"Aces High" and "Death Dealer"

[Olham 164]

Just found these two paintings by Steve Anderson over at "The Aerodrome". I guess they'd make good desktop backgrounds.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2011 by Olham

[Shiloh 12]

Those are really nice. I don't suppose the really tight grouping of planes is accurate?

[Flyby PC 23]

You know something, I really don't want to disrespect Steve Anderson, and I do appreciate a craftsman and artist at work, but I find it very hard not to compare images like these to our OFF screenshots, and find my personal preference drawn to the latter.

 

I swear, that isn't a swipe at the artistry, just recognition how high OFF has set the bar for realism and general ambience. You need to make allowances of course because you're not comparing like with like, and you get a third dimension in OFF which you can't possibly replicate on paper, but OFF does look mighty fine. Every frame has artistry all through it, it's only the composition you need to add.

[Olham 164]

Quite right, Shiloh - flying so close together would have been sheer madness.

If two craft get that close to each other, yes, but not six or seven.

The artists often attempt to fill it all into the chosen format;

which unfortunately results in a less believeable painting.

 

... OFF does look mighty fine.

Every frame has artistry all through it, it's only the composition you need to add.

without any doubt, Flyby. I had written a similar post time ago.

OFF has that artistic touch to it through and through, that lifts it out of the average sim or game.

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

I'm with flypc too...not wishing to distract from the artwork...OFF has the edge in gritty realism...the pictures look like..well pictures.

(that said...would look very nice in a Book)

Edited September 15, 2011 by UK_Widowmaker

[Hauksbee 103]

...I really don't want to disrespect Steve Anderson, and I do appreciate a craftsman and artist at work, but...

Well, wot th' hell...someone's got to do it. My point being, that after a career of being a graphic designer & illustrator, I'm well accustomed to having to defend my work. It's part of the game. ("You got that part wrong!" "Th' hell I did...") Everybody and his cat has an opinion. I'm sure Anderson's a big boy now and if he found out that we feel only pilots with a death-wish would fly that close, it would not be the end of his world. But...for flying close, it's the movie people who should be poked with a sharp stick. Particularly scenes of squadrons taking off, and/or diving to the attack. It seems mandatory to crowd every plane into the shot. There's been many an occasion when I've nearly choked on my popcorn (in chagrin) and thought "Would someone just buy a copy of OFF and FRAPS for these fools, so they can get it right.?"

Edited September 15, 2011 by Hauksbee

[Olham 164]

Well, wot th' hell...someone's got to do it. My point being, that after a career of being a graphic designer & illustrator,

I'm well accustomed to having to defend my work. It's part of the game. ("You got that part wrong!" "Th' hell I did...")

Everybody and his cat has an opinion.

Hauksbee, I know soooo bloody well, what you mean (same profession).

 

There's been many an occasion when I've nearly choked on my popcorn (in chagrin) and thought "Would someone

just buy a copy of OFF and FRAPS for these fools, so they can get it right.?"

Ditto, ditto, ditto!

There must be so many people with the right knowledge about all this.

Why does nobody ask them?

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

If I was writing a book, about WW1 aerial Combat...I would ask OBD to use OFF screenshots in it!

[Shiloh 12]

I use to be a fine artist (oils) and it seems silly to me to paint now as one can easily outdo my work with some talent and the right software. I do prefer the look of OFF to these paintings in particular I must say. And with all due respect to the artist himself as he is not here to defend his work, I do think these would have a nicer look if the composition was a little less busy - less is more I always say.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Shiloh

[Flyby PC 23]

I use to be a fine artist (oils) and it seems silly to me to paint now as one can easily outdo my work with some talent and the right software. I do prefer the look of OFF to these paintings in particular I must say. And with all due respect to the artist himself as he is not here to defend his work, I do think these would have a nicer look if the composition was a little less busy - less is more I always say.

 

 

I don't fully agree Shiloh, when the right piece of art resonates with somebody's personal taste, you really can't beat the result. It doesn't happen very often, but the effect lasts a long time when it does. When I went to Art College, er, 27 years ago (yikes) there was an art student there who painted warships, but very darkly and his pictures were filled with menace. They've haunted me ever since, - in a good way. If i wasn't a skint student myself, I'd have bought the lot.

 

Art gets tough when it comes up against photo-reality / illustration, and good digital software, but there's still no substitute for creativity and originality. I imagine a great many painters put away their brushes when photography was invented.

 

There are parallels with stonework. I'm a stonemason, and when I carve things, it isn't art, its a technical professional service, even though such work is very often done to a better technical standard than most artistic carving. But when you see really good sculpture, or some piece of exquisite artistic carving, it has that spark of vitality which makes it unique and 'special' and transcends the technical merits of the artist.

 

There is a lot of rubbish out there too, but I'm talking about the genuine good stuff...

Edited September 15, 2011 by Flyby PC

[Dej 17]

What is the purpose of WW1 Aviation Art... or any pre-jet age air combat artwork for that matter? Is it meant to be a rivet-counting accurate depiction of some historical encounter or other, or is its intent to convey an emotion, a sense of the visceral heart-in-mouth oh-my-god nearness (relatively) of aerial combat?

 

I feel 'tis the latter. In that respect Anderson's painting is a good effort. The various descriptions of the battle speak of the SEs' attempt to box Voss in, and of his mastery of the Triplane's manoeuvrability - turning on a dime. This must have led to a almost claustrophobic atmosphere by comparison with 'normal' combat, exacerbated by the fact that Voss was inflicting damage on almost every SE that crossed his sights. This the painting conveys.

 

I have reservations about the work... one or two of the machines depicted lack a sense of movement; the palette is lacking in breadth and the lighting of the aircraft does not sit comfortably with that of the landscape, but the distances between the aircraft is not an issue for me - it's not a sim screenie, it's art.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Dej

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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I agree with Dej and Flyby. Art is meant to evoke feelings and emotions a crystal clear photograph or technically perfect recreation of a scene cannot. IMHO, one of the worst things that can be said about a work of art as concerns it's subject is, "It looks just like it".

 

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[Flyby PC 23]

The problem with art, is you may die happy but hungry. Very often nothing sells your work better than being dead.

 

It's the difference between stonemasonry and sculpture, a technical journal and a work of literature, illustration and art. One strives to reach the pinnacle of technical accuracy and is governed by rules, and definitive rights and wrongs. For example, if you have two masons working side by side churning out yard after yard of cornice, to be considered competent work, never mind good, the stones should be identical and you should not be able to tell which mason did which.

 

The other original and creative side strives to conquer your emotions and lift your level of awareness to the world around you. They do overlap from time to time, but only rarely come together as one. If a sculptor does a carving, it's a one of original piece of work. If a mason does a carving, he should be on a wage to do it, not a commission, and be readily able to do two carvings exactly the same, four the same, a mirror image of the same carving, the same carving half the size, or the exact same carving but done ten years later etc. It's a technical discipline.

 

Technical accuracy and getting things right every time is the essence of computer software, so it's not hard to see why it thrives, - but it's a sterile type of knowledge, and no threat to artistic creativity..... not yet at least.

 

Those paintings I remember? I couldn't describe a single one of them, or even detail what was in the images for you any more than I already have. Warships and menace. It's the powerful emotions it stirred in me which have stayed the course for 27 years. That's art.

 

....And that's the problem with art, 27 years of value didn't cost me a penny. The value isn't in the ownership.

Edited September 16, 2011 by Flyby PC

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

I've always liked Art that tells a story.... not a fan of loads of dog-turd smeared on a salad of life type crap, that you get in the Tate Modern...A monkey can do that!

 

Like that 'messy Bedroom' that caused such a stir...I mean, c'mon!

 

As to a picture that sticks in my mind...the Charge of the Scots Grey's (Scotland Forever I believe is the actual title) certainly evokes something in me!.... the expressions on the Horse's....the looks on the faces of the men...the speed that is perfectly captured....The Officer leading the Charge...I could study it for hours.

Sometimes it helps to have some experience of the subject matter too...I have never been involved in a Cavalry Charge of course...but have stood at the front of a Horse Race...and the thunderous noise made by just 10 horses galloping, was something to behold!....the sound of hundreds must be unbelievable!

 

Unfortunately, the pic i've posted does not do it justice at all

 

 

 

ps: as a quick history lesson thrown in for good measure...

 

Scotland Forever! by Lady Elizabeth Butler. Lady Butler's depiction of the Scots Greys famous charge at the Battle of Waterloo. In actuality, it appears that they were unable to build up the momentum of a gallop, because the broken ground obliged them to advance at a canter.

 

Still a damn fine painting though

Edited September 16, 2011 by UK_Widowmaker

[Olham 164]

I have reservations about the work ... the palette is lacking in breadth and the lighting of the aircraft does not sit comfortably

with that of the landscape ...

Dej, I don't know the time of the fight, but the painter showed a sunrise or sunset time here.

At that time, the golden sunlight is warm at more altitude, while it only just begins to kiss away

the bluer shades on the landscape down there. So IMHO it fits very well.

Widowmaker, that is a great example of "action" in a painting - the cavalry almost exploding towards the viewer.

Edited September 16, 2011 by Olham

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Widowmaker, your example illustrates perfectly my point. Lady Butler's painting beautifully captures the energy and the excitement of that charge of some three hundred men against several thousand of Napolean's troops. Even the clouds are supporting these brave riders, seeming to surge forward with them. It does not "look just like" the event it is attempting to capture, but it certainly evokes a fair amount of the emotion that must have existed in that moment. BTW, here is a slightly better image of the painting for you WM:

 

 

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[UK_Widowmaker 571]

thank you Lou...that is indeed a better picture

[Flyby PC 23]

...I have never been involved in a Cavalry Charge of course...but have stood at the front of a Horse Race...and the thunderous noise made by just 10 horses galloping, was something to behold!....the sound of hundreds must be unbelievable!...

 

I kind of have... kind of....

 

In the Borders, we have the Common Riding, where you might have 200 horsemen (on the big rideouts) riding the local boundaries. There's no massed charges, but you'll filter through a gate and take off in a group of 20 or 30 horses, and yes it is a superb feeling, made all the better because the crowds cheer you on!

 

Been a while since I followed, back when I was 14 actually...

 

[YouTube]

[\YouTube]

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Nice one FlyPC...you're full of surprises!!

[Shiloh 12]

I do believe that different art genres can be powerful in their own way - painting included. I just feel a lot of modern-day artists are gravitating toward the computer because that's where the money and real opportunities are. It's a tough living today as a fine artist working in traditional mediums and only a select few can find real success with it. One genre that hasn't been mentioned here (unless I missed it) is photography. Ansel Adams has captured photos that evoke the deepest emotions in me including this one of the Yosemite Valley and I hold his work in the highest regard.

 

Edited September 16, 2011 by Shiloh

[Dej 17]

Dej[/b], I don't know the time of the fight, but the painter showed a sunrise or sunset time here.

At that time, the golden sunlight is warm at more altitude, while it only just begins to kiss away

the bluer shades on the landscape down there.

 

It was evening. Your point is as mine.... too much 'yellow' in the landscape for the level of light in the sky.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Shiloh, photography is absolutely another genre where one can be "techincally adept" while another knows just how to capture the emotion of a place, person, and/or event in a single still frame of film. And, I would have also gone directly to Adams' work to support just such a point.

 

Flyby, that must have been a rush for you back when you you rode. Some of my past experiences with horses have been less enjoyable, but those are stories for another day I think.

 

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[Hauksbee 103]

Still a damn fine painting though

Isn't that the truth! I've always admired Lady Butler...that which I've been able to find, and that's precious few examples. (maybe six) 'Seems she's gotten lost in the horrid rush of 'modernism', which pretty much sets my teeth on edge. Dismissed these days as a 'Cheerleader for the Raj', I find her unsurpassed for draftsmanship, color, light, brushwork and emotional power. (I'd burn Cezanne' to the ground at a moments notice, and Picasso should have been strangled in the cradle) I've read that spectators would collect in front of her paintings and cheer. (OK, so maybe she was a cheerleader for the Raj, but I can live with that) I've scoured the 'net on several occasions looking for a site that had a good overview of her work. Found nothing. So Widowmaker, can you point me toward some good books, or websites, on Lady Butler?

[Hauksbee 103]

Ansel Adams has captured photos that evoke the deepest emotions in me including this one of the Yosemite Valley and I hold his work in the highest regard.

Ansel Adams was definitely 'the man'. But he got so many of his breath-taking shots because he camped out and lived in the places he was interested in. And shot frame-after-frame day-after-day 'til hell wouldn't have it. The last article I saw on Adams (about ten years ago) said that his estate still hasn't been curated. He left behind hundreds and hundreds of rolls of film never developed, masses of negatives never printed. When you shoot film on that scale you're sure to get some winners. And then, of course, you go into the darkroom and work your magic.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Isn't that the truth! I've always admired Lady Butler...that which I've been able to find, and that's precious few examples. (maybe six) 'Seems she's gotten lost in the horrid rush of 'modernism', which pretty much sets my teeth on edge. Dismissed these days as a 'Cheerleader for the Raj', I find her unsurpassed for draftsmanship, color, light, brushwork and emotional power. (I'd burn Cezanne' to the ground at a moments notice, and Picasso should have been strangled in the cradle) I've read that spectators would collect in front of her paintings and cheer. (OK, so maybe she was a cheerleader for the Raj, but I can live with that) I've scoured the 'net on several occasions looking for a site that had a good overview of her work. Found nothing. So Widowmaker, can you point me toward some good books, or websites, on Lady Butler?

 

 

Hauksbee, I imagine that you and Widowmaker, (and other Lady Butler fans as well), are likely already aware that the works she wrote and illustrated are in the public domain and available online to download:

 

From Sketchbook and Diary

 

Letters From the Holy Land

 

An Autobiography

 

I have read the first two but only browsed the last, and am quite fond of her sketchbook.

 

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