Aviation Art and Artists

[witchdoctor]

Just curious as to whose artwork fellow pruners would wish to have hanging in their mud huts.

As my interest leans more towards military aircraft, I have to confess to a financially unrealistic love of Robert Taylor's work. I think it is nothing short of fantastic, and I have to respect the lengths he goes to in order to ensure the painting is as authentic as possible. Gerald Coulson too has created some beautifully observed (and perhaps better known) pieces of very fine art, with tremendously atmospheric backdrops. For more modern subjects, I do like Michael Rondot's work, as he tends to show the aircraft in a very aggressive pose, but the picture seems to lack some of the clarity of Turner and Coulson.

I know there are plenty of other artists, but there is something about the style, or the colours which don't seem quite right. Without wishing to sound like Brian Sewell, what do you all think?

[DragonRapide]

Witchdoctor:

Agree with your comments re Turner and Coulson etc - one of my other favourites is Keith Woodcock whose work is generally clear and accurate, with a fantastic feel for English summer evenings and Merlins popping and crackling over the boundary hedge....

[Spot 4]

Those names are fine if you are a member of the Spitfire owners club with the exception of Rondot. Nicholas Trudgeon (sp?) is another example of how GB has some of the finest Aviation Artists in the world. I have just purchased a print by Charles McHugh of a Puma helicopter and the attention to detail of the background is v impressive. I had owned it a fortnight before realising there was a sniffer dog and handler in the forground!

Not too many people appear to be painting 50s + aviation art which is a shame, but I guess supply meets demand. Having attended this years GAvA Exhibition and seen the present display at RAFM Cosford, we are blessed with some excellent work in this country, perhaps we may be allowed some links to foreign artists if the moderator will allow, assuming that there are some to be had:

[Lu Zuckerman]

When I was working in Italy I was introduced to a young (25 year old) artist that had never attended art school. He however did a lot of advertising art for Ferrari and a lot of artwork for Italian and German aviation magazines.

I commissioned him to do twenty-one different aviation subjects of his choice. One of the paintings was stolen (A fairy swordfish-String bag) and one hangs in the Vice Presidents office at TWA. The other nineteen are hanging in my office. I think that Robert Taylor and the other English artists are top notch but I can’t afford an original of their paintings however I have nineteen original paintings by Angelo Colombo and they too are top notch.

:ok:

[hjc]

I rather like the work of the guy who does the Caricature Aviation prints - I have one on my study wall.

In my defence, I do have a signed Coulson print of a Tiger Moth over my fireplace and that was the very first thing I bought for our new house!

[alexis_lambert]

I have Nicholas Trudgian, Robert Taylor, Stan Stokes and William Phillips to name but a few, but the enemy does not allow them to be hung.

[ozplane]

On the basis that I won't be able to fly my own plane forever, my wife very kindly commissioned Jim Brown to do an oil-painting of my Airtourer as a memento. The end result was terrific and Jim took a great deal of trouble over selecting the background by hiring a Robin and getting his wife to video Grafham Water from all angles. This was the chosen background. The end result was a very personal painting of an individual aircraft. He advertises in the flying mags and used "my" painting in his ads for some time. One point is that he retains the rights to the further use of the painting i.e. for prints and postcards etc.
By the bye I have Gerald Coulson's "Misty morning Lancaster print on the other wall. That's pretty good too

[CamelPilot]

Every so often I have to mod this forum, not often, but I am glad that it runs as well as it does. In fact I am rather proud of it.

However, I have had to delete a link to a commercial site that hjc put up simply because we do not allow commercial links. Sorry, but those are the rules.

As a matter of fact some of them are good and fit very well with the title of the forum but like I say - rules is rules.

You can always check with me first if you wish but if the site sells anything it is commercial.

CP

[Rallye Driver]

I've got several prints by Geoff Nutkins, who I first met about 20 years ago when he did freelance visualising and illustrations for the design company I worked for at the time.

He specialises in Battle of Britain subjects, often set in his native Kent.

As well as being a superb artist, he is also involved in excavating crash sites, and has a museum and tea room at his home in Shoreham (Kent) which is open every Sunday from May to September and is well worth a visit.

A search on Google will provide more details.

RD

[You want it when?]

Being a novice in this subject I should stay silent, but it's never slowed me down before.

Robert Taylor - I've got a couple of his books and they are excellent. A real "Dear Santa..." I lean more towards the days of sail Nelson era for most of my artwork hung on the wall though.

[bingoboy]

Can anyone give me the names of artists who don't do military (either current or WWII) and preferably whose names a google search will enable be to view some of their work.

I would like to see more work in the light aircraft arena both to enjoy and to help provide inspiration for a novice watercolourist.

ps I have a couple really enjoyable prints by Coulson and Roderick Lovesey

[Airbedane]

The big names in aviation art are truly great, but there are many others who also deserve recognition. I met a chap called John Rayson at Elvington in '89. I eventually bought an original watercolour from him - 'Contact!' - a Spitfire on start up, and two copies of another watercolour - 'Spitfire Blues' - both were, and still are, outstanding. John could turn his hand to anything, but his great love was aircraft. His wife told me that even on commissions for non-aviation pictures, there would always be an aircraft somewhere in the background. Sadly John died from MS in the late 90's - a great loss.


On a lighter vein, when my Grandfather died, he left me a few hundred quid and I decided to spend it original water colours. My then wife left me in no doubt that: "I didn't want any more aircraft pictures', so I had Graham Bradshaw (a great watercolourist) paint a couple of birds - 'a hen HARRIER' and a female 'sparrowHAWK' - the missus never did see the joke!

A

[bolmas]

dont have a favourite artist, i collect signed limited commemorative prints of early british jets.for example, 30 yrs of lightning signed by tim nolan the artist plus roly beamont and jimmy dell. also last flight of the vulcan signed by pilots and
groundcrew,last flight of buccaneers[9] signed by all 9 pilots etc.

i collect commemoratives of lightnings especially as i was once sqn storeman on 5 sqn!!

[Tiger_mate]

Being a Tiger_mate I was interested in Spot 4s comments on a Puma painting. Found it with a Google "web" search (not image search) " Bessbrook Mill ", ordered mine already with a remarque :ok:

Am told by the artist that a Wessex is now available also, makes a nice change for a minority subject to be available. I also like the work of John Young and have a nice print of some spitfires over london. Dont know if it was limited edition due to the frame blocking any ifo out. Anyone help on that one?

[Onan the Clumsy]

I've got a print of Dawn Patrol by Coulson hanging on my wall. The odd thing is that I saw a photo in a book once and its the same picture...except he'd changed from about nine aircraft to three, changed the angle of the sun, and I think changed the squadron letters. Odd.

[Nadine52]

My brother has done quite a few large scale paintings in acrylic on canvas of classic airliners like the VC-10, 707, Trident and DC-8s. His favorite artist is a guy named Dietz I believe.

[witchdoctor]

Thanks guys (and gals?).

Just the sort of info I'm after for the day when I'm a wealthy pilot(Ha ha ha ha ha ha:} - yeah, right!:O ). I think my creditors would have something to say about my spending habits first.

I'm glad there are so many others to check out. There's just something about a good painting of an aircraft that nothing else short of being there can match. It's good to know I'm not alone.:ok:

If anyone feels like making a loan to the Witchdoctor Gallery................:D

[Lukeafb1]

Tongue in cheek.

SOKOL.

Who was/is SOKOL? Some of you must remember him. Rumour had it that he was a Flt Lt. in the RAF and produced a monthly full page colour cartoon for a very large circulation glossy. Damn funny some of them were too.

Anyone remember which magazine?

[DragonRapide]

The late John Rayson also produced brilliant caricatures of RAF "types", ranging from oil-stained knuckle-scraping "Chiefies" to wet-behind-the-ears sprog Pilot Officers etc. I know this is getting away from aviation art, (possibly!) but they are very good!

I also recall seeing a fantastic Rayson Lightning thundering out of Binbrook in murky Lincs weather - you can feel the ground shaking!

[Nadine52]

Witchdoctor I can ask my brother if he would make a donation. I don't think he would mind. Right now he's trying to get his work out there to be seen. Just email him for what airline and type you're interested in and size of work. His name is George and his email is [email protected]

[Aviation Trainer too]

Does anybody know a website that sells aviation art? There is nobody in my area who sells it to my knowledge..

Cheers

[CamelPilot]

Ahhh Ummm! This is just the point I was making. Someone asks for websites for aviation art and........well, off we go wiv me deleting tool.

So to save you the embarrassment, and my time, by all means offer the website name but ONLY via e-mail. Please do NOT put them on here.

CP

[hjc]

Can I suggest this URL:

as a good starting point for those looking for aviation art web sites?

The above site isn't commercial so hopefully this doesn't breach the rules of the group.

Apologies to Camel if it does - I'm not trying to be difficult!

:)

It is a good link but you will have to ask hjc for it.

PPP

[blaireau]

When I went through flying training, there was a delightful old gent called Pat Rooney who used to travel around the many stations doing personal cartoons of individuals and aeroplanes. His catch phrase was "Happy Days" Anyone remember him?

[henry crun]

Indeed I do blaireau, I have his caricature of me hanging on the wall next to my PC.

One the subject of aviation paintings, after the coronation review of the RAF in 1953 an official painting of the event was commissioned to a lady artist.
It showed the royal dais, some of the ground display, and NF Meteors flying past.

This painting was hung,and for all I know, still hangs in many RAF messes.

Does anyone know where I might obtain a print of this painting ?
To avoid Camel having to use his blue pencil please email me if you have any suggestions.

[Airbedane]

If you can't aford the originals, have you tried the book: Classic Aircraft in Aviation Art, by Roger Markman - studies of six aircraft y the world's finest aviation artists (ISBN: 0 7153 0046 6) . The pencil drawing of the BF 109 by SImon Bradshaw has to be seen to be believed - outstanding!

If you can get hold of them, Frank Wootton's books on How to Draw Planes, Drawing Airraft, etc, circa 1940's/50's, are also a delight.

A

[typhoonpilot]

I would tend to agree with the thread starter that Robert Taylor is one of, if not the best aviation artists around. I have a print of his painting "Home Run", which is awesome. Some names were mentioned and they are all good. Nadine mentioned Dietz, that is James Dietz who does a very original style that places people interacting with historic aircraft in the prints. Heck of a nice guy too, I once wrote him a letter asking about his work and he replied with a very kind letter in return. Mike Machat does some good work of the X series aircraft in the States as well as other historic pieces. I've had him do some remarques on prints which were an affordable way of getting some original work onto a print. Keith Ferris is one of the top U.S. aviation artists and has been around for a long time.

There are a number of galleries in the States that specialize in Aviation Art. Most of the artists have their own personal websites that an easy yahoo search can lead you to.

Now I just have to build a house with enough wall space to hang all the good stuff on. Then talk my wife into letting me do that.


Typhoonpilot

[sycamore]

At Rougham air display I came across a painting of an FAA Avenger that was depicted shooting down a V-1,over the Channel.It also stated that the gunner only used 20 rounds to destroy it.
Anyone got any further gen. on the incident, the artist and gallery, as I didn`t have my wallet handy at the time .

Syc

[SPIT]

Hi there
Could anyone tell me who painted a picture of a Harrier GR1 of No 1 Squadron entitled Last Harrier Over the Falklands and wher if required I may get a copy??
:confused: :confused:

[PPRuNe Pop]

hjc.

It is about as commercial as you can get! Almost all the links lead to brilliant pics at a price. If they want to advertise on PPRuNe they can - at a price.

I have deleted the link. But if anyone is interested E-MAIL hjc direct.

[atb1943]

May I suggest the upcoming Duxford show as a venue to view most of the major current artists' works. RIAT is also full of them. But the best place of all is the RAF Club in Hyde Park Lane, but I'm sure one cannot just walk in without an invitation.

But surely one of the lovliest paintings, and one which every spouse would approve of, is Roderick Lovesey's 'A Tribute to Women in Aviation'! I first saw it at Monique Agazarian's home in London at a time she was trying to sell her flight sim business at White Waltham. She acquired two copies, signed them, and flew them over to Fairoaks to deliver them personally to a friend who was with me at the time. I remember Monique's was signed by all the depicted pilots (11 in number) apart from Amy Johnson. Monique is unique in being depicted twice, once with her Rapide, and once with a Spitfire. Mine is no. 14/300 and I daresay there are still copies to be had, via the BWPA. I have mislaid the descriptive piece that accompanied the painting or I would be able to tell you who they all are, but there is a lady in front of a Stirling, a Lancaster, a wartime B-17, a Jet Provost, a BA 757, a Danair 737, Monique with her Rapide, and Monique and two others on top of the Spitfire. Oh, and a lady obviously in command sitting at her desk. The print is copyright 1991 so I am sure you'll still be lucky.

When you view each group, the pilot is esconced in her own surroundings, be it clouds, or airfield, or Cranwell, but the whole is so brilliantly blended together, that no one group sticks out, except perhaps for Amy who is watching over them all.

Anyone else got one?

What about the Guild of Aviation Artists as a source for brilliant paintings? John Blake, that wonderful voice of Farnborough prior to his progedy (whomever) had to learn to paint with his left hand after a mishap with a grenade left him rather short-limbed ('...pulled out the pin and threw the pin...). I have a couple of drawings of his, one especially jovial, the day after the AN-22 sort of landed across the runway at Farnborough when it was delivering a fresh powerplant for the AN-124 that year. John's capture of that massive plane trying to land across the runway, with sods of grass flying and the pilot (or was it the navigator) exclaiming 'Borzhe Moi' is amazing, and the title 'Not so Flot Aero' was all done in 5 minutes. A treasure!

I also have a nice Hurricane, and a Spitfire by Brian Knight, and a 'Concorde at Farnborough' by Terry Harrison, who I believe is a Fleet chap. His 'The Delivery' shows - not an aircraft - but a bowler delivering the ball at a cricket match, and he has added in pencil - Hartley Wintney before the Great Storm of October 1987 - when the lovely trees all fell, some wrecking the pavilion. As a kid we used to watch celebrity elevens play there (I have their autographs), little knowing that I would be playing myself for my home town a few years later.

But I digress - remember Wren?

Nice thread - thanks!

[TwoDeadDogs]

Ah!! Aeroplanes on paper or canvas.....James Dietz is excellent, as is Jean-Luc Beghin (cockpits....his Cub is perfect); Michael Turner, for his book "Combat Aces" which must have been printed on Unobtainium, 'cos it's impossible to find;Lynn Williams,for his work in his brother's magnum opus on aerobatics; Arthur Whitlock,for his ageless line-drawings in his wonderful autobiography.So many others, so little time...
regards
2DD