In Progress...

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In Progress...

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This is Spitfire Pilot, one of my detailed pencil drawings, in progress. When finished, this chap will be all of 12" tall, showing a full body view down to his flying boots in the grass. All of my current drawings are done on 100 lb. Canson smooth bristol paper. I use four grades of drawing pencils to achieve my effects: from darkest to lightest, they are: 2B, HB, H and 3H. I keep them finely sharpened, and with a delicate hand I find that I no longer need a burnishing stump - the bristol paper takes the pencil that well. I also use a kneaded eraser, which I shape to get the desired eraser effects.

Here's how I usually start a painting - a quick little thumbnail or two or three. This one is done on sticky note paper. The small size keeps me from getting too fussy. This particular composition is something I really want to do, but this sketch eventually evolved into Eagles of Thunder, which shows a gaggle of four 4th Fighter Group kites airborne on their way to engage the wily hun. A ground shot does intrigue me, though, and I hope to do one soon.

This is how One-Man Air Force was conceived. I can tell I'm getting serious about a composition when I start writing notes all over my studies. The final outline drawing has notes all over the place! What I'm doing with my notes is brainstorming and reminding myself of things to look for as I develop the composition: aircraft details to remember, lighting notes, etc. Notice the similarity of this layout to the one in the final painting . . . they're very similar. Note also how I've drawn lines to represent where the airplanes came from just before they entered the picture plane (the painting's viewable elements). This aids in getting a more realistic and believable layout. Look closely at some paintings, and if you imagine where the planes were moments before the action depicted, you might discover that they collided 10 seconds before they entered your view!! It's work, but there is simply no substitute for prior planning and thinking. By the time I actually get to the application of paint to the canvas, I'm sort of relaxed because most of the work is already done. As I used to tell my primary flight students, "A good approach usually results in a good landing". Same thing with the planning and then the execution of aviation art.

Here is the Descriptive Geometry plot for the P-51 view.

The resulting little drawing is an accurate 3-point perspective view of the Mustang from the chosen distance and angles. The exact plot distance from the aircraft was chosen after figuring out how much space the Mustang would take up in the final composition. The angles were chosen to show off the left side of the kite and the pilot, plus enough of a high aspect to show the tops of the wings and tail. This drawing was enlarged, and then the most time consuming process of the entire work (by far) started - filling in all the minute details (see below).

Detail of the final outline of the cockpit and fuselage areas of Gentile's Mustang. This was all done freehand using my training in drawing and perspective. While doing this, I was looking at tons of reference material to get all the details right, such as the relative sizes of the pilot's head in the cockpit, etc. Even this drawing wasn't done full size. It was only done big enough to comfortably add all the details. It was then enlarged to fit the exact dimensions I had chosen the P-51 to be in the final painting. THAT enlargement was then hand transferred to the painting surface using graphite transfer paper. Referring to my tonal studies as I painted, it was then just a matter of "paint by number"!

One-Man Air Force mockup. I used this to calculate sun direction for my individual tonal studies of each element in the painting, while at the same time maintaining the continuity of one sun!

Here are the resulting tonal studies just tacked up on the unfinished work for the photo. Notice the distant P-51 at upper left is complete. I treat these studies very seriously and refer to them constantly while painting. As I'm applying the paint, these studies aid tremendously in laying out the five tones of any object hit by sunlight, and they are: Highlight and Halftone (the warm side), and the Shadow Edge, Reflections, and Cast Shadows (the cool side). Notice very detailed or complicated areas, such as the P-51's cockpit in this example, usually requires extra attention, such as the enlarged cockpit tonal study at the bottom right. Look closely and you can see the ghostly image of the FW-190 I'm about to start applying paint to at the upper right.

Close up of the fuselage in progress. At this stage, I'm just about to add my warms near the fuselage spine. My initial effort, as you can see, was rather flat and dull. That's the beauty of acrylics - you can immediately paint over your mistakes! After 'laying in' the colors where I want them, I 'top it off' with carefully mixed glazes along the warms, which helps to make things look blended. You don't get the beautiful blended look with acrylics like you get with oils, at first, but after glazing, your eye attenuates the colors into the desired blended effect. Lots of fun!

'One-Man Air Force' (detail)

Here's my final "mock up" for Black Knights at Nellis. I took a picture of a desktop model to use for positioning and basic sizing relative to the planned 24 x 36 canvas. I used this basic layout to determine that the preferred viewing distance from the canvas will be 45". The "preferred" viewing distance is that one point from which all objects in the painting will appear in correct perspective. Using this information, I will use Perspective Projection by Descriptive Geometry to plot a projection of the T-38 as seen from the preferred distance. The aft end of the Talon's image will be just touching the "transparent" picture plane (the canvas surface).

This is the perspective projection, by descriptive geometry, of the main T-38C with the viewer's eye 42.6' aft of the exhaust nozzles, 11.5' left of centerline and 20.7' above the aircraft centerline. This plot is essentially a frame which I will use to "build" the aircraft's visible surface, including all complex exterior shapes, parabolas, etc. This "fleshing out" of the plot while referring to detailed reference pictures is the most labor-intensive part of the entire production process for me.

I took the initial projection to the local copy center and enlarged the image to make it more workable for the next step. I also lightened the image a bit so that most of the "clutter" dropped off and I was left with very faint lines and "dots". Using the dots (plotted Descriptive Geometry points of interest) and faint lines, I can now draw in the basic structure and panel lines as shown above "in progress". Notice the student and instructor's helmets in place as circles. After the rest of the jet is outlined as above, I will then photocopy the image again and then draw in all the markings and final details.

The basic structure is finished now. Next step is to run back to the copy center and enlarge (and lighten somewhat to get rid of all the clutter) this view as much as possible so that I can reline all the lines you see here plus add all the minute final details. Notice the stick inputs: right and back. Unlike most airplanes, you do not use the rudder to correct for adverse yaw when turning this jet; you just bank and pull it around. I've enhanced the pencil lines a bit in this handheld photo so you can see them better.

After filling in details on the main jet, I finished the outlines of the three smaller aircraft in the painting (two F-15Es and another AT-38C). After choosing an appropriate background, the thing to do now is a smaller scale (14.5" x 21.75") pencil study of the entire scene. While lacking much of the precise detail resolution of the final work, the pencil study will be followed carefully while I am painting. This preliminary study is basically a learning exercise in that I have to figure out, understand, cement in my brain and then apply the why of how the lights, shadows and reflections are falling as they are - these define the shape of the jet. This is truly where the real "art" is done. Once I am happy with the study, the actual painting can be tackled with a high degree of confidence. With the studies, I always do the main aircraft first (the reverse of my painting procedure) so that I may concentrate totally on getting it right. This is because everything else in the composition, in tone and saturation, will "flow" from the values as seen on the main jet. Here is an in progress view of the main T-38.

Finished with the main jet. If you look very closely, you can see the faint outlines of the distant mountain landscape, and the front of the other T-38 at the far left. Now on to the smaller aircraft, then the background. Oops! As I was looking at this image I noticed my first mistake - the small "USAF" on the right wing should have been in light gray (same as the national insignia on the top of the left wing). Ah, I'm not too worried about it as this is the time for mistakes. The challenge is catching them!

The landscape is beginning to take shape. I'll add the desert color when I'm finished with the scrub . . . for now, the white areas look like snow. Notice the blur effect due to the jet blast. Details like this add motion to the composition.

Here the sky is complete on the 1/2-scale (12" x 18") study. I've started doing these finished color models for several reasons. First, I find that I am much looser and apt to boldly experiment with the smaller work, resulting in a better final result. Secondly, I approach the full sized work with much greater confidence having "practiced", and finally, as a reward for all the efforts I put into the entire process, I have yet another original painting to show long after the full sized piece is gone - for just a few days more effort.

This is also another opportunity to bring the work closer to the perfect image I have in my head. To that end, I lowered the nose of the far T-38 - to avoid a possible collision a few seconds later with the main jet!

Background's complete on the 1/2-scale oil study! Now I've got to dig out my reference material and get to the smaller jets first, then the main jet.

8/17/2004: Landscape's almost finished. Now all I have to do is a little tweaking to those clouds and it's on to the aircraft.

8/26/04. Good progress on the main jet. Once I had the complicated exhaust nozzles done, I could relax a little. Only "hard" part left is the cockpit area. Should be finished by tomorrow, I hope.

8/26/04. Working on the spine area. This curved area shows all five of the tones of color (Highlight, Halftone, Shadow Edge, Body Shadow and Cast Shadow), and keeping the subtlety of these tones as the spine receded from the viewer was loads of fun (wink).

'Black Knights at Nellis' (detail)

This is the perspective projection plot by descriptive geometry of the main AT-38C for High-Angle Gun Shot to Separation. The size of the jet in the final oil painting vis-a-vis the size of the canvas (24" x 34"), combined with the preferred viewer's distance from the painting, determines the proper plot distance from the jet, resulting in the perspective view seen here. As usual, the subtle curves and many details of the jet will be carefully added to this "framework" while looking at numerous pictures.

Close up of the final outline drawing of the main jet. The student and instructor have their heads locked on the bandit.

Working on the rear fuselage. I had some very accurate drawings of a T-38A to use for my Descriptive Geometry plot, but the final result is, as you can see, a T-38C (new exhaust nozzles and intake inlets, mainly). How did I do it? Eyeball Engineering!

Tail's complete. Now on to the very complicated mid-fuselage area . . . but first - hmm, what's on TV?

The mid-fuselage and right wing are done, now on to the home stretch - the forward fuselage. When doing each section, especially the complicated fuselage area, I always paint the darkest thing first, such as a cast shadow. That gives me a set "darkest value" to judge all other tones by. The careful artist will note that the darkest values get lighter even over short distances. For example, when mixing paint for the mid-fuselage cast shadows, I was careful to make them a little lighter in value than the strong shadow cast by the aft edge of the rudder.

"Mission from Debden" underway . . .

This is me . . . in progress! Keith Ferris points the way for yours truly during his color class at the 1999 American Society of Aviation Artists' Forum in Macon, Georgia. There were about 15 of us in this, Keith's first-ever group class. I had always admired Keith's approach to color, wherein he paints a canvas the way nature paints everything we see. Isaac Newton first discovered that nature's light (sunlight, which appears "white" to us) is actually composed of every color of the spectrum. This is a function of the physical properties of light, which I'm not going to pretend to understand, but it is possible to explain the effect as it relates to the artist.

You've seen the colors in a rainbow before - this is possible because the rainbow acts as a prism, refracting the usually hidden to the naked eye colors which combine to make up "sunlight" into visible "colors of light". The rainbow's now-visible color spectrum reveals the real "color wheel" or "palette" of nature: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. All of these colors are contained within sunlight at all times - the prism didn't "create" the colors.

To duplicate these natural "grays", or the natural complete balance of colors of nature's light in our artwork, it is imperative that every color mixture applied to our canvases include some combination of all of the spectum's primary colors (red, yellow and blue). The main difference between nature's paint (sunlight) and our paint (pigment) is that when the spectrum colors are combined in equal amounts, nature's 'paint' appears as white sunlight (additive synthesis). However, when we combine all our pigmented spectrum colors, we are blocking (subtracting) all reflected light, so we get "black" (subtractive synthesis). Therefore, all 'blacks' used in our paintings can and should be made with red-yellow-blue only.

Since a real "green" leaf is being "painted" with all of the colors of the spectrum (white light of the sun) at all times, it follows that the artist should duplicate this by always including a bit of the rest of the spectrum in every pigmented color mixture - this is done be adding a bit of the green's complement (red). This works for any and all colors we can mix, and it's the best way we have of splashing every color of the natural light spectrum over everything in our painting, just the way nature does it. This insures a more natural look and harmony, unobtainable any other way with our "paint". My knowledge curve went straight up during this gathering, and the critiques I solicited, plus the friendships and contacts I made there will serve me a lifetime.

I took my second Ferris class at the August 2002 ASAA Forum. The learning never stops! (Jon Frank)

Spirit of the Shogun halfway done. This was my first major aviation painting, and I was really stumbling along. I thought seriously about going back to pencil exclusively (see my pencil prints page on this site), but my wife made me stick it out! Behind every successful person is somebody who pushed them to do more than they thought they had in them, I believe. My wife Maria is that person to me, without a doubt!

And here she is about 99.99% completed. I was pleasantly surprised when this piece was accepted into the 1998 Juried Exhibition of the American Society of Aviation Artists' Forum in Wichita, Kansas. However, I still didn't know what I was doing . . . my next piece, a P-51, was full of mistakes, but that's the one I brought to the 1999 Forum in Macon, where I took Keith Ferris' color class. Man, they chopped me to ribbons with the critiques. However, I loved it, because they were telling me, in essence, how to paint! That's the attitude I took, and I solicited many critiques from some of the best known aviation artists in the business. Not surprisingly, they all had basically the same things to say, so now I knew what I was doing wrong! These private evaluations of my P-51 piece, plus Keith's color class, set me on the right course. I was about halfway through Chico the Gunfighter when I got home from the Forum, and I finished Chico with my new knowledge in hand. When Chico was finished, I re-did the P-51 Man O' War painting (you can see the newer version on this site) to show those guys that I listened to them! It's all in your attitude . . . ask artists you admire to critique your work and learn from their accumulated experience. It works!

Late August 2002. 8-3/8" x 11" oil on canvasboard of a P-51D Mustang. I glued Portrait Grade (smooth) canvas to a piece of artist's canvas panel found in any art shop. The typical canvasboard comes in a finish which is much too rough for my taste (too much canvas weave). So, for the smaller pieces, I use bookbinder's archival glue and just attach the smoother grade canvas which I cut from a big roll. For the bigger paintings I substitute my old standby, 1/4" tempered Masonite. Why? I get the best of both worlds - a smooth grade canvas which the oil paint really likes, and also the firm substrate, which I really like . . . I absolutely cannot stand the "give" of the traditional stretched canvas. The inevitable "sag" in humid weather feels cheap and fragile to me. Here, the sky is finished, and the groundwork is next. The sky is a combination of several different cloud formations I photographed in England. Smaller paintings are fun and relaxing.

October 2002. The landscape behind the Mustang is finished, and the asphalt has been blocked in. Notice the water puddles in the grass, the result of recently passed thunderstorms. I will add some water puddles to the asphalt to "wet" it a little. I still have to start on the grass in the foreground, which will be slightly more detailed. The rest of the P-51 will be saved for last.

Here's my final thumbnail for Pressing West at FRISCO. The lead jet's image will be 27" wide. Mad Duck IV will be ~ 6" wide. The canvas will be 34" wide. I'll wait until I get both jets completed in outline form before I decide the canvas height. The light will be coming from the jets' 12:30, approximately.

Early days on Shangri-La II. I tend to do my aircraft outlines in layers. For example, with this first layer I'm concentrating on just the major panel lines and shapes. After the entire jet is done with the level of detail seen here, I'll photocopy this image and then work in the final details (cockpit details, bomb details, remaining markings, etc) on the photocopied image. That way, when I erase, I won't erase the first layer of basic panel lines.

Whew! Hard part's over - so far. This is a view of the main ordnance which will be visible on Shangri-La II. On the date of my painting, Shangri-La II and Mad Duck IV carried the same loadout:

LANTIRN pods

2 x GBU-12 on the left CFT, forward two stations

1 x GBU-10 on the centerline station

3 x Mk 82 with gray fins on the right CFT, bottom three stations (not visible)

2 x WRM (War Reserve Material) light gray 600-gallon wing tanks

2 x AIM-120 AMRAAMs on the outer wing stations.

(Some details, like the GBU-12 Seeker Heads, will be added later).

Completed Mad Duck IV outline. This jet will be ~ 6" wide on the canvas, and won't show near the level of detail shown in the much larger Shangri-La II. The artist must use recession techniques like this to "force" distance in the work.

Here's a quick handheld shot of the nose art on the full sized SL II outline. This is typical of the level of finish I use when drawing complicated items at the outline stage. For example, it would do me no good and waste a lot of my time if I drew in each of the fins on the bomb symbols to the right of the nose art. Tiny details like that don't transfer well to the canvas (number one reason not to draw them at this stage). The necessary "finishing touches" will added while painting. With this outline, I'm establishing position and basic form only.

Working on the cockpit area. In cockpits, I always start with circles for the approximate size and position of the helmet(s). From there, I freehand everything using multiple reference pictures for appropriate detail. There is an inherent danger in using photographs which show crew members "close" to your desired view of the crew. The inexperienced artist will tend to copy the photograph's body position without adjusting the image for your view of the aircraft, and while you'll end up with a nice copy of the pilot in the photo, in your painting the figure and his ejection seat will be sitting at an odd angle! Constant checking in the mirror and holding the outline backwards up against a light will catch errors like this.

Finished cockpit area.

Final full-size mock up showing aircraft and horizon positions. As determined by this mock up, the final canvas will be 19.5" x 34". Next step is a 60% scale pencil study.

Here's the pencil study (11 3/4" x 20 3/8"). While this lacks the level of detail found in my "serious" pencil drawings, it fulfills a purpose, i.e., with this particular composition, I really wanted to see how a "dark" jet would appear set against a dark-toned background. The highlights on the main jet work fine, but when I do the color study (see below), I'll go a bit lighter with the "dark" background. Where's my paint?

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Background and the smaller jet are complete on the 11 3/4" x 20 3/8" color study. The medium tones of the background serve to support the darks and lights of the two jets. With the smaller jet, I had to be careful to reserve the lightest light and darkest dark in the entire painting for the larger jet - the center of interest. Also, the smaller jet's hues are subject to greater atmospheric recession, i.e., a relative loss in tonal contrasts, color saturation, and values.

Detail of the far jet as seen in the oil study. Seen here, this little jet's image is only 3.5" wide. Notice the canvas grain and lack of detail. Looks kind of sloppy, doesn't it? It's important to remember that this jet is nearly 400 feet away from the viewer of the painting. Accordingly, while this jet will be larger (5.75") in the final work, the increase in physical size won't allow me to add more detail - I need to maintain the illusion of depth in the painting - but I can clean up the lines a bit. However, in this size the overall effect is just right.

Day one on SLII (study version). Lots of tweaking to do, but the general pattern of lights, darks and temps have been established.

The full size canvas in progress. I've incorporated two major changes from the color study: a more subdued background and a slightly lower horizon line to get the jets more "in the air" to add to the "feeling of flight". The dominant value is definitely "light", especially at this stage, but when that big dark jet is complete, I think a nice balance will be achieved.

The finished Mad Duck IV. It's about 6" wide.

Finished cockpit area and forward fuselage. When the completed oil on canvas is viewed from the "preferred distance" of 42.5 inches (an ideal, yes, but at least there is one!), the planned perspective view of the two jets puts this front seater's helmet 62 feet from your eye - in 1/12th scale.

I plan all my paintings this way: 1 inch = 1 foot (1/12th scale) murals! In other words, if this were a 19.5 foot x 34 foot mural (exactly 12 times larger than my painting), and you were to stand dead center looking at the painting from a distance of 42.5 feet from the canvas surface, this is exactly how real F-15Es would look, in size and perspective view, if they appeared "this big" in the window (the canvas). The ability to plan perspective projections of objects from any distance and attitude the artist chooses is made possible by Descriptive Geometry.

Pressing West at FRISCO (detail)

Background complete on the 24 x 32 Fighting 17 final canvas.

After one day on the airplane. Fuselage is next . . .

Fuselage is mostly complete . . .

Fighting 17 (detail)

Enter the Dragons. 8 1/4 x 11. Oil on panel. It's easier to visualize and paint the clouds without the "distraction" of the airplanes, especially at this small size. I'll wait a few weeks before adding the airplanes to this panel.

Here's an in-progress view of Enter the Dragons as the planes are added.

(Above and below) In-progress views of Twin-Tailed Dragons - 24 x 32 canvas.

Mustangs at Dawn (detail)

Chico the Gunfighter (detail)

This is a small oil I'm doing for one of my collectors. Here's a detail shot of the 6.5" x 14" canvas. I like doing these smaller ones, usually done from wartime black and white photos, as a way of relaxing between major paintings.

Col. Don and SSgt. East in progress

Here's my final thumbnail for Eagles of Thunder. It was done on sticky note paper to keep it small and quick. This was my third or fourth sketch, and most closely matched the image I had in mind as I started. I want the viewer to feel like the "fifth" P-47 pilot in this formation. Notice I have sketched only basic shapes and positions. This establishes the validity of my composition, or the relative placement of the objects within the picture plane. If it doesn't look good here, it won't get any better as it gets bigger!

This is the background oil study, done on canvasette paper. It's 6.25" x 10.25", small enough to get the colors down (which I'll try to carefully duplicate when working on the final painting), while carefully preserving the 24" x 40" final proportions. It's very appropriate that this scene was taken from a photograph I took last summer when we were about two hours from England - the lengths I'll go to to get it right! I ran across this photo in my scrapbook, and at first I thought everything looked too 'distant'. However, remembering a trick I learned from Keith Ferris about using your own photos, I took what seemed to be an uninteresting skyscape and cropped in to what you see here. This gave me the masses of shapes I was looking for to complement the mass shape of the four P-47s. This is a MAJOR step forward in the progress of the painting. The lighting will be coming from behind us and to our left (about 45 degrees), which should light up the sides of the aircraft (see pencil study of one P-47 below) with a warm morning "glow", and give us some nice rakish shadows across the mid fuselage areas. The design seems very simple, but that's necessary because the P-47s will take up a lot of room, and the background is really only there to support the aircraft, offer tonal and temperature contrasts to make the planes stand out more, and set a certain mood.

This is the Perspective Projection by Descriptive Geometry plot of the closest Jug. It's about 4.25" long. This is not intended to be a final outline. I will enlarge this drawing and basically redraw this view by correcting and refining shapes and adding details as I go while looking at detailed reference material.

Compare this detail view of the finished outline, ready for transfer to the canvas, with the Descriptive Geometry projection just above. This will be the closest (biggest) Jug in the painting - about 22.5" long! It will be Jack Raphael's P-47C-5-RE, 41-6529, VF-M, Eager Beaver. See the "Raphael Collection" pages on this site for good shots of her. As I paint each section I'll lightly sketch, on the canvas, the underlying structure of the airframe. This will allow me to hint at the subtle undulations of the surface often seen on structures under load. Getting close to the fun part, finally!

This is the perspective projection of the lead P-47 in the closest element - identified as "G" in the yellow rough sketch at the top of this page. This drawing plots landmark points, which will help me locate those key points as I freehand the final drawing (see below for the near-completed final outline drawing).

The plethora of vertical lines are parallel azimuth lines perpendicular to the horizon, and serve only as left or right position lines relative to the center of vision. Elevation measurements, plotted separately, locate the precise spot that specific points of interest lie along these azimuth lines. The aircraft's vertical lines actually converge to a point above the aircraft. I will have to account for this when drawing vertical lines or forms on the aircraft.

Three-Point Perspective is necessary when none of the three axes of the aircraft (longitudinal, lateral or vertical - also known as sets of parallel lines) are parallel to the picture plane, which is assumed to be perpendicular to the centerline of the cone of vision. If this is the case, then in perspective each of the three sets of parallel lines will converge at a vanishing point. For example, we can assume the paper here is the canvas, or "picture plane". Notice that we are below the elevation of the aircraft, relative to it's wings. This banks the aircraft (relative to the viewer), and means the vertical axis is tilted, and not parallel to the picture plane/canvas. Furthermore, this is not a precise side view of the plane, so its longitudinal axis is not parallel to the canvas either. Finally, this is not a dead-on front or back view of the aircraft, so the lateral axis is likewise not parallel to the picture plane. None of the three major axes are parallel to the picture plane/canvas, so by definition a precise drawing of this airplane in perspective will require 3 vanishing points. This is where Descriptive Geometry (DG) comes into it's own. DG allows an intuitive way of precisely relating multiple aircraft perspective projections to each other, while fully considering the size of the canvas, and the distance of the viewer's eye, as he or she looks through the window (canvas/picture plane), from a preferred distance, at the planes. This "preferred distance" can be adapted to a comfortable viewer's eye distance from a magazine, book, hallway in the Pentagon, art gallery, or even a large mural in a museum. The Center of Vision in all cases is based on the canvas itself, not the individual aircraft. This is the difference between the manual form of Descriptive Geometry and those computer programs which can give you "perspective" views of aircraft. The latter will give you a nice outline, but they cannot relate the projection to a changing viewer distance and the canvas size, which is also a flexible variable. Using D. G., the result is a fairly precise unified view of all the elements of the painting, just as if the canvas were a clear window, which is just the effect the aviation artist is trying to achieve.

Notice that the wing is only a flat plane as seen here - I will have to account for the airfoil shape in the final drawing when adding details such as the national insignias, and shell ejection ports and flap and aileron outlines, etc. You can get a good idea of the small size of these initial projections by comparing the sketch with the 1/4" blue squares of the sectioned paper.

Compare this detail view of the near-finished outline with the small Descriptive Geometry plot directly above (I would have shown you the whole P-47 here, but my scanner is too small). Notice everything appears to be done except for the 108-gallon drop tank. When I'm satisfied with this basic outline view, I will photocopy it. Then I will draw in the remaining details such as aircraft markings, the pilot, etc. Doing the latter on the photocopied view allows me to erase (I do that a lot!) without destroying the precise detail you see here.

This is the third P-47 (relative to the viewer) all ready to take her place in the composition. Flying wing in the far element, this is Capt. Lee Gover's P-47D-6, VF-G 42-74688, Miss San Carlos. Notice the 60" oversized national insignias on the wing undersides. You P-47-o-philes will have already noticed that this kite has the whip antenna rather than the rigid mast. Luckily, I have a really nice 8" x 10" shot of the nose art. I'm saving the two bigger (closer) planes for last, when I'm really in tune with the details of the complicated P-47.

Currently, I'm working at getting to this point with all four airplanes. After that, I'll position the airplanes on the canvas based on my Descriptive Geometry plot layout. Satisfied with the arrangement of the airplanes relative to each other (they should be flying the same heading!) and the background, I will then proceed to do a detailed pencil drawing of the entire scene to layout the tones and values. Finally, I'll do the full sized piece. Lots of work, but the results more than pay for themselves. As I've learned, unless you are just really blessed with special artistic abilities (I am not), then you have to do things the hard way: one step at a time.

This is the fourth (furthest away from the viewer) kite. Lt. Louis H. "Red Dog" Norley pilots his P-47C-2, VF-O, 41-6183, Red Dog. This airplane will be 5 1/2" inches long, nose to tail, in the final painting. It's hard to do, but this airplane will (must!) display less detail, saturation of color, lighter and cooler values and less crisp edges than the closest airplane. There are other things that happen to objects with "distance", but these are the biggies.

All these things contribute heavily to adding depth to a flat surface. Adding detail "for details sake" in distant airplanes is unnecessary and unintentionally focuses the eye "back there". A big part of the artist's job is to lead the viewer around the painting by manipulating edges, color and detail. In other words, if it's supposed to be far off in the distance - keep it there!

To break up the monotony of the tedious process of adding details to the outlines of all four airplanes, I did this small pencil study of aircraft no. 3 (2nd smallest aircraft in the yellow sticky-note thumbnail). It's sort of a "proof of concept" drawing validating the image in my head as far as the look I am going for - I think I'm on the right track with these morning low-frontlit P-47s against the dark background. Before mixing paint, I'll do a similar pencil study of the entire painting - probably around half size. That way most of my tonal/value problems will be addressed beforehand.

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The pencil (value) study is a half-size black and white version of the entire painting. The purpose of this study is to figure out the proper distribution of values as distributed among not only the surface of each airplane, but each P-47 relative to the others. First thing I did on the pencil study is this P-47 (Eager Beaver). This will be the closest Jug, as well as my center of interest, so the darkest darks, lightest lights, brightest highlights and most saturated colors will appear on this ship. These elements need to be established from the beginning, so as you can see, it's the first thing I've done on the pencil study. Full size she'll be about 22.5" long, but this cropped-in drawing is about 11.25" long. I'm not at all concerned with detail here - that will be added on the final work. After finishing all four airplanes, I'll work in the background values.

After finishing all four P-47s, I got my first real look at the airplanes flying together, that is, all four were lit by the sun for the first time. Now comes the fun part - adding in the background. This is the first integration of subject and background, and will hopefully match the picture I've had in my head for quite a while now. Here I am just after starting to lay in the first backgound tones - it's amazing to watch everything come together at this stage. The artwork literally comes to life right before your eyes! This pencil study measures 12" x 20", half the size of the final painting.

Here's the completed half-size (12" x 20") pencil study. Not only does this give me an excellent idea where I'll end up, but it allows me to literally "study" the final work before I even start on it. The more I looked at this after I finished it, the more I realized that while I really like the overall composition, and especially the feeling of flight and also the sense of speed and forward motion I get with the aircraft contrails, I sensed something was lacking. The upper left corner of the canvas needed "something". There are only two things I could put in there without reconsidering the entire composition: a relatively bright area hinting at the sun's light (nope - sun is too far off our left shoulder to make that much of a difference), or . . . more contrails! But, of course! A few quick swipes with the eraser, and viola! "Contrails", from a just-passed section of Jugs.

After marking off the precise location of each P-47, I then use drafting tape to secure the image, then slide a small sheet of graphite transfer paper underneath it, and retrace every line. This leaves a ghostly outline on the canvas. You can see the faint image of the largest P-47 just in front of my forehead.

After transferring all four P-47s, then pencilling in the contrails, horizon and cloud outlines, all that's left to do is lightly go over each pencil line with a kneaded eraser to pick up as much graphite as I can. After a quick dusting off with my 'art brush', I'm ready to start mixing paint! Here I am blending the last bits of contrail. Next step is to work horizon down on the background, then start on the airplanes . . . can't wait for that! Notice the ever-present pencil study. It and the half-completed color study I did (not shown) are my 'weathervanes' for tone, value and color. They serve as 'guides' more than anything else, and as long as I glance at them every once in a while, especially as I begin a new area on the painting, I feel like I know what I'm doing, and the confidence level is greatly increased. Prior planning pays off!

To make a long story short, after spending all afternoon on the sky, I decided that I didn't like it! So, making a command decision, I wiped it off. I decided to begin anew with the center of interest of the entire piece, the largest P-47.

What you see here is the in-progress application of the "base coat" of oil paint. Relatively loosely applied, the base coat allows me to play with values and temperatures without spending too much time on final details. Later, I'll come back and, panel by panel, sharpen up edges, add oil stains, rivets, dzus fasteners, paint chips, etc, and adjust areas of value and temperature (if necessary). It's easier to add these finishing details after the base coat is pretty much dry. Notice that I laid in a little background sky color to provide a little contrast to the airplane. Even though I refer to my pencil study (see above) constantly, it's really hard to judge the work so far without that big cast shadow on the fuselage . . . that's next!

I really liked the progress of the main Thunderbolt, so I decided, on a whim, to play with some sky/cloud color mixtures, and before I knew it, I was painting the sky (again), even though I was going to save the background until later. Here I'm laying in some very subtle warm cloud color against the fuselage spine. I'm very happy with the overall effect, which includes the noticeable, but not over-rendered, contrails. This soft hued background will contrast nicely against the sharper airplane tones. I think at this stage that I'm going to go ahead and finish the background completely, then come back in and work the airplanes.

After fiddling with it for almost too long, the background is now complete. Next, we have to let the whole thing dry for several days before coming back to the main aircraft.

At this point, the main P-47 is fully blocked in. It looks complete at first glance, but a lot of detail work, and some "tweaking" remains. However, the "hard" part is done. The all-important pattern of lights and darks have been established, and experience gained here will speed things up on the other Thunderbolts. Notice that I saved the nose art till now, as I wanted to put it up against a "finished" engine cowling.

Here's a detail shot taken around the same time as the one above it. The nose art is "in progress". Aside from the nose art, the engine cowling and the small part of the fuselage back to the leading edge of the wing is finished, complete with rivets, paint chips and oil stains. The rest of the airplane and drop tank are "base-coated" only. The temptation is to depict every scratch and chip possible, but that rapidly produces an overworked effect - dull, flat and uninteresting.

Lead ship (Gentile's Donnie Boy) is finished - only two to go! If you were to see the original, you would notice a "toning down" of not only the color values and saturation, due the effects of atmospheric perspective (distance), but also much less definition and detail than in the larger Thunderbolt. All this, and a little magic wand, AKA my paintbrush, (hopefully) aids in the illusion of depth.

Three done - one to go! This one was a challenge because he's half-behind the contrail from Gentile's P-47.

'Eagles of Thunder' (detail)

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