WWII aviation artist - favourite picture?

[Spitfire]

Taylor is the champion of aviation art - I gladly admit that.

But I also think this guy comes very close:



Alex Hamilton - and I've got the print (with veteran signatures) hanging in my office.

You can see more of this guys great work here: http://www.alexhamilton.net/content/home.htm

 

[nick123]

Great stuff. Unbelievable talent.

 

[Stearmen]

speaking of Taylor, this is one of my favorites. Puttalam Elephants. Royal Naval Air Station, Puttalam, Ceylon. Elephants were used to get the Corsairs out of the mud when they slid of the runway.

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

Nice work Spitfire and thanks Stearman, it is uncanny but I found two photos of me on an Elephant this week while moving furniture, I have posted them on the folks in action thread but your picture of a eastern tractor seems quite fitting.

 

[Stearmen]

This is a what if WWII never started painting. Type 57 Atlantic and type 100P!

 

[nick123]

That plane looks like it was 10 years ahead of its time!

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

Interesting aircraft, Stearman

How about this one by James McConnell

 

[Stearmen]

Love the big de Havilland's! Would give anything to own, and be able to afford to operate a de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide.

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

That would be awesome. I love seeing one of the two Classic Wing, they have over at Duxford, although my dream would be a Ju 52.

 

[MikeKardec]

Ah yes, Dietz is another great painter. I like the way his work always focuses more on the people surrounding the aircraft than the planes themselves. Adds a real human element to it all.

I've always liked Jim Dietz, he illustrated three book covers that I art directed, not aviation more of a 1930s maritime/adventure flavor. Here are some really terrible reproductions ... I've got the transparencies somewhere, maybe the garage ...

 

[nick123]

Great, great pieces.

 

[Stearmen]

That would be awesome. I love seeing one of the two Classic Wing, they have over at Duxford, although my dream would be a Ju 52.


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Yes, I have a real soft spot for "Aunt Ju" also, would love to own one. I owe it all to this man! Martin was a true character, in the beast seance.

 

[p51]

Another big fan of Jim Deitz. I'm in a few of his paintings, and I've posed in his personal studio which is in his garage.
For example, I'm the guy yukking it up with the medic to the far right, holding a FG-42 rifle...

 

[MikeKardec]

Ha! Fantastic!

I love it that he did some of our covers, he's a terrific artist!

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

Another big fan of Jim Deitz. I'm in a few of his paintings, and I've posed in his personal studio which is in his garage.
For example, I'm the guy yukking it up with the medic to the far right, holding a FG-42 rifle...
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That's pretty cool! Hope you have a copy in your house.

 

[nick123]

I've always liked Jim Dietz, he illustrated three book covers that I art directed, not aviation more of a 1930s maritime/adventure flavor. Here are some really terrible reproductions ... I've got the transparencies somewhere, maybe the garage ...

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I wonder what his going rate is.

I'm having an amateur try at writing a book, and my ego is so inflated I'm already thinking about cover art. lol

 

[MikeKardec]

I wonder what his going rate is.

I'm having an amateur try at writing a book, and my ego is so inflated I'm already thinking about cover art. lol

Hopefully your ego and dreams of cover art will keep you writing when lack of creative drive or too much insecurity threaten ... really, just keep going, don't ever be afraid to be bad ... that's what rewriting is for! The biggest secret in the business is "don't stop."

I'm guessing that his reproduction rate (my term for his retaining the original and your only being able to use the art for the book or it's promotion) is over $4,000. At $10,000 it's getting off the charts, not for a "fine" artist selling paintings in a gallery but for a commercial artist doing covers. I don't know if Jim is even considering commercial art any longer.

If you are self publishing you want to spend as little as possible and if you end up with a publisher, they'll pay for it ... almost certainly not over $10,000! If you pay to reuse an already existing piece of art it tends to be quite a bit cheaper.

Sorry. I went all publishinggeek on you for a minute!

 

[nick123]

Hopefully your ego and dreams of cover art will keep you writing when lack of creative drive or too much insecurity threaten ... really, just keep going, don't ever be afraid to be bad ... that's what rewriting is for! The biggest secret in the business is "don't stop."

I'm guessing that his reproduction rate (my term for his retaining the original and your only being able to use the art for the book or it's promotion) is over $4,000. At $10,000 it's getting off the charts, not for a "fine" artist selling paintings in a gallery but for a commercial artist doing covers. I don't know if Jim is even considering commercial art any longer.

If you are self publishing you want to spend as little as possible and if you end up with a publisher, they'll pay for it ... almost certainly not over $10,000! If you pay to reuse an already existing piece of art it tends to be quite a bit cheaper.

Sorry. I went all publishinggeek on you for a minute!

Hey, I REALLY appreciate your words! That meant a lot. Thank you.

 

[MikeKardec]

Getting published has never been easier. Writing is as hard as ever!

Never be afraid of rewriting, it is your truest friend but NEVER do it until you are done with your first draft (you must get to the end, you MUST get to the end). Get done. Put it aside for a month or two, you'll see it with fresh eyes. Never ask anyone to read it then ask if it's any good ... they are not qualified to say. Ask them instead to tell you the story, just to tell you what happens. Fasten your safety belt, sometimes they say strange things. This is good input, it's what they were thinking while they were reading ... even if it's a bit weird. If they tell you you were doing something that you weren't doing and you like it, feel free to steal it. You DID make them think it. Prose is a collaboration between the writer and the reader. Later, once you have polished and polished try reading it aloud ... that's a true test of courage!

But just get done ... do not rewrite or revise any more than you have to in order to Just. Keep. Going.

Sorry for the thread jack!

 

[p51]

That's pretty cool! Hope you have a copy in your house.

Yep, I have a special model proof print, signed by Jim in his living room (after I tracked in some mud onto his carpet, I still feel horrible about that and I apologized an awful lot)...