ta-img-url="//store.doverpublications.com/cdn/shop/products/9781606600221_5c02deb6-a1cf-4d28-a2a9-3a068f9a6d39_{width}x.jpg?v=1710179216" data-enable-history-state="true">Before writing and illustrating Dinotopia, James Gurney painted reconstructions of ancient civilizations for National Geographic magazine. He has illustrated seventeen stamps for the U.S. Postal Service, including The World of Dinosaurs.

His Dinotopia artwork has won the Hugo, Chesley, Spectrum, and World Fantasy Awards and has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution, the Norman Rockwell Museum, and the Delaware Art Museum.