Army_Air_Force Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Out of all the aviation paintings I've seen where the subject and the viewer are in the air, probably less than 1% ever show part of the aircraft where the viewer is looking at the scene from. In all the rest, you see the subject, ground, sky and clouds, but the view point to me always seems some magical, floating in mid air, eye in the sky. Has anyone here painted any shots where the view point is looking out of a window at the subject, or across the wing, or out over the tail guns, to frame the scene or lead the eyes to a particular point in the picture? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tornado64 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Out of all the aviation paintings I've seen where the subject and the viewer are in the air, probably less than 1% ever show part of the aircraft where the viewer is looking at the scene from. In all the rest, you see the subject, ground, sky and clouds, but the view point to me always seems some magical, floating in mid air, eye in the sky.Has anyone here painted any shots where the view point is looking out of a window at the subject, or across the wing, or out over the tail guns, to frame the scene or lead the eyes to a particular point in the picture? funny you should ask that !! i have been considdering something along those lines whilst sounding easy at first it throws up quite a few problems involving decent shots of your subject or photographed models to work from , a cockpit or other crew position photographed at the correct angle and with the light hitting it from the same direction for shadows etc plus where you want to have it viewed from may not work as a frame but it may well be in my paintings to do just unsure of what to do a b17 one may work especialy from the ball turret !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tornado64 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 also worth mentioning is look up your local aviation art society mine is at the air and space museum manchester you get more variety there not just paintings that are commercial !! a guy i know painted a superb idea of ghost lancaster bombers on the airfield that had been lost he painted over the empty airfield the aircrafy in transparent white with slight hint of blue very effective paintings !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darrell White Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 There was one that I saw of a Vietnam scene... It was a morning or dusk sky looking out the side doors of a Huey looking at another Huey. The "viewers" Huey door opening went from one side of the canvas to the other. I want to say it was either a William S Phillips, Stokes, or a Taylor... can't remember which, but was expertly done by one of the current big name aviation artists. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MIG17 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Interesting set of problems.- Lets say you were to paint a scene like you are in the ball turret. If you painted the frame, (nearest), and the sky scene, (farthest), to same degree of focus and detail, wouldn't it look flat? There are some wildlife paintings that really illustrate the point I'm trying to make. The subject, (a bird on a post lets say), is rendered in sharp focus and detail, the background is waaay out of focus, which really makes the whole paining "pop" and look correct. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tornado64 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Interesting set of problems.- Lets say you were to paint a scene like you are in the ball turret. If you painted the frame, (nearest), and the sky scene, (farthest), to same degree of focus and detail, wouldn't it look flat? There are some wildlife paintings that really illustrate the point I'm trying to make. The subject, (a bird on a post lets say), is rendered in sharp focus and detail, the background is waaay out of focus, which really makes the whole paining "pop" and look correct.Steve that is another associated problem , combining tones and sharpness to make it look correct in depth of field so your subject would stand out also deciding where the main attention should be , in the cockpit or the view outside !! i mentioned a ball turret as the sperry turret had very distinctive windows so you could paint in sihlouette if desired and it would still be obvious where the viewpoint was from !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 15, 2010 Author Share Posted January 15, 2010 I never said it would be easy! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 this is actually a great subject. i'd considered doing drawings like this before, but never seem to work it in. something that may help alleviate the problem of reference photos and depth of field issues would be to silloutte the "framework" interior of the plane you're showing the viewer in. i think by just showing a hint of interior details but mostly having a dark frame, it would make the actual subject matter really pop. or of course you could do in-air refueling paintings, there are plenty of reference shots of that. just make sure you get permission to use them. by looking at some of those photos, you'll notice many times, you can't see much detail of the interior of the plane since usually, the outside sky is much brighter then the aircraft interior, so the camera underexposes the foreground. i may have to try something along these lines. first i have to find time to draw and or paint again. never enough time! Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 15, 2010 Author Share Posted January 15, 2010 I think you are right in suggesting just a hint of detail. If anyone has done any pictures like this or are planning to, please post them here as this is an area of aviation art that is pretty rare, and I'm sure others would like to see the work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 It's all a matter of perspective ... Sorry, had to be said ... :unsure: Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 It's all a matter of perspective ... Sorry, had to be said ... Gregg depending on how you look at it, you may be right. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tornado64 Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 and as if by magic one pops up !! looked in our local aviation art societys exhibition art the air and space museum yesterday !! there was a painting of a 1950's prop liner looking out from another airliners port hole window the artist had used the shape of the porthole ( painted silver ) as an effective frame ( use of real rivet heads added something extra !! ) not everyones cup of tea , but i thaught it was good !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Army_Air_Force Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 WHAT! and you didn't buy it so you could post a picture here Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tornado64 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 WHAT! ;) and you didn't buy it so you could post a picture here :D liked it but i liked the E.E. Lightning ( the one with the light blue arrow and lightning written on the cockpit side ) outside the an E.E. hangar with the press welcoming commitee more ..( didn't have over 500 quid though damn you eating !!! ) although they were all great examples !! the theme they worked to this time was silver aircraft ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tornado64 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 the work is called " silver fish !" by peter grove last time i looked it was on excibition at the air and space gallery at manchesters air and space museum it is oils painted on metal !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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