicating Building Exteriors, Signs and Letterforms, A New Look at Machines, Using Clutter, On-The-Spot Spot Research, Using Written Notes, Thinking As a Documentary Artist, The Joy of Exploration
Chapter 10: SKETCHING IN YOUR LIFE
Keeping Specialized Sketchbooks, Developing Sketches into Paintings, Sharing Sketches With Others, Sketching Alone or With Others
