QN SUMMER 21 LR

QUARTERLY 

N EWS 

SUMMER 2021 

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE GUILD OF AVIATION ARTISTS 

WWW.GAVA.ORG.UK 

Cold War visitor 

over Edwards 

Paul Couper GAvA paints the 

poster image for this year’s 

virtual Annual Exhibition 

CONTENTS INCLUDE... 

From The Chair - Andrew Latham 3 

Annual Poster - Paul Couper 4-6 

Parky Parkinson Portrait - Peter Binks 7 

Submission Day with a difference 8-9 

What I did in Lockdown - continued 10-13 

Roy Garner - Obituary 14-15 

LAA 2022 Art Competition 16 

More metal Spitfires 17 

Jack Berry - “You Are Not Alone” 17 

Region Meetings 18-25 

Caption Competition 26 

MAVAS & Aviation Magazines 26 

HQ information 27 

The Back Page - Keith Henderson 28 

GUILD OF AVIATION ARTISTS QUARTERLY NEWS SUMMER 2021

QN EDITORS 

Robert Calow GAvA 

David Calow GAvA 

Welcome to the Summer 2021 QN 

As this edition of the QN is going to press, the 

country finds itself hopefully going forward 

with less restrictions but as ever there is much 

still to happen – we are sure of that! 

The other main event as far as the Guild is 

concerned is that the 2021 Virtual Annual 

Exhibition will have started by the time your 

QN drops through the door. 

With nearly 300 artworks, the Annual is again 

a great show of Guild talent, but the main 

difference of course is that it is a virtual 

exhibition hosted as in December by Artsteps. 

Huge thanks must got the exhibition team but 

especially to Chairman Andrew for ‘hanging‘ 

the artwork and Steve Chard for organising it 

all. Martin Perman will have been waiting by 

the phone for the calls starting at 10am on 

Monday 19th July and we hope for a good 

number of sales over the exhibition period! 

As a complete contrast to these most digital 

of times, we also take an interesting look 

at the early Mall Gallery Annual exhibitions 

from 2002 as put together by David Ellwood 

with commentary by Bob Farr. Fascinatingly 

‘hands on’! 

The Guild AGM was again successfully 

undertaken by e-mail with an additional Zoom 

evening get together to enable members to 

discuss any points raised with around 40 taking 

part. Well done to all involved, and we also 

finally could officially welcome Richard Thorne 

and Shirley Batten-Smith to their posts on the 

Committee. 

This QN has four reports from the regions which 

show that we are slowly making our way finally 

to some sort of normality. We must thank the 

Region Organisers for all their hard work in 

liaising with the venues to enable them to 

take place and they are all being very well 

received by members who are relishing the 

chance to meet up again. 

We would also like to thank everyone who 

continues to send in their ‘Lockdown’ articles 

– we are certainly a very busy bunch with a 

wide range of interests! 

Best wishes to all for a good summer, 

Robert and David 

DIARY 2021 

Region Meetings 

DATES &VENUES 

Midland Region Meetings 

Sat 17th July 

Jet Age Museum, Gloucester (with West Region) 

Sat 14th August East Midlands Aeropark, East Midlands Airport 

Sat 4th September Newark Air Museum 

Sat 9th October venue to be confirmed 

Sat 13th November RAF Museum, Cosford 

East Anglian Region Meeting 

Sat 31st July 

Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden Aerodrome 

Sat 16th October Vintage Fabrics, Audley End, CB11 4LH 

West Region Meeting 

Sat 3rd July 

Army Flying Museum, Middle Wallop 

GAvA Committee Provisional Zoom Meeting Dates 

Mon 13th September 

Mon 22nd November 

Cartoon Corner 

by 

As the 2021 Virtual Exhibition is on from mid July, Clyde has had 

some thoughts on the “new” world gallery. 

And when the NHS 

App pings.. isolation! 

Thanks again from the Eds to Clyde Anderson AGAvA for all his contributions! 

Summer is here and one can sense a 

degree of optimism for future events, albeit 

with some caution, even though ‘doublejabbed’. 

I for one am very much looking 

forward to a visit to the Jet Age Museum 

the weekend prior to our online exhibition 

which opens on July 19th. 

AGM 

Once again, the Covid-19 pandemic made 

us conduct the business part of the Annual 

General Meeting by means of email and 

post. A copy of the Chairman’s Report 

and financial information with the usual 

proposals to confirm acceptances and 

vote on committee and other members 

were circulated in the Spring edition of 

the Quarterly News and by email. Full and 

Associate members entitled to vote were 

asked to endorse proposals by the end 

of April, which was extended till the Zoom 

meeting on May 10th to make a quorum. 

In total some 70 responses were received 

giving consent for all items with one exception 

for item 14, the new bye-law, which was 

approved along with all other items. Shirley 

Batten-Smith was appointed Treasurer 

and Richard Thorne AGAvA was appointed 

Secretary. Some 43 joined the call and it 

was good to see so many, who we had not 

been able to meet for so long. The process 

was completed following the Zoom meeting. 

The Annual Return form (AR5) was duly 

completed and signed by Officers of the Guild, 

a Trustee and Chris Winter for the Auditor. It 

was then submitted to the Financial Conduct 

Authority (FCA) by the due date. Presentation 

of trophies for 2019 and 2021 is postponed 

until the AGM in 2022 which is being planned 

for RAF Museum Cosford on 27th March. It 

is likely that Guild trophies will need to be 

shared during next year. 

Sketch Days 

I am particularly keen to return to Gloucester, 

since finding reference in a 1987 Quarterly 

News where my dad, Joe, notes seeing 

a new fighter in January 1940 which he’d 

found in his diary for that year. 

The Gloster F.9/37 

FROM THE CHAIR 

It being the first jet fighter was ruled out 

by the date, however, an enquiry to the Jet 

Age Museum reveals it was almost certainly 

a Gloster F.9/37 serial L7999 with twin 

Bristol Taurus piston engines; he names the 

test pilots as (Gerry) Sayer and (Maurice) 

Summers. 

I found the 1940 original: typical schoolboy 

entries for a large part of the year, getting 

‘G. measles, making and flying model 

aircraft, sometimes two or three per week, 

spotting aircraft, British and German, some 

crashes and visiting cousins in Gloucester. 

Things do not really change until ‘London 

Bombed’ for a whole fortnight in September. 

Subsequent years are 

overwritten, as diaries obviously became 

scarce. I did some searches for the model 

aircraft he made and flew: Dick Korda, 

White Wings and Achilles and found they 

are still available; so, I have lined up a KK 

Achilles for the next construction project. 

The Dick Korda design won an endurance 

competition, the Wakefield Trophy in 1939; 

the official time for that flight was 43 

minutes 29 seconds. 

Some Region events have already taken 

place successfully, thanks to organisers 

and supportive organisations, notably 

Cosford, both museum and RAF base, and 

Middle Wallop. 

Annual 

It is clear to me that it was the correct 

decision not to hold a live annual this year 

at the Mall, even though they are ‘open’. 

It would have been impossible to gather 

teams of helpers and attendance would 

have been limited. 

A great deal of preparation has gone into 

the online exhibition, thanks to the team 

lead by Steve Chard. It is quite a different 

venture, which we hope will be successful. 

It will not be the same as rocking up at the 

Mall at 8am and getting stuck in with a 

team of like-minded enthusiasts, however, 

it is not confined to entrants who could 

manage that, for instance one exhibitor is in 

Australia, and it can also carry on for more 

Andrew Latham GAvA 

than a week, viewable world-wide. There 

are almost 300 works in the exhibition 

and awards will be judged during the first 

week, with winners announced as and 

when that is completed. In these uncertain 

times, some prizes will be available from 

our generous sponsors, although in some 

cases a certificate or trophy will be all that 

is possible. Presentations will take place at 

the AGM next March 27th at RAF Museum 

Cosford, so hold that date. 

The main page on the website will be up from 

10am on Monday July 19th accompanied by 

a link to the 3D Virtual exhibition. Pictures 

on the website will be of better quality than 

usual, protected by watermarks and Martin 

will be poised by the telephone to take 

sales enquiries as soon as it opens. He can 

only deal with one call at a time, so please 

be patient. Please do all you can to promote 

the exhibition among family and friends, 

colleagues, and enthusiasts, and encourage 

them to ‘like’ and post comments. We are 

also working out how to organise a public 

vote for the Nockolds Trophy. Thanks to all 

who sent artist profiles. We are also trying 

to decide how to display them. 

Payments 

Payments through Square have grown and 

been used successfully for membership 

renewals, hanging fees and sketch days. It 

cuts down enormously on time and effort 

processing cheques, saves postage and 

speeds up the whole business. Cheques 

are still taken for those who cannot pay 

online; however, I encourage everyone who 

can to use the new method. 

Social Media 

Our project on social media continues. It 

has been challenging in the circumstances 

of low activity to find content. All credit to 

those involved in making the most of past 

reports from QNs, anniversaries and coming 

up with ideas such as ‘meet the Artist’. As 

we start doing more, please consider sharing 

any photos you take on a sketch day, maybe 

a video too, and as soon as you can to keep 

the content relevant. Congratulations to 

Nick Harder, one of our younger artists, who 

had four works accepted for the exhibition 

and who set up a sketching demonstration 

live on Instagram and Facebook in July. 

I wish you all a safe and productive summer 

and look forward to meeting as many of you 

as circumstances allow. 

Andrew Latham GAvA 

Chairman 

2 GUILD OF AVIATION ARTISTS QUARTERLY NEWS SUMMER 2021 

GUILD OF AVIATION ARTISTS QUARTERLY NEWS SUMMER 2021 3

Cold War visitor over Edwards The annual poster image Paul Couper GAvA 

What with recent events, it now 

seems like a lifetime ago that I 

was surprised to be contacted 

by Andrew Latham who asked if I 

would like to produce the painting 

for the 2020 Annual Exhibition 

poster? “Would I ever” was, of 

course, the instant reply! 

2020 was to be the 50th anniversary of 

Guild’s 1st exhibition and with that in mind, 

an event from that time was suggested 

as a suitable subject. Feeling just a little 

bit chuffed, and with some trepidation, 

I hit the books and internet to see what 

I could find aviation-wise that would fire 

my imagination. 

Initial Ideas 

I was six in 1970 and already had many 

favourite aeroplanes - the Lightning, 

Concorde, the ‘Angel Interceptors’ all the 

usual suspects, but after much research, 

it appeared that the year was a little 

lacking in aviation firsts for the UK. The 

US had the first flight of the F-14 ‘Tomcat’ 

and both the Tristar and DC10, but I didn’t 

consider these suitable for this project. 

Time for Plan B and a look at the evergrowing 

list of subjects and aeroplanes 

I’ve wanted to cover but never had an 

excuse or time for. I felt it should be a 

very British subject and something with 

a striking shape and character, so what 

better than the much loved and mighty 

Vulcan! However, how to make it a little 

different from the many other great 

Vulcan paintings? 

The inspiration 

Prompted by a series of photos that 

regularly turn up on the internet, I had 

recently read the biography of Avro test 

pilot Tony Blackman, ‘Vulcan Test Pilot’, in 

which he describes flying Vulcan XH535 

over to the US where he visited Edwards 

Air Force Base for tests to be carried using 

the Vulcan. Whilst there a photo shoot 

was arranged with the Vulcan (flown by 

Fitz Fulton) in formation with B-52 (20008). 

As this had been in the back of my mind 

for some time, I thought it could make a 

striking and more unusual painting of the 

Vulcan, and this felt like a fitting time to 

get it out of my system and on to canvas. 

So, to the internet again, for endless 

photos of Vulcans and B-52s of all Mks 

and from every conceivable angle. This 

also gave me background images of 

Edwards AFB and skies, which I could 

use to roughly plan out my composition 

before I could get the relevant models 

to work from. This brought to light a major 

problem, how few photos of Edwards 

there are from the air that I could use 

as reference, particularly of the correct 

period. 

With some help from a Facebook 

contact I found a map of the period and 

Google Earth produced a good image of 

the area from the direction and height I 

wanted. All I had to do was amend this 

to accurately reflect the runways and 

buildings of the time, and then place my 

aircraft above it. 

Publicity formats 

a 

From the very beginning one of the major 

considerations is the different formats 

needed for the flyer, poster and exhibition 

catalogue, all of which have to be taken 

into account when designing a poster like 

this and was at first proving to be quite a 

headache. 

I had already decided that as the Vulcan 

was in its white livery of the time, I would 

have it against the characteristic dark 

blue skies associated with the area to 

make it pop out from the canvas. The 

more colourful B-52 would be lower and 

behind. 

The idea of them crossing came later, after 

many attempts to compose them both 

flying straight and level as in the original 

photo which always seemed to lacked 

any action, so wielding my artists licence, 

I made up my own little story to justify the 

scenario of them parting this way, which 

also solved the issue of the different poster 

formats. Previous compositional attempts 

also meant a conscious decision now to 

view the Vulcan from slightly below to 

give the white some shape and contrast. 

It’s hard to make a brightly lit big white 

triangle look dynamic! 

Composition 

While I always start with some thumbnail 

sketches and doodles, these days I 

use Photoshop for basic composition 

purposes. This allows a much quicker 

process, but with its own pitfall of allowing 

you to produce too many ideas if 

you’re not careful. So I try to stick to my 

thumbnail ideas as much as possible. As 

a tool, Photoshop is great for combining 

multiple images into one, especially good 

for creating skies and backgrounds. 

Now I had the two main subjects in place, 

I felt there where empty spaces above 

the desert which detracted from the feel 

of the action. To solve this it occurred to 

me that there must have been at least 

one other aeroplane present to take 

the photos in the first place. I decided to 

include two as part of the story, and after 

a little research the lovely little T-38A Talons 

that where in use at the time by the USAF 

seemed like a possible candidate for the 

job. Although there is no actual evidence 

to support this that I could find, I felt it was 

a reasonable assumption. 

Sketch and colour study 

With a fairly good idea of how the aircraft 

would work together as a composition, 

I could produce a sketch and mockup 

the various formats, using Illustrator 

to add text to see how my idea would 

work in practice, I replaced the sketch 

with a small colour study, then nervously 

submitted it for the committee’s approval, 

which I’m pleased to say was given. 

cont... 

22 - 28 JULY 2020 

THE MALL GALLERIES 

LONDON 

Open Monday by Invitation only 

Tuesday to Saturday 10am - 5pm 

with Thursday to 8pm 

Sunday 10am - 12.30pm 

Including walkabout tours 

and painting demonstrations 

AVIATION 

PAINTING 

YEAR 

OF 

THE 

The 50th Annual 

Summer Exhibition 

FREE ADMISSION 

Avro test pilot Tony 

Blackman and his 

book “Vulcan Test 

Pilot”. 

The Wolfpack Decals sheet showing 

the 1961 T-38A Talon livery at Edwards 

AFB Paul followed for his model. 

Avro Vulcan Cold War Archive 

A pencil sketch to look at composition 

and a fine colour study to get all 

the elements working. The Talon 

in the background will become 

more prominent and the distant hills 

disappear in the final version. 



Cold War visitor over Edwards 

Real life Top Gun is Flying High in Loughborough! 

Models 

In the meantime I had ordered models 

of all the relevant aircraft in the correct 

versions. I like to build them then take my 

own photographs without the problems 

associated with many internet pictures. 

It also allows me to more intimately 

understand the shapes, shadows and 

fine tune the angles of each aircraft, and 

have consistent lighting. I tend to take 

lots of photos at different angles for my 

own library while I have the model set 

up, especially of popular subjects like the 

mighty Vulcan. 

Models are not always perfect and one 

problem I had was that the B-52 in flight 

has a marked upward curve to the 

wing which I could not replicate in the 

model, so this had to be corrected at the 

drawing stage with my trusty ships curves 

and more reference photos. 

During the model making process I 

became aware of the great difference in 

size of all the aeroplanes, particularly the 

B-52. You can’t really appreciate seeing 

them in the flesh but putting the models 

together it was very apparent! It was also 

interesting to see the different design 

paths the UK and USA had taken to solve 

essentially the same problem. 

The models help to sort the 

views and angles but are also 

great fun to make! 

Line drawing and starting 

the painting 

Now armed with all the elements, I could 

produce a line drawing to transfer to 

the canvas and begin the painting, 

starting with the background and then 

adding the aircraft. There are some subtle 

changes from the colour study, such as 

pushing the distant hill further back to give 

the desert more scale, and a deeper blue 

with less clouds for the sky to add contrast 

to the Vulcan. 

Once I was happy with the way it was 

looking, it was again nervously submitted 

to the committee for approval and, apart 

from a few small comments which meant 

a little more work, it was accepted and I 

could breathe again! 

While events would overtake the usual 

proceedings resulting in the cancellation 

of the 2020 exhibition, it is with great pride 

that my painting is now being used for the 

2021 online exhibition and I’m sure we are 

all looking forward to the resumption of 

normal services for next year. 

See you there! 

Paul Couper GAvA 

GUILD OF AVIATION ARTISTS 

2021 

AVIATION 

PAINTINGS 

OF THE YEAR 

ONLINE EXHIBITION 

GOES LIVE 19 JULY 2021 

Visit www.gava.org.uk for details 

The finished version on the 

publicity. Job done Paul! 

Air Vice Marshall James Edgar ‘Johnnie’ 

Johnson has become the centrepiece 

of a wall mural on the side of a house 

near to the Great Central Railway at 

Loughborough in Leicestershire, close to 

your Eds part of the world. 

Johnson, who was born in nearby Barrow 

upon Soar, attended Loughborough 

Grammar School and shot down more 

enemy aircraft than any allied fighter 

pilot during the Second World War. 

The mural is painted by Dan Smith 

– otherwise known as ‘Buber Nebz’ – 

and is part of the Ladybird Collective 

art trail which celebrates local 

alumni. Ladybird Books; the famous 

children’s book publisher was based in 

Loughborough. The mural is funded by 

the Loughborough Schools Foundation. 


Antony ‘Parky’ Parkinson MBE 

I was commissioned by Parky to create 

his portrait after he had seen fellow Aero 

Legends Spitfire pilot, Charlie Brown’s 

portrait (see Autumn 2020 QN Eds). 

I would normally try and work from life 

but with Lockdown in place, Parky 

provided me with a suitable photograph 

to work from. It took about four hours to 

complete the actual portrait working on 

a natural canvas board. I tried to keep 

my technique loose and ‘painterly’ 

using wide flat head brushes in the early 

stages and finer brushes at the detail 

stage. I then added a Spitfire, Hawk 

and Aero Legends emblem to create 

balance within the composition and to 

add interest and a story to the picture. 

Parky joined the RAF at eighteen in 

1983. He managed to avoid throughout 

his thirty-five-year career any sort of 

‘flying a desk’ tour, mainly by avoiding 

promotion above Flt Lt. At the age 

of twenty-one he was flying the F-4 

Phantom in the air defence roll, followed 

by a three-year tour with the Dutch Air 

Force flying the F-16. This was followed 

by the F-3 Tornado becoming the 2000 

display pilot. He then flew with the Red 

Arrows from 2001-2004. Returning to RAF 

Coningsby, he helped introduce the 

Eurofighter Typhoon into service and 

was the first pilot in the world to achieve 

1000hrs on type. 

In 2007 he joined the BBMF as a fighter 

pilot. He stayed with the BBMF for ten 

years becoming their Chief Operations 

Officer. He retired from the RAF in 2017 

and was awarded an MBE for services 

to aviation. 

On presenting Parky with his portrait at 

Headcorn aerodrome on Saturday 2nd 

May, in typical fighter pilot humour, he 

was hoping it would be a ‘nude’ but was 

pleased with the results never-the less! 

Sadly, with my usual Framer still 

furloughed (sign of the times!) l was 

unable to hand the picture over 

framed, but Parky reassured me he had 

a suitable old frame in his garden shed! 

As one of my aviation heroes, it was a 

pleasure to work with such a character. 

Peter Binks AGAvA 

One of your Eds (David) was privileged to 

photograph Parky in action checking and then 

taking off in the MkII Spit at Coningsby in the 

summer of 2007, the year he joined the BBMF. 

www.bubernebzgraffiti.co.uk 



The Submission Day with a big difference! 

Stephen Chard GAvA 

At the beginning of the year, it became clear that despite our best hopes, things were not going to be 

back to the usual state of affairs by the Spring and that a ‘normal’ submissions process (and the exhibition 

itself) at the Mall Galleries would be impossible. 

Not wanting to go two years without 

an Annual Exhibition, and following 

the small trial at the end of last year, a 

‘virtual’ exhibition was decided upon. 

The hope being that it would be as close 

to the ‘real’ thing as possible. 

For many years now we have become 

so used to the usual Submission Day 

that it runs like a well oiled machine. 

Although we had a rough idea what 

to expect following last years small 

‘tester’, the whole procedure for the 

new submissions day (or fortnight) had 

to be re-thought. 

Sub-committee 

To this end, a small sub-committee was 

formed and so began the process. 

One quandary we initially had was not 

knowing how popular, or not, an online 

exhibition would be. Obviously too 

few and the exhibition would be a let 

down, too many paintings and it could 

be difficult, and time consuming, to 

virtually hang them all (bearing in mind 

that this is all done single handedly by 

our Chairman, a man of many talents, 

who’s the only one who knows how to 

do it!). Other issues for consideration 

were what fees to charge, the 

maximum number of paintings allowed 

per artist, packing and postage issues, 

how long to hold the submissions period 

for, minimum size (resolution) of images, 

whether to apply watermarks and 

whether we should include frames. I 

could go on. On the subject of framing, 

we decided that one benefit of a virtual 

exhibition was that paintings could be 

displayed with or without a frame. It was 

also suggested that we include a new 

category of ‘mounted’ for works which 

were unframed but mounted. This form 

of presentation actually proved very 

popular and I guess makes postage 

very much easier. After our deliberations 

the Terms & Conditions were updated 

accordingly. 

Luckily enough the number of entries 

eventually received was pretty much 

around what we had hoped for. 

Technical issues 

Maybe the biggest issue we had, one 

which I must admit we should have 

foreseen, was the lack of IT knowledge 

or access to IT equipment amongst 

some members. For instance, it was 

soon apparent that some did not have 

Microsoft Word so could not open the 

document to complete the entry form 

(which was not helped by a glitch in the 

form itself) and so a printable copy was 

hastily arranged. Some also didn’t use 

e-mail so correspondence had to be 

made via a willing relative or friend. 

Size and resolution 

Another decision to be made early on, 

was with regards to the images; we 

needed to decide what size/resolution 

would be best. Obviously they would 

have to be of a certain quality to look 

good online and be of a standard 

acceptable for scrutiny by potential 

viewers and buyers but not too big 

so as to be unmanageable and take 

an age to upload. I’m certainly no 

expert but luckily we had a couple of 

members with the relevant knowledge 

and eventually it was decided that 

a minimum picture size of 5000 pixels 

width would be the requirement. Again, 

we maybe should have realised that this 

means nothing to the less tech savvy 

amongst us (including me)! 

Dropbox 

I’m not sure that an online submissions 

would have been possible a few years 

ago but thanks to Dropbox it allowed 

three of us, spread around the country, 

to manage the entry process. Shirley 

Batten-Smith kindly volunteered to enter 

all the data from the received entry 

forms onto an Excel spreadsheet (which 

proved to be pretty much a full time job 

for several days - lucky she’s retired!). 

All images were put into a folder for 

scrutinisation by David Young and once 

confirmed as all in order and renamed, 

moved to a ‘checked’ folder. 

Quality of imagery 

As previously mentioned, the images 

proved to be a real issue. Many sent 

were just too small a resolution to use, 

some paintings were not photographed 

squarely, some were cropped so 

missing parts of the actual painting or 

frame and some were just ‘snapped’ 

in poor light. David was kept very busy 

trying to ‘recover’ the images if he 

could or asking for better quality to be 

resent. If we do end up holding a similar 

submissions process next year, I would 

remind all of the importance of sending 

a properly taken photo which truly does 

your painting justice. 

Judging 

Once the database had been cross 

checked with the images, it was over to 

the judges. As usual, five Full Members 

with a spread of preferred mediums, 

kindly volunteered their services and 

each painting required, as normal, 

at least 3 of the 5 to vote ‘yes’ to be 

accepted. Of the 332 entries received 

34 were rejected at this stage. Main 

reasons for rejection were the usual 

poor representation of an aircraft 

(being a technical subject there really 

is little room for error, I guess it’s a bit 

like a portrait looking nothing like the 

sitter), poor composition or no depth 

to the painting (ie grass as green in the 

foreground as in the distance). 

Rejections 

As those who have ever helped out at 

Submission Day will know, it’s a running 

joke that not only do paintings have 

to pass the judges but also the ‘stair 

party’. Although the online submission 

unfortunately precluded the stair 

party, two of the accepted works 

were later rejected on the grounds 

that they were very close copies of 

well known photographs. Both were 

well executed paintings but it was felt 

prudent to not exhibit them in order 

to save any potential copyright issues 

for the Guild or artists involved. Now 

may be a timely reminder that all work 

needs to be original and if you do use a 

photographic reference (as many, and 

certainly I do) change it enough so that 

no one would recognise the source. 

As far as the submission process went it, 

was a very busy two weeks but as the 

saying goes ‘all’s well that ends well’ and 

it was a very useful learning exercise. 

Between us, we have identified many 

ways in which things could be improved 

if we take this route again in the future. If 

any members have particular feedback 

on the process, this would, as always, be 

gratefully received. 

And finally 

The final count, following a few minor 

changes which had to be made 

and some entries ‘by invitation of the 

Chairman’, was 296. 

You may be aware that as well as the 

usual advertising opportunities, the 

Guild has also this year embraced social 

media advertising, which appears to be 

the ‘in thing’ these days. 

A different era... 

As the 2021 Virtual Exhibition is being put 

together digitally, Robert Farr AGAvA 

looks back on a very different time 

where David Ellwood GAvA planned out 

the 2002 Annual. 

I first met David Ellwood at a drawing 

day at RNAS Yeovilton in 2002 and we 

quickly became friends. As we both 

had some exhibition design experience 

we gelled. David invited me to assist him 

in preparing the forthcoming Annual in 

2003 and again in 2004. 

In those now far off analogue days, 

organizing the layout involved placing 

postage stamp size selected artwork 

photographed by Chris French on 

submission day onto sheets of thin card. 

Each sheet was a scale extended 

elevation of the gallery. In other words, 

an unfolded representation of the 

gallery walls lettered A-Z to match the 

designated letters on the plan. 

Benefitting from David’s mentoring, I 

followed the same technique for the 

It will be very interesting to see how the 

2021 Annual (Virtual) Exhibition proves 

to be. Like many things that have 

come out of Covid, I still believe we 

may actually be pleasantly surprised by 

the path that has be forced upon us. I 

know that some have had reservations 

about the whole process but, if nothing 

else, it gives an opportunity for those 

living too far away or unable to attend 

Submission Day, the opportunity to 

Robert Farr AGAvA 

Annual exhibitions I designed in 2005 & 

2006. As I can testify with all these tiny 

pictures loosely laid out, a breath of 

wind through an open window could 

cause havoc before positions were 

finalized and glued down!! Each wall 

of the gallery had its own elevation with 

the exact position of, in total, over 350 

works. The drawback then was that 

there was only one copy of the layout. 

From 2007, my successor John Dimond 

was able to layout the show using CAD 

on his computer. Much quicker than 

the old method to organize (& alter), 

it also benefited from allowing several 

print outs of each wall - a much easier 

reference for each hanging team. 

Suffice to say that in excess of 350 

paintings were still accurately mounted 

in as little as 5 hours on hanging day 

(to the amazement of the Malls staff) 

ready for judging at about 2pm. John 

successfully continued with this layout 

method for about the next ten years. 

enter their paintings. Similarly, being an 

online exhibition, it may well actually 

be viewed by a greater audience of 

viewers/buyers, many of whom would 

not normally attend. 

I guess the measure of success will be 

clicks on the website and total number 

of sales, so time will no doubt tell. 

Stephen Chard GAvA 

The overview 3D layout and 2 views of 

the 2021 Virtual Exhibition. 

With the ravages of Covid both this year 

and last, let’s hope we can return to a 

“physical “ Annual in 2022. 

Robert Farr AGAvA 



What I did in Lockdown ... continued What I did in Lockdown ... 

The “Trainarium” 

“Defender” 

We are sure that most of us in our 

childhoods at one point wanted to 

build a model railway layout – some 

of us manage it and some don’t…… 

Richard Gardner certainly has - Ladies 

and Gentleman, we give you the 

TRAINARIUM! 

I thought I would send a few images 

taken in my “Trainarium”, alias studiocum-model 

railway garden cabin. This 

has helped me keep sane during the 

last year and a half at home. 

The Trainarium is a new 20ft x14ft garden 

cabin built to provide a year-round, 

heated and electrified, studio “safearea” 

and model railway den where I 

can enjoy undisturbed relaxing comfort 

mixing painting and operating a large 

model railway while listening to Classic 

FM or selected CDs, including train 

sound effects! 

The railway depicts a might-have-been 

Western Region cross-country line set in 

the South Hams of Devon, as it could 

have looked and operated circa 1962, 

in the last days of steam and early days 

of dieselisation. 

The Stokenham Junction layout was 

originally completed in 1989 and has 

travelled all over the country to model 

railway shows, but until completion of 

the Trainarium it was too big to set up 

at home. It is now home to stay and is 

integrated with more recent additions 

and a re-cycled and connected coastal 

branch line, Torcross, with its stone 

quarry. Most of the railway buildings are 

scratch-built and based on drawings 

and photographs of actual ex-GWR 

structures in Devon, and needless to say 

the backscenes and scenic features 

are from my imagination, but hopefully 

presenting a reasonably authentic look 

for that period and part of the country. 

The locomotives and rolling stock 

are a mix of kit-built and detailed 

commercial models, but all applicable 

to the region. Track points and signals 

are mechanically operated - trouble 

free and nothing to do with the digital 

revolution! 

The model railway press has described 

most of my layouts over the years, and 

others remain stored in another shed 

(a chap can’t have too many sheds!) 

along with a couple of old cars, but 

that’s another story…… 

Richard Gardner AGAvA 

So here we were…. Lockdown, and all 

Guild activities shut up in the cupboard. 

What can we do? 

I’d already more than enough aircraft 

paintings ready for submission to the 

Annual…if that was going to happen, 

and believe it or not, I felt that I needed 

something other to work at. So, I 

started to look through my hundreds of 

holiday photos to achieve some kind of 

inspiration. 

I found dozens of photos of Polperro 

and from these I produced the painting 

‘Misty morn, Polperro’ which was 

published in an earlier QN. 

Then the Landlord of my local pub 

asked me for a painting of our village, 

with war memorial, and a sight of the 

pub showing where it was located. And 

so ‘Croft’ in watercolour was done to his 

total satisfaction. 

Then came a stroke of luck. As some 

of you know, my new partner Helen is 

South African and she’s in constant 

contact with her family and friends who 

are still out there. 

One of her sisters was to take a safari 

holiday, and of course there was a 

super collection of photographs which 

resulted. Among them were quite a few 

elephants and I came up with the idea 

of using some of them to keep me busy. 

Two of them, showing mother and cub 

were easy to put together but then I 

wanted an angry looking male. I found 

a photo of one of the animals standing 

looking straight at the camera but quite 

docile. 

Henry & the Seal 

David Smith AGAvA has sent us two 

Lockdown paintings. 

The first is an experimental painting 

using some new inks and masking 

fluid. Interestingly the masking fluid 

was apparently applied by ‘small quills 

supplied by the birds’- ie feathers! The 

Seal was the subject of a quick sketch 

whilst on a break in Norfolk at Wells next 

the Sea. 

The second is an acrylic portrait of 

the family’s beloved dog Henry who 

sadly passed away at Christmas - 

a devastating loss says David but 

nevertheless he feels it is a nice tribute. 

In other pictures I found elephants with 

trunks raised and one with a dust cloud, 

and so the foreground male came to 

life and ‘Defender’ came into this world 

and now is in its new home near 

Chesterfield with a friend of a friend! 

Colin Ball AGAvA 

10 GUILD OF AVIATION ARTISTS QUARTERLY NEWS SUMMER 2021 GUILD OF AVIATION ARTISTS QUARTERLY NEWS SUMMER 2021 11

What I did in Lockdown ... continued What I did in Lockdown ... 

Nostalgic Signs 

Lockdown gave me an opportunity to 

be more diverse in the design and type 

of signs I do in my everyday work, as a 

brewery signwriter and artist. 

I have always had an interest in old 

metal signs, and here is a selection I have 

recreated using the metal background 

and recreating some of the old images 

of signs gone by. 

The metal plates are 2mm mild steel 

cut outs from a fabrication outlet where 

scrap metal was recycled. They were 

first primed with a suitable rust-proof 

metal base coat and then built up to a 

fine flat surface with synthetic enamels. 

They all now take pride of place in my 

garden making a dull wall look 

very colourful and interesting. 

Gary Tilyard AGAvA 

Grayson Perry’s 

Art Club 

Having watched the first series of 

Grayson Perry’s GRAYSON’S ART CLUB 

on Channel 4 with interest and been 

delighted to see that he mixed art 

from professionals and celebrities with 

everyday amateurs, I was happy to 

see a second series being filmed and 

that like the first each week would be a 

different subject 

I saw that week 3 looked good and so 

had an idea in my mind of a nod to pop 

art (which I like) so started work with 

my trusty Prismacolor pencils on which 

would become ALLSORTS (41.5 x 30cm). 

As well as submitting the artwork, a three 

min video was also required for which 

my wife became the camera person! 

Knowing that thousands were entering 

each week (Grayson said so), I never 

expected to hear anything more, but to 

my delight (and on my birthday week) 

my artwork and video were chosen and 

on the 12th March to my great surprise 

there I was with my picture on the TV! 

I have now submitted it to the Royal 

Academy for the Summer Exhibition 

(which is being held later this year) but 

don’t expect to hear back from them. 

The UK Coloured Pencil Society (of 

which I’m a member) are holding their 

annual exhibition at the OXO TOWER 

gallery in London this autumn and so I’ll 

also submit it to them. 

‘You never know unless you try!’ 

Paul Hunt AGAvA 

Presents for Family 

and Friends 

Phil Durell has sent in four watercolours 

which he has painted as presents for 

family and friends. 

Walking Lily 

Phil’s granddaughters Molly & Mia 

walking Molly. A present for Phil’s wife 

Julie as they are missing them so much 

in Lockdown. 

Phil Palser RIP 

In memory of one of Phil’s musical 

friends 

Austin Chummy 

An historic Austin car for Phil’s 

sister-in-law. 

Maisie 

A Border Collie pup for a good friend. 

Military memorabilia 

collection 

I have been building up my militaria 

collection and started taking it out as a 

pop-up table-top exhibition. 

I’ve been collecting stuff for years, 

mainly WW1 / WW2 but some more up 

to date including the Red Arrows (who 

were kind enough to send me a signed 

photo and pamphlets) and even civil 

collections including Concorde. 

Of real interest are some relics from 

Hopwood’s AJ-M Dambuster Lancaster 

that crashed near the Mohne Dam and 

a 1918 Christmas Menu signed by RFC/ 

RAF103 Squadron pilots. 

I have been helping my local primary 

school with a WW2 home front project 

they were doing lending them items 

from gas masks to food tins etc and 

even a WW2 cookbook from which 

they cooked some war food. On VE day 

I held a socially distanced celebration 

exhibition with around 70 pieces on 

display and had just short of 100 people 

visit including the local newspaper and 

children. I’m very happy about this as 

a big part of why I want to do it is to 

education children and young adults 

about war and aviation. 

I also take my exhibition to clubs and 

societies such as the Royal British Legion 

and RAF Hendon Museum with whom I 

will be exhibiting next year at least once 

all being well with the world. I was also 

going to exhibit at my local museum 

who were planning a remembrance 

weekend exhibition but had to be put 

off until this year due to Covid shutting 

them down. 

Paul Hunt AGAvA 


Roy Garner Obituary 

a quiet but influential force behind much that was achieved in the Midland Region 

I was first introduced to Roy nearly 25 

years ago by our mutual friend, Ken 

Aitken. He had been invited to give 

a talk to the Society of Warwickshire 

Artists on painting clouds and would 

you believe, aeroplanes. 

His talk was good and the audience 

was appreciative of the friendly and 

at times jovial presentation. He had left 

an impression and soon after I started 

to think that aviation painting would, 

perhaps give me the subject focus I had 

been looking for. Following chats with 

Ken Aitken and Bill Bowdler, the seeds 

were sown and I soon became a Friend 

member of the Guild. 

My first sketch day was at the Midland 

Air Museum and I met Roy again and 

quickly realised that he, Ken and Bill were 

a formidable trio, full of aviation stories, 

friendly banter and enthusiasm. Not to 

forget of course, Chris Heath with whom 

Roy had spent many years gliding and 

flying light aircraft and at Roy’s suggestion 

had recently become the Midland 

Region organiser for the Guild. There was 

no escape… I was hooked. 

I quickly realised that Roy had a great 

talent for portraying in his paintings the 

many aspects aviation. This was widely 

acknowledged by his contemporaries as 

well as recognition with numerous Guild 

awards and commissions. The nice thing 

was, his willingness to share his knowledge 

and offer help when asked and I 

personally have been most appreciative 

of his support and valued advice with 

regard to my own endeavours. Any praise 

never came easily. If it was not right or 

lacked something that could be better he 

would tell you straight, but then help you 

sort it out. All of which was supported by his 

considerable knowledge from over 2500 

flying hours. 

For many years Roy was a quiet but 

influential force behind much that was 

achieved in the Midland Region and 

he gave a dedicated and enthusiastic 

service to the Guild both on committee, 

organising and overseeing two Annual 

Exhibitions as well as playing a large 

part in developing the association with 

the then, new RAF Museum at Cosford 

which remains a great supporter of Guild 

activities to this day. 

In recent years he very much enjoyed 

the regular ‘Willey’ lunch meets that he 

shared with Robert and David Calow 

and myself and which ultimately formed 

the hub of what now has become “Team 

Midland”. 

Robert, David, Steve Masurek and myself 

attended Roy’s funeral at St. Margaret’s 

Church in his home village, Wolston, not 

only representing the Guild but also as 

good friends. 

In typical style he left us in a simple 

white coffin covered in Spitfires and 

accompanied to the strains of ‘Jollity 

Farm’ by The Bonzo Dog Do Dah Band, 

‘I’ll Fly Away’ by Johnny Cash and 

‘Samba Pa Ti’ by Santana…...Thanks for 

your friendship Roy. 

Tony Nicholls GAvA 

It was with much sadness that your Eds 

heard that Roy Garner had passed away. 

When we joined the Guild back in 2004, 

many Midland Region members including 

Roy, made us feel very welcome and 

over the years we became good friends. 

Roy’s enthusiasm for the Guild, in 

particularly the Midland Region together 

with his natural humour, made him good 

company which later became the 

‘Willey Meets’ together with Tony Nicholls. 

(we met at the Sarah Mansfield pub in 

the small Warwickshire village of Willey 

- their ‘Willey whopper Burger’ is highly 

recommended!) 

We were also privileged to have Roy’s 

Annual poster painting of the Red Arrows 

grace the front cover of our very first 

edition of the QN as Editors in the Spring 

of 2011, which also started the 40th 

Anniversary year of the Guild. 

Your Eds particularly remember a 

sketching day in September 2018, when 

we picked Roy up from his home near 

Coventry to go to the Jet Age Museum 

in Gloucester. The two journeys were 

not only a fascinating insight into Roy’s 

background and aviation interests but 

also his Guild experiences. We also spent 

a superb day with the Red Arrows at 

Scampton organised by Roy back in 

2008. Days to remember indeed. 

Roy with the much missed 

Peter Sumpter. The A Team 

Critters at Midland Region 

Meals and Meetings! 

We will both miss Roy’s wry sense of 

humour, fantastic aviation stories, interest 

and support in the development of 

our artwork and of course, the regular 

discussions about the QN; always referred 

to by Roy as “The Comic”! 

Our thoughts go to wife Jane and the 

family. 

Robert Calow GAvA David Calow GAvA 

Roy even appeared in the 

QN Caption Comp in 2017 

with added jet engines! 

“Roy’s take on jet age mobility 

scooters. We do not think he had 

a reply from Sinclair” 

Tony Nicholls 



LAA Art Competition 2022 

‘Design your perfect aircraft’ 

More metal Spitfires... 

It’s back! After a year of Lockdown, the 

Light Aircraft Association and the Guild of 

Aviation Artists are facilitating the UK’s 5th 

Art Competition for 6-17 year old young 

people. 

The closing date for entries 31st January 

2022. Prizes in each age category (6-9, 10- 

13,14-17) include art equipment, a flight in 

a light aircraft and opportunities to meet 

the UK’s top aviation artists at a GAvA 

event in London. 

With the theme of ‘Design your perfect 

aircraft’ chosen for the 2022 competition, 

it is hoped that the youngsters will be 

inspired by the ‘behind the scenes’ 

work of aviation industry specialists. The 

brief asks them to consider ‘What is your 

perfect aircraft? What would power it 

through the sky? Would it be big or small? 

What special features would make pilots 

and passengers excited to be in the air?’ 

and reminds contestants that every craft 

they see in the sky today started with 

similar questions. 

The UK prize-winning paintings will be 

entered in the International Competition, 

run by the Federation Aeronautique 

Internationale, and will be forwarded to 

Lausanne to compete with entries from 

across the world. Winners receive bronze, 

silver and gold awards. All the rules for 

entry to the competition are on the LAA 

website and on the FAI’s website. (See 

Aviation Art Contest). 

Throughout the year we’ll encourage 

young people to participate in the 

competition and, from Sunday 1st August, 

young visitors can join us at Shuttleworth’s 

Summer Air Shows, where we provide 

easels, paper and colours. The Young 

Artists Competition is open to youngsters 

between the ages of 6 and 17, with 

FAI gold, silver and bronze medals and 

diplomas presented to the top three artists 

in each of the three categories which are 

as follows: 

Group I - Junior Category 

(Date of birth between 

1 January 2012 and 31 Dec 2015). 

Group II - Intermediate Category 


1 Jan 2008 and 31 Dec 2011). 

Group III - Senior Category 


1 Jan 2004 and 31 Dec 2007). 

For information, rules and eligible 

artwork sizes visit 

www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk/art 

Children’s Aviation Art Competition 2021/22 

“Design your perfect aircraft” 

at Shuttleworth Family Day, 

Sunday 1st August 2021 HELP REQUIRED! 

Dear Members, 

The Light Aircraft Association (LAA) with the Guild of Aviation Artists will be 

facilitating in the Children’s Art Competition and I will be organising the UK entries 

at the Shuttleworth Collection this year. 

I need a couple of helpers on the day. If any members are interested in coming 

along here is some brief information. 

Basically you would be involved in helping the children and adults with sketching, 

questions, competition rules etc. 

We have at Shuttleworth, desks, drawing paper and other art materials to set up 

in the morning, so arrival time would be around 8am and we leave about 5pm. 

I will need a maximum of two people on the day, but I am sure there will be 

places for next year. 

Please do get in contact if interested and you might even get a chance to sketch 

and paint there on the day! 

Phil Jackson AGAvA 

Entries to: 

Light Aircraft Association, 

Turweston Aerodrome, 

Northants 

NN13 5YD 

For further media information please contact: 

office@laa.uk.com 

Following on from the two stories of 

metal Spitfires in the Spring QN a couple 

have been sent to us. 

Colin Paine AGAvA has a brass Spitfire 

that has apparently been in his family 

for as long as he can remember. 

He believes that it was acquired by his 

father when he was in the RAF at the 

end of the war, probably being made 

by an air force engineer in his spare 

time. It now serves as an ornament/ 

paperweight. The 50p shows the size. 

After our review of young Jack Berry’s 

aviation art book in the Spring QN, Phil 

Jackson AGAvA, updates us on his 

progress. 

I am amazed to see how young Jack 

Berry is progressing as an aviation artist. 

Using basic colour for his paintings, he 

is now quickly learning the meaning 

of depth and perspective. There is 

something really endearing in his work 

as a young autistic man, his enthusiasm 

has no bounds, he will ask countless 

questions of every aspect of creating a 

painting. 

With a little help of various artists on 

social media and from his mum Sara, his 

progress seems to hold no bounds. 

His latest work “You are not alone” 

demonstrates his talent; the darker 

horizon with the fence, animals and 

flowers demonstrates his visions. This 

young fellow is climbing the ladder very 

quickly and I am pleased to follow his 

progress. 

I will leave Jack to say something in his 

own words below; 


“Tonight, I have used a stencil to add 

some of my favourite animals. Mummy 

said we don’t mind comments, but I am 

trying my best and I am only 14 years old 

and mummy sometimes has to hold my 

hand with the brushes because I shake. 

If you don’t like what I do I don’t mind 

but I am a good boy and I try my best. 

The brass Spitfire that Simon Milan GAvA 

has, came to him from a friend in a box 

after clearing out their shed but not 

knowing about Simon’s aviation interest. 

The tailplane is unfinished so Simon 

thinks that it could be a school project. 

Apparently, it sits on the sitting room shelf 

and does occasionally get polished! 

This subject could go on for some 

time…….. 


“You are not alone” - The progress of Jack Berry 

I love my mummy and I like the Captains 

because the Captains are good 

people. 

I am 14, I love painting and I am learning 

all of the time. I have titled this ‘You Are 

Not Alone’. Flying high in the sky are the 

Red Arrows Fly showing us all that we 

can be a United Kingdom together. 

Painting is my thoughts, my feelings and 

my friends. My uncle ‘Robin’ is sitting 

on the fence watching the world go 

by I even gave him an eye…. I love 

Captains.” 

Jack Berry. 

22 GUILD OF AVIATION ARTISTS QUARTERLY NEWS AUTUMN 2020 


EAST ANGLIAN REGION MEETING 

Little Gransden 

Saturday June 12th 

I arrived at Little Gransden early in 

the morning with the weather looked 

promising. Fortunately good weather 

has always been the case at Little 

Gransden. Mark Jefferies (our host) 

could not be there on the day, so his 

brother John took charge. 

I gave a short briefing just before we all 

found different spots for sketching and 

painting. The temperature outside soon 

zipped up to around 30c plus with some 

braving it outside but most seemed 

to prefer the coolness of the hangars 

including me. 

Some great work was produced on the 

day. Most notable were Phil Hadley’s 

acrylic painting of the Spartan 7W 

Executive and Chris French’s drawing of 

the Lambert Mission M108; it was drawn 

with great accuracy and tonal mastery 

as usual. 

Tony Nicholls and Chris French headed 

the critique in a new way; the artist 

would start the proceedings by 

detailing his days work and I think it 

generally made it easier to engage. 

Chris French 

David Smith 

My thanks to everyone who came and I 

think everyone had a really good day. It 

was great to see everyone and nice to 

be outside and sketching again. I think 

the only thing I missed this year was 

Mark giving us one of his magnificent 

aerobatic displays but hopefully he will 

be performing next year. 

Paul Millett 


Phil Hadley 

Rod Kirkby 

Phil Jackson 


NORTHERN REGION MEETING 

Breighton Airfield 

The Real Aeroplane 

Company 

ThursdayJune 24th 

The Northern Region’s first meeting of 

the year was at the Real Aeroplane 

Company, Breighton, near York. 

This was going to be a physical, 

NON-VIRTUAL get-together - our first 

sketching day in such a long time, of 

course due to the Covid restrictions. 

The venue is always eagerly anticipated 

by our Region’s members - it’s always so 

welcoming and friendly. Also it’s always 

such a relaxed atmosphere with the 

flying club trusting us to keep ourselves 

out of the way and being respectful. In 

addition, there’s a superb collection of 

airworthy classic aircraft based at the 

airfield, with visiting aircraft providing 

much interest. In combination, you 

never know what will be on show. 

Naturally there was much anticipation 

for the day, as well as a dose of 

trepidation, as there were still restrictions 

in place. There were a number of 

members who felt unable to attend for 

these reasons, as well as those who felt 

they were unable to travel the large 

distance to get to Breighton at the very 

south of the Region. 

Ray Newall, part of the club. Unable to 

refuse his offer, I HAD to go up with him for 

a 20 minute around the airfield, proving 

panoramic views from 7,000 feet. 

Ann- 

Marie Marsh and Phil and Heather 

McGinness. 

Once distractions (flying!) were over it 

was a pleasure to present Roger Brown 

with a special award, as he has been 

deservedly promoted to Associate 

member. Sadly, not able to receive it 

last year in person (no actual AGM). I 

felt honoured to hand over the framed 

certificate to Roger. It was a pleasant 

surprise to the group and he received 

much appreciation. 

John did a lovely sketch of the Aero - 

using a dark background to define the 

shape and form of the aircraft. 

Phil sketched the front of the Chilton 

extracting some interesting shapes, 

making for an almost cartoon-like 

composition. 

completely different for him - non 

aviation and a new style - for children’s 

stories. A fair number per publication 

and doing a series - so he’s getting quite 

adept at producing these charming 

pieces. (see Spring QN) 

Roger Brown brought one of his 

submissions, sadly rejected, for 

comment. As a very similar piece was 

accepted, it was difficult to understand 

why there were different results. Roger’s 

watercolours are superbly rendered 

and his line work accuracy is of the 

best. Perhaps it was just a subjective 

decision on the day. 

Roger may be unique in combining 

his architectural background with his 

artistic side, hence the buildings in his 

compositions. We look forward to what 

he produces next! 

I brought in a recently-completed 

Lightning painting, depicting the last 

Lightning ejection before the type was 

retired from service. I was pleased with 

the thumbs -up! 

I also brought the two pieces that are in 

the Annual Exhibition (my F-14 drawing 

and an oil commemorating the 80th 

Anniversary of the Battle of Britain) - it 

does sound SO odd to say that, as of 

course the Annual is a digital display. 

Good to get feedback from them. 

When I arrived, I found some keen 

members already there, ready to 

start. Our numbers soon increased - 

with a few surprise friends arriving. It 

was great that members (and friendly 

‘guests’) could at last catch up. Some 

hadn’t seen each other for 3-4 years so 

conversations did last for rather longer 

than usual - in our allotted hangar (with 

doors wide open to the elements). 

It was a lovely touch to start the day 

to be welcomed to the RAC by their 

chairman Charles Sunter. 

It’s perhaps understandable that there 

wasn’t too much done with regards to 

painting and sketching. 

Most felt able to participate in the 

10 minute sketch exercise - always 

useful in seeing how much artists can 

accomplish in such a limited period. We 

agreed to look at this later on. 

I did ask if artists could bring pieces 

of work that they were working on or 

would like advise on. There was enough 

to keep us occupied for a while. 

However, just as I was about to start 

proceedings officially, I was asked if I 

wanted to go flying - there and then, by 

Ray went on to offer more flights, with a 

few taking the opportunity. After some 

persuasion Dawn went up in the Piper 

SuperCruiser, not having flown in quite 

some time. 

There were 12 of us in total, so a 

good total for a Northern Region day, 

although a few were guests and friends. 

It was great to have THREE full members 

present: Neil Foggo (down from northern 

Scotland, visiting York), John Hunter 

(with Jane, over from the Dales) and 

myself. Other members/friends present 

included Roger and Margaret Brown, 

Dawn and Dave Chilver, Geoff and 

When it came to the ‘10 minute’ 

sketching we mostly kept to the subjects 

within the hangar - which included 

such diverse airframes as Chilton DW-1 

G-AESZ, an Aero L-29 Delfín and a Flying 

Flea! However, Neil went out to portray 

the Max Holst Broussard that was close 

by. Neil was experimenting with colour 

pencils for the first time, making for 

some interesting techniques. 

Dawn did a study of the Beech 18 

engine, using white crayon on black 

card. For a 10 minute sketch it had a fair 

bit of power to it, being very contrasty 

and quite graphic, nicely framed on 

her sheet. She won the prize for the day 

- appropriately some coloured pencils. 

Regarding work brought in; Geoff 

Marsh showed us a powerful, dramatic 

water colour of a Beech Staggerwing 

flying over a forested Canadian(?) 

lake. Geoff’s technique and use of 

watercolour is very powerful - with a 

style of his own. Great stuff! 

John Hunter brought some illustrations 

he’s been working on - something 

I HAD started 3 subjects for the Annual, 

but my 3rd (a Spitfire sunset) was bought 

before it was completed and could be 

submitted! I brought this oil painting 

along so I could give it to its new owners: 

Heather and Phil McGinness! 

Our day soon went, and our departure 

rapidly came up. 

We’ve achieved our FIRST meeting 

for an age and have encouraged 

members to crack on with painting 

- sometimes starting with a sketch 

drawing or painting to get them going 

again. TWO results at least! 

It ‘s always a wrench to leave a meeting, 

but here time really does seem to fly. 

We look forward to returning before too 

long when we can concentrate on our 

sketching and painting and learning 

something new. 

Our thanks go to the Real Aeroplane 

Company for being great hosts and 

allowing us to use the area as a base. 

Graham Henderson GAvA 

Regional Organiser 

* As there were no fees, I was pleased 

to donate half of our Guild fees to 

the RAC’s charity: the Yorkshire air 

Ambulance. 

20 GUILD OF AVIATION ARTISTS QUARTERLY NEWS SUMMER 2021 GUILD OF OF AVIATION ARTISTS QUARTERLY NEWS WINTER SUMMER 2020/21 2021 215

MIDLAND REGION MEETING 

RAF Museum 

Cosford 

Saturday May 22nd 

Seventeen artists attended this Sketch 

Day including a number from other 

regions. We were privileged to be 

given exclusive access to Hangar 1’s 

Transport & Training aircraft for the day, 

which was really appreciated. 

Welcome and introductions by Phil 

Hadley and David Burchett set the 

scene for the day and included the allimportant 

on-going COVID regulations. 

The Critique at the end of the day was 

conducted by Ieuan Layton-Matthews 

and Keith Burns. 

John Wynne Hopkins’ work was first for 

review. A fine, well-observed study of 

the Hawker Hart trainer, K4972, in oil on 

board. Good shadow under wheels, 

‘grounded’ the aircraft in it’s space, 

with nicely executed light between the 

wheels as well. Highlights and reflections 

on the nose plus colours in the wings 

complemented the yellow in the wings. 

Tony Nicholls’ Scottish Aviation Bulldog 

T.1 was a fine interpretation using Caran 

D’Ache coloured pencils. The subject 

excited the artist and that was reflected 

in their treatment of it. Reflections and 

highlights were well rendered and the 

composition was all the more effective 

through the use of coloured paper. 

Steve Mazurek completed a good 

coloured pencil study of the Comper 

CLA.7 Swift, on black paper. The 

effective interpretation of perspective 

had the subject appearing to be 

‘drawn out’ of the blackness of the 

background. 

Two studies from Peter Lane were 

reviewed. The first, of the de Havilland 

Chipmunk T.10 trainer, was unfinished on 

the day but nevertheless, well observed 

in watercolours. Keith commented that 

a useful way to get perspective right 

on markings, serials etc, is to draw a 

box on the subject surface, around 

the area for the marks and then fill 

in. Also in watercolour was a three 

quarter view of the Hawker Hart trainer. 

The yellow reflections in the metallic 

areas were very well represented. The 

subject appeared to resting nicely 

on the ground through effective 

representation of shadows. 

Ieuan Layton-Matthews’ work was 

another study of the Hawker Hart, well 

executed in acrylics on a coloured 

background. This work looked very 

much a statement by the artist with the 

correct tools for the work. 

An accurate drawing, completed 

using gouache was produced by 

Andrew Ross of the Handley Page / 

Scottish Aviation Jetstream T.1. Andrew 

chose the subject in order to practice 

observation skills as well the aircraft just 

‘looking right’ as the subject for the 

day! A well produced study resulted. 

Peter Maxwell produced an ink study 

of the de Havilland Comet 1XB with 

Fine line ink pens. This was a very good 

piece of work with the comment that 

with ink, every mark has to be there 

for a reason ! The nose of the aircraft 

certainly seemed to be pushed out of 

the paper towards the viewer. 

Nigel Morris also produced two studies 

on the day, the first shown being a cold 

scene with the Auster T.7 Antarctic. 

Nigel used water colour (with Paynes 

Grey in the background) over Sanguine 

pencil throughout. The second 

watercolour Nigel produced was of the 

Percival Piston Provost T1. The drawing 

was again in Sanguine pencil and 

water colour, with some oil pastel used 

to bring out detail. This was a very well 

observed rear view of the aircraft. 

Richard Thorne produced a drawing 

(unfinished) on coloured paper of the 

Museum’s de Havilland Devon C.2. 

Comment was made that the shape of 

cockpit on this aircraft is very distinctive 

and can be challenging to represent… 

In this case it seemed that the cockpit 

was the focus in this composition. 

Striking colours and understanding of 

the use of those colours, made David 

Calow’s study of the Andover E.3A 

port engine and propeller a real work 

of art. David used coloured pencils on 

coloured paper. Less defined colours 

up in the hangar roof contrasted with 

various colours used in the subject. 

Some colours were used purely for 

‘effect’ commented David. 

John Layton-Matthews produced a well 

observed study of a number of aircraft 

aspects including the Andover E.3A tail. 

He skilfully used Derwent Graphic water 

soluble pencils as a complement to 

graphite pencil with some biro as well. 

An expertly executed painting of the 

Boulton Paul Sea Balliol T.21 in water 

colours and gouache on illustration 

board was Chris Draper’s effort. Evident 

was Chris’s accurate drawing, even 

down to the museum exhibit information 

board, with painterly application of 

colour. The limited palette was used 

effectively to bring out the contrast 

of the main grey / metallic finish and 

dayglo of the subject and a nice touch 

was the reflection in the cockpit. 

Robert Calow produced an impressive 

drawing of the various rockets and 

missiles in Hangar 1. The unusual and 

sometimes complicated shapes were 

well captured in a striking composition. 

Robert used wet on wet water colours 

for the background with detail and 

colour to be added later. 

One of two Westland Wessex HC.2 

paintings of the day was produced by 

David Burchett. David used background 

watercolour washes to suggest clouds 

which contrasted nicely with the 

detailed cockpit. The challenging 

perspective of the subject view was 

effectively dealt with by letting the tail 

fuselage fade into background. Glass 

reflections in the cockpit were well 

done and the white of the paper was 

retained for highlights. 

John Corp produced the other study 

of the Westland Wessex HC.2, in ink and 

watercolour. Rotors movement the was 

indicated effectively as were highlights. 

Dark areas in the cockpit contrasted 

with the highlights and brought focus to 

that nicely detailed area. 

Keith Burns produced a fine picture 

of the Museum’s CASA 352L (Junkers 

Ju-52). Using acrylics on board, Keith 

put the aircraft in historical context (a 

‘Where Eagles Dare’ scene?). Details 

included lighting and corrugations 

on the wings and fuselage, detailed 

cockpit and figures catching the light, 

adding interest. Keith said that he was 

using an idea that in composition it is 

often a relatively small area where the 

focus of a picture lies, e.g. the cockpit, 

with the rest of picture treated ‘loosely’. 

The final work of the day was by Phil 

Hadley, who produced an excellent 

acrylic study, on dark paper of the de 

Havilland Devon C.2. This was very 

atmospheric with the appearance of 

an aircraft ‘ready to go’ ! Various dark 

tones and shadows contrasted well 

with the grey and effective highlights 

were noted in the white of the nose. 

Well deserved prizes for the their works 

on the day went to Peter Maxwell and 

runner-up, Nigel Morris. 

After the critique, other works shown 

included a US Army Eurocopter UH-72A 

Lakota and pilot in acrylics by Phil Hadley 

and a painting of a Scheneider Trophy 

aircraft at Southampton by Ieuan. 

Thank you to Phil and Dave for the 

organisation of the day, to all who 

supported the day, and to all the RAF 

Museum staff who made it possible. 

Richard Thorne AGAvA 

Dave Burchett 

David Calow 

John Corp 

Tony Nicholls 

Chris Draper 

Phil Hadley 

Ieuan Layton-Matthews 

Tony Ross 

Peter Maxwell 

Steve Mazurek 

Keith Burns 

Nigel Morris 

Nigel Morris 

Peter Lane 

Richard Thorne 

John Wynne Hopkins 

John Layton-Matthews Robert Calow - to be continued! 


MIDLAND REGION MEETING 

No.1 SoT Training 

RAF Cosford 

Thursday June 24th 

Thanks to the fantastic Covid 

vaccination programme, and with 

the nation beginning to emerge from 

the succession of Lockdowns, I was 

contacted in May by Sqn Ldr Chris 

Wilson from RAF Cosford. 

Chris expressed his desire (with the 

pandemic situation easing so well) to 

see sketching visits resume on the main 

base at RAF Cosford. 

After a meeting where we both caught 

up on what our two organizations had 

been up to over the past twelve months 

or so, we agreed to hold a Midland 

Region sketching day back in one of 

our favourite hangers on the base. 

At our last visit, Hangar 146 was home 

to not only Jaguars, but a couple of 

Tornados, 3 x Mk 5 Jet Provosts, the 

cut-away JP3 and a couple of Gazelle 

‘hicolepters’. 

Chris confirmed to me that the JP5s 

and Gazelles have now departed and 

standing proudly in their place are 3 

shiny black Hawk T1s and a bright ‘Red 

Sparrow’ Hawk T.1. 

Right there and then, and having not 

painted a Red Arrow before, I made 

up my mind that I was bagging pole 

position on the sketching day for 

painting that particular aircraft !! 

Holding our breaths that the 

government would not do a U-turn on 

unlocking the nation, the day finally 

arrived and 11 Midland members, plus 

our welcome guest, Phil Jackson (East 

Anglian Regional Organiser) assembled 

on the car park by the main gate. 

Steve Hennah’s pencil sketch of a 

Hawk was first up on the easel. Our 

Critters suggested that Steve should 

use some heavier pencils (3B upwards) 

for producing stronger tonality and 

declared this was a competent effort 

with nice gradation of shading creating 

shape and form. 

Vince Nevin had started off with 

some nice little loose pencil sketches 

including stylized figures. (This is the big 

advantage of the venue, where the 

student technicians are working in and 

around the aircraft, and something 

that is usually missing from the normal 

Museum type venues.) From his pencil 

sketches, Vince worked up a larger line 

and wash piece, again with stylized 

figures, which brought the scene to life 

and created a strong indication of scale. 

Our Critters suggested that perhaps the 

Hawk could have benefited from more 

of the ‘washed-out’ background colour 

of the watercolour wash in place of the 

strong strokes. 

He had captured this well particularly 

on the fuselage and tail. Whilst 

personnel were working on and around 

the aircraft, these proved difficult 

to capture due to their constant 

movement. 

The net result was that as he was trying 

to capture so much detail, the painting 

had finished up a bit on the stark side. 

Another pencil work was up next, 

this time from Peter Maxwell, whose 

draftsmanship has come on leaps and 

bounds. His highlights have become 

very well executed and detailed. The 

Critters observed that this increased 

drafting ability is now transferring across 

into his paintings, producing very nice 

results. In his pencil rendition of the 

Hawk, Peter had captured very nice 

variation of tone. 

Three paintings of the Red Arrows jet 

were produced on the day and the first 

on the easel for consideration was the 

watercolour of John Corp. 

Andrew Ross had worked hard 

to capture a lot of detail in the 

background of his painting of the 

Tornado, but the Critters felt that this 

was perhaps slightly unnecessary as 

it distracted the eye from the relative 

simplicity of the painting of the aircraft. 

The image would have been improved 

if the trees outside the windows had 

been omitted and perhaps more detail 

in the lower half of the painting would 

have created a better balance. 

Red Arrow No.2 was my offering for 

the day. As I stated earlier, it had been 

my intention of painting this particular 

aircraft for some weeks, so I’d arrived 

with a pre-prepared board in greens 

and blues which I reckoned would 

best show off the red aircraft. The 

Critters remarked that knowing what 

you want to paint and taking time 

in pre- planning often leads to more 

successful outcomes and they felt that 

it was clearly shown to be the case with 

my offering. Particularly liked were the 

strong highlights and complimentary 

colours of subject and background. 

Rather than complete a single painting, 

Phil Jackson had taken the opportunity 

of recording a succession of pencil 

sketches. He clearly showed in this 

exercise that he was intent on getting to 

know the shape and form of the aircraft, 

recording the nose of the Tornado from 

various viewpoints. This is essential in 

understanding thoroughly the subject 

and is a really good grounding for going 

on to producing finished paintings. 

Tony Nicholls 

Nigel Morris 

Vince Nevin 

After a briefing session from Chris, we 

proceeded to H146 where we were 

welcomed by the 2 I/C of No1 SoTT and 

his Chief Technician. 

So, sketching duly commenced, and 

being only broken for a suitable break 

for lunch, we rounded up at 3.00pm. 

This was slightly earlier than our normal 

finishing time as Chris had been required 

to take part in a live broadcast for British 

Forces Radio. 

We therefore promptly exited the 

hangar and base, and, to round off the 

day decided to hold our Crit session on 

the Car Park. The weather was kind to 

us …..and so were our Critters for the 

day, Tony Nicholls and Phil Jackson. 

Nigel Morris used a very limited palette 

for his painting of the Tornado. The 

simplified rectangular windows as a 

backdrop blended beautifully with the 

lovely loose renditioning of the aircraft. 

Peter Lane described how he had 

been attracted by the light from the 

windows falling on the Jaguar which 

was elevated on jacks. 

Our critters complimented John not 

only on the observation, but the 

good proportions of the image. They 

suggested it would have benefited from 

being placed higher on the page, thus 

allowing some shadow work to being 

included. This would have ‘grounded’ 

the image. 

Tony Nicholls was drawn to the very 

powerful stylized Union Flag resplendent 

on the tail of the Red Arrow. His strong 

painting of the aircraft placed against 

a muted background wash really made 

the aircraft stand out thus creating a 

great ‘depth of field’. Tony’s limited 

palette of only three colours really 

shows what can be achieved with just 

a few paints. 

A good day was had by all, we 

produced some good work and the 

School of Technical Training enjoyed 

hosting our visit. 

Peter Lane 

Happy bunnies all round, we are once 

again indebted to Chris Wilson and his 

colleagues at RAF Cosford for making 

these opportunities available to us. 

We look forward to our next visit in the 

Autumn. 

Phil Hadley AGAvA 

Midland Region Organiser 

Phil Hadley 

Andrew Ross 




HQ NEWS... HQ NEWS... 

Aviation Artists Society Magazines 

Other aviation artists’ societies 

issue quarterly magazines. 

Thanks to Peter Nield for the latest MAVAS 

magazine No.109 with a cover showing a 

Lightning doing its stuff! 

The website details of AERO BRUSH, the journal 

of the American Society of Aviation Artists, 

AERIAL VIEWS, the Canadian Aerospace 

Artists Association and CROSS & COCKADE 

are also shown. It is always interesting to see 

what our fellow aviation artist societies are 

getting up to. 

MAVAS 109 features articles by 

Keith Woodcock on figures in 

paintings and pink Spits by Charles 

Thompson. Interesting articles on 

various painting techniques, art 

demonstrations and gallery works 

appear in all the magazines. 

www.mavas.co.uk 

www.asaa-avart.org 

www.aviationartists.ca 

www.crossandcockade.com 

CAPTION COMPETITION SUMMER 2021 


YOUR REGIONAL ORGANISERS 

East Anglian Region 


07484 302051 

philjacksonart@btinternet.com 

Midland Region 

Phil Hadley AGAvA 

assisted by David Burchett AGAvA 

01743 860096 

07876 222485 

midlandregion@gava.org.uk 

Northern Region 

Graham Henderson GAvA 

01482 492433 

grahamhe@hotmail.co.uk 

South East Region 

Richard Wheatland GAvA 

01293 885430 

Richardwheatland@aol.com 

evenings - weekdays 

(7.00 to 9.00pm) and weekends 

West Region 

Rob Hames AGAvA 

07976 102955 

rahames@hotmail.com 


GENERAL COMMITTEE 

Andrew Latham GAvA Chairman 

07711 652152 

chair@gava.org.uk 

Chris French FGAvA Vice Chairman 

01376 551869 

Richard Thorne AGAvA Secretary 

secretary@gava.org.uk 

Shirley Batten-Smith Treasurer 

treasurer@gava.org.uk 

Stephen Chard GAvA Annual Co-ordinator 

07722 845412 

Ken Farmer GAvA Membership 

01825 722061 

membership@gava.org.uk 

Simon Mumford GAvA Website Co-ordinator 

01372 844586 

Martin Perman AGAvA Administrator, 

Commissions and Sales 

can be reached via Guild phone number: 

0333 130 2223 

and admin@gava.org.uk 



Rob Hames AGAvA 

Paul Warrener AGAvA 

Anita Hole Bookkeeper accounts@gava.org.uk 

Perhaps a diet should be on 

the flight plan? 

WINNER 

from last 

issue! 

No captions received this time... 

Come on team - first time ever! 

From your Eds... 

Spielberg’s next JAWS movie takes the action 

from the sea to the air. No one can hear you 

scream at 32,000 feet! 

NEXT QUARTERLY NEWS DATE FOR 2021 

Issue AUTUMN 2021 Copy to Editors Sept 2021 

Est Dispatch Mid Oct 2021 

Opinions expressed in this newsletter are not 

necessarily those of the editors, the Guild or its 

officers or committee. No article may be copied 

or reprinted in any form without the permission of 

the editors. 

Editors: Robert Calow/David Calow 

75 Severn Road, Oadby, 

Leicester, LE2 4FW 

07825 537649 (Robert) 

07825 537647 (David) 

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW EMAIL ADDRESSES! 

robert@calowcreative.co.uk 

david@calowcreative.co.uk 

Please Note that the email 

address used for all QN 

correspondence is: 

robert@calowcreative.co.uk 

PLEASE NOTE THE NEW GUILD ADDRESS 

Guild of Aviation Artists 

Studio 100 

161 High Street 

Ruislip HA4 8JY 

Tel: 0333 1302 223 

Email: admin@gava.org.uk 



Keith Henderson - War Artist 

Keith Henderson OBE RP RSW RWS ROI (1883 

–1982) was a Scottish painter known for his 

book illustrations and poster work for London 

Transport and the Empire Marketing Board. He 

had a long professional career that included 

periods as a war artist in both the World Wars. 

At the start of the Second World War Henderson 

was one of the first two full-time salaried artists, 

alongside Paul Nash, appointed to the Air 

Ministry by the War Artists’ Advisory Committee, 

WAAC. Henderson was sent to RAF bases in 

Scotland but was frustrated to find that William 

Rothenstein, not contracted to WAAC, had 

already visited many of the bases and made 

many of the portrait drawings Henderson was 

due to paint! 

This led Henderson to concentrate on pilots, 

ground crew, aircraft hangars, repair shops and 

runways. Although the painting An Improvised 

Test of an Under-carriage provoked fury in the 

Air Ministry and contributed to Henderson’s 

six-month contract not being extended, it 

was among the artworks shown at the first 

WAAC Britain at War exhibition at the Museum 

of Modern Art in New York in May 1941. The 

painting shows a man jumping up and down 

on the wing of a Lockheed Hudson to test the 

undercarriage. 

THE BACK PAGE 

Henderson continued to paint war subjects 

including Loading Gantry for Pluto, showing 

the giant gantry at W. T. Glover and Co. used 

for preparing the Channel cables supplying 

fuel to Allied forces in France after D Day. 

All images copyright from: 

www.artuk.org www.kingandmcgaw.com 


28 GUILD OF AVIATION ARTISTS QUARTERLY NEWS SUMMER 2021

QN SUMMER 21 LR

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