Mavas September 2011

MAvAS THE MAGAZINE OF THE MANCHESTER AVIATION ART SOCIETY

Issue 70 September 2011

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EDITORIAL Welcome to Issue 70.

As you probably realise all to well, a task expands to fill the time available to it. Being retired and interested, means that I have the time to try new ideas for layouts etc. Especially in the pdf version.

Cover Image “Snipe Combat�

By Keith Woodcock

It takes a lot of my time but it is a task I enjoy.

I think Ron Leigh deserves a medal for his long stint as Editor and his pioneering work with the pdf version, while working at a very demanding job.

Thank goodness for email, pdf files and Peter Nield, who makes sure photographs are the correct size and true colour and offerings typed up.

My earlier stints as Editor involved typing up from bits of paper then printing the mag in page pairs - page 1 and 28, page 2 and 27 etc. So they could be photocopied. At one time I printed, collated and stapled them - and even trimmed the edges.

Now the mag travels to the printer or member via email. Luxury.

Rear Cover Image

Thanks again Ron.

Hawker Siddley 125

By Charles Thompson

Dave

If any member has an objection to the Society holding membership records electronically and using the information for Society purposes deemed suitable by the committee, eg the production and distribution of a membership list, please notify the Editor

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contents Exhibition at the East Lanc’s Railway Week-end

4

Introducing Ron Sargeant

6

Tangmere Aviation Museum

8

Hunter’s Run

10

Exhibition at Barton

12

Jim Mackendrick Trophy Meeting 7th June

14

Jim Mackendrick Trophy Gallery

15

Exhibition at the Aviation and Transport Fair at Manchester Airport Visitors’ Centre

24

Exhibition at the Southport Airshow

26

An Irreverent View of Perspective – Part 5

28

News Round

24

Sketch In 5th July

34

Diary Dates

35

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Exhibition at the ELRS 1940`s Event in Bury, Sat/Sun/Mon, 28th/29th/30th May, 2011 Exhibition Officer for this event was Peter Grove. Peter, Terry Farrimond and Peter Nield went into Bolton Street Station on the Friday morning with paintings and other items for both the small cabin and the long carriage at the far end of the platform. The society stands were assembled in the long carriage. At the same time, Tony Bramham was assembling his own independent exhibition of military paintings in the nearby Fusilier`s Museum.

Unfortunately, the three days were plagued with cold, wet weather and this, plus a major football celebration in Manchester on one of the days, kept attendance to a minimum. In addition, continued objection to the presence of German uniforms at this annual show by a few members of the local Jewish community not only reduced numbers further but is effectively destroying the theatre of this popular 1940`s re-enactment event.

Nevertheless, from our point of view the event ran very smoothly, having been well organised by Peter Grove. Peter`s efforts ensured that we had sufficient paintings delivered on time and that the display was well covered by stewards.

Likewise, the collection of works at the end went off without a hitch. All together a very good job! Peter also took over as Keeper of the Stands. How long this will continue is uncertain so members are encouraged to give some thought regarding how they might help in this respect. Four paintings were sold, and one or two contacts made. Our only cause for concern was the remoteness of the long carriage, which is a shame because the carriage itself is an excellent display facility. Perhaps we can negotiate with our friend, Neil Parkinton, to see if we can be located a bit nearer to the action in 2012 – maybe in a carriage adjacent to the next platform where we have been in the past.

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Introduci

Mothers Mounta

I think I was born an artist as from my beginnings. I always liked looking at pictu films at the cinema. I would copy the characters in the comics and I was a great f indian films and war films. I was about ten years old when I aquired a wartime copy Book of Aircraft and I began to use the photos and silhouettes for reference. With the of the latest aircraft to fly and the Korean war news I saw in the newspapers a newsreels aircraft began to dominate my visual interests. My imagination develo first flights and testing news of the likes, Canberras, Hunters, Swifts, Javelins, and Victors. Oh my, such memories. These aircraft I began to draw and paint cowboys and indians which still inhabited my imagination. I remember buying m of paints at the end of 1954 from a small art shop. They were a box of Rowney w I still have it though it is now well worn. A trusty old friend which helped me to l

Lightning F6

Lightning Flash

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ing Ron Sargeant

ain

Mortal Mountain

Eras at Dusk

ures and watching fan of cowboy and y of the Observers he daily publication and in the cinema oped also with the Valiants, Vulcans along with some my first proper box water colour pans. learn my talents.

h

Joining the RAF In 1956 to be in contact with the real thing was inspirational and my art progressed in both aviation and other subjects.

I still do American Indians. Whilst in the RAF I experimented in all the art mediums including household paints which led to model enamels. I mostly use watercolours but have no preferred medium and I like to move about trying various alternatives. I am one of the founder members of MAvAS and tend not to like the sale of my work although I have accepted commissions to paint subjects such as horse jumping and canal boats as well as aircraft.

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In June thanks to our trusty caravan and my lon Being a small museum it has space problems and a replica of the lovely blue prototype Spitfire, so

Oh, and a low flying Spit. seems to have impaled itself on a pole on the roof,

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ng suffering wife, I found myself near Tangmere and of course couldn’t resist a visit. d has to pack exhibits tight. It has a small collection of genuine aircraft, some outside, ome good large scale models and a good collection of artefacts and paintings.

Seeing Red A high impact exhibit is the bright red record breaking Hunter. It looks rather strange at the moment as it in two halves, waiting to have it’s engine removed, as it is in danger of bending, then breaking under it’s weight.

This unique aircraft was ordered in June 1948 as one of three prototypes and first flown

by Hawker's Chief Test Pilot, Squadron Leader Neville Duke, in July 1951. In early 1953, WB188 was fitted with side-mounted airbrakes, extra fuel tanks in the wings and a new reheated version of the Avon engine - at which point she became known as the sole Hunter Mk 3. On 7th September 1953, Neville Duke took off from Tangmere to set up a new world air speed record of 727.63 mph along a course between Bognor and Littlehampton From the website http://www.tangmere-museum.org.uk

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This was the Hunter`s attempt to break the World Air Speed Record of 715.67 mph h and the attempt was made along a set 3 kilometre course located at Littlehampton betw the course with buoys and flares and provided air/sea rescue launches. R.A.F. Fighter aircraft for observation purposes. In those days, the aircraft had to be held below a he of Flying published in 1954.

“If I had any qualms at all, I think it was about the seagulls. The tide was going out d they risen into the path of the plane, travelling at over 700 mph, it would have done them into the air, the aircraft had already passed by. One thing I did not expect was th on to the eastern marker buoy for a better view. I think they probably had a bigger su

When the painting was completed in October 2006 my nephew, Geoff, insisted on hav of Sqdn. Ldr. Duke and that the friend might be able to obtain a signature. To my am Sadly, I imagine that this would be one of the last signatures provided by Neville Duk

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Peter Nield’s Painting of

“HUNTER’S RUN”

held by the North American F-86D Sabre. The time was Monday, 7th September, 1953 ween Bognor Regis and Worthing on the south coast. R.A.F. Coastal Command marked Command made Tangmere available as a base and supplied two A.W. Meteor N.F.11 eight eight of of 100 100 metres. metres. The Thefollowing followingisisan anextract extractfrom fromSqdn.

Sqdn.Ldr. Ldr.Neville NevilleDuke`s Duke`sBook

during the final attempt and I remember some gulls paddling at the water`s edge. Had no good to either the birds or the Hunter. As it was, by the time the noise had scared he sight of a crowd of small boys who had taken advantage of the low tide to clamber urprise than I did, however, when the Hunter roared over them at about 25 feet”

ving it as an heirloom, stating that he had a good friend who was a drinking companion mazement, the signature was duly obtained which is a terrific addition to the painting. ke as he passed away on 7th April, 2007.

Peter G. Nield.

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Exhibition at Barton Open Da

Terry Farrimond was first to arrive in the allocated hangar with his Nield and Peter Grove with the Society Stands and several MAvAS scraperboard works and prints etc. This completed the three adjacen paintings more or less as requested and the main display of 43 pa by around 9-45am. For once, in recent times, the weather was Likewise, we understand that 79 aircraft visited the event and th would have been wonderful to see a real Air Display element patc were almost non existent, perhaps reflecting the austerity of the pleased to donate ÂŁ25 towards the overall ÂŁ3,400 raised for the Ro involved at Barton again next year

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ay

s various model kits, militaria items etc., followed shortly by Peter S paintings. Steve Ridgway then arrived with his own equipment, ent MAvAS sites. Members delivered the remainder of the committed aintings by 12 of our artists was assembled on the Society stands glorious and we understand that around 5,000 people attended. hat some 600 aircraft movements (flights) took place. Even so, it ched in to the Family Day theme. Unfortunately, sales of paintings e times, but a grand day was enjoyed by all and the Society was oyal Manchester Childrens` Hospital Charity. Hopefully, we can be

mavas 14 Meeting 7th June

The Jim Mackendrick Trophy

Above:Ossie Jones with Lt.David King Left and right: normal busines and of course tea break Below: awaiting the declaration

left: Ossie stands in for cup winner David Bates, who was on holiday, with winning painting “Flying Curcus�

Right: Lt. King Presented with a painting of a Nimrod, a Harrier and HMS Ark Royal, by Ossie

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GALLERY

Terry Jones

Terry Jones

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Peter Nield

P. W. Grove

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P. W. Grove

K. Stancombe

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R. Sargeant

J. Shevelan

R. Sargeant

R. Sargeant

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E. Yuill

P. Flitcroft E. Yuill

R. Sargeant

W. Leeming

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T. Farrimond

D. Bates

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O. Jones

D. Bates

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D. Bates

R. Rumbold

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P. S. Carter

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July 9th/10th

Steve was working on the above painting “Final Departure”

The Aviation and Transport Fair at Manchester Airport Visitors’ Centre A new venue, following a late invitation from the Aviation Society via Harry Holmes. Steve had paid a visit to the site the previous week, in the company of the organiser, Glenn Wheeler of the AS. A very impressive, from both the strategic and practicality angles, site in the Concorde Hangar was offered, and gratefully accepted. Subsequently, a hastily contrived kangaroo selection panel was contrived as the show at Barton was drawing to a close, as only half the board space would be available at the next two shows. Notwithstanding the short notice of the offer, it would have been encouraging to see a few more Society members being present. Steve manned the stand single handedly on the Saturday, but was ably supported by Keith on the Sunday. With a large (Several hundred – I wasn’t counting) throughput on both days, and an ideal-for-working situation, an excellent presentation of our members’ skills and preferencies was to the fore.

Personally I was amazed that John Williams’ Red Arrows canvas didn’t sell – indeed it became a very useful yardstick. If that doesn’t go then nothing will, and so it proved, although the number of enquiries was very encouraging.

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“We Can All Dream” an interesting example of serendipity, Concorde reflected in Peter Grove’s painting. A fine example of non computer generated digital art.

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The Southpo

The last weekend of the tour was Southport Air Show on the 23rd & 2 all showing great interest in the on-site works being produced by Stev display was easily on a par with our superb Woodford outings of th show? (It would have been ten, anyway, if the chap who agreed to b Apart from painting, Ossie and Steve were kept fully occupied with c These shows, particularly Southport, provided ample evidence that th each with their own questions, comments, and reminiscences, was bri transport, expenses, etc, but for now let’s just look back on a thoroug The exhibition 20 seconds after the Red Arrows arrived.

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ort Airshow

24th. And what can I say? Literally thousands, yes thousands, of visitors on both days, ve and Ossie. Again, it’s a shame that more Society members couldn’t be there – this he 90s. And when was the last time we collectively sold TEN paintings at a single buy Ossie’s Sunday offering had actually turned back up to pay for and collect it). chatting with the large crowd, many of whom remembered us from the previous year. his is the way forward for the Society. The enthusiasm generated by so many visitors, illiant. There are many things to discuss about these shows, such as selection panels, ghly enjoyable and productive month, and look forward to next year.

Steve presents a painting to the Veterans.

Plenty of interest for most of the days.

Ossie with the painting he composed during the day.

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An Irreverent View of Perspective – Part 5 Gabriel was becoming ever more interested in art but, once again, had been beaten to the punch by the Blob pals. He had overheard them discussing viewing distance, perspective, canvas sizes and image sizes and he was desperate to catch up. So, as before, he shot off to the workshop to have a word with the Boss. “Hello, God” he said “If I am going to produce paintings that sit well with the eye, I really need to know about these things, can you help?” “Sure thing” said God “but before you get into viewing distance, perspective, canvas size and image size, there are other things you need to keep in mind and remember too that I shall be talking here of just one object located on the picture plane. You ready for this, squire?” “OK – fire way ” said Gabriel, trembling in eager anticipation.

“You remember last time when I described “Cone of Vision” to you” said God “Yep” said Gabriel. “Well, I lied” said God “It ain`t a proper cone”. “What!” shrieked Gabriel, all confused, “Relax” said God “The truth is that the round cone is, in fact, a flattened oval because my magical eyeball really does see about 18º on either side of the Line of Sight but only about 12º up and down and I have decreed that this shall be the natural range of vision. Now, this is the important bit - if the oval we get from those angles is boxed, the proportions come out at 3 by 2. You got that?” “I have, I have” said Gabriel “Isn`t that the same as a lot of photographic prints, TV screens and 35mm slides?” “Course it is” said God “and they are made that way because 3 by 2 is a natural ratio. Nothing is set in stone and you may decide to use slightly different angles but if you choose canvases that are roughly 3 by 2 you won`t go far wrong. Anyway, that`s the one I`m using here” “Right” said God “before we go any further, I want to be sure that you remember that the perspective appearance of an object depends entirely on viewing distance from eye point and absolutely nothing else?” “I certainly do” said Gabriel, intently. “Well” said God “that`s good. Just make sure you never forget it. And another thing, don`t forget that the canvas is a Picture Plane – OK?” “Same again” said Gabriel “I`m on it Boss” So what about viewing distance, canvas width and image size?” said Gabriel.

“Well” said God “we have three variables here and juggling these around can hurt your brain so far better to fix one and play around with the other two” “I`m up for that” said Gabriel “so where do we go from here?” “Well” said God “our fixed bit is going to be the relationship between viewing distance and canvas width. That 18º angle either side of Line of Sight passing down the centre of the Cone of Vision means that the viewing distance will always be one and a half times the canvas width. Try to remember that, it is a good rule

mavas 29 of thumb” “I`ll go with that” said Gabriel “but what next, what about image size on the canvas?”

“Don`t rush me” said God “this may sound a bit strange but, at this point, I want you to think full size – you alright with that?” “I suppose so” said Gabriel “but what`s the point if I`m going to paint on smallish canvases?” God replied “Thinking full size in the first place makes it easier to decide upon a composition.

Let`s face it, we are seeing compositions every day in real life so we have a good understanding of true distances and dimensions and our own Cone of Vision. Artists painting en pleine air are doing it all the time. So, can we proceed?” “I guess so” said Gabriel “you`re the guy with the marbles”.

God continued “Right, I want you to think of a 40ft aircraft on a 300ft wide picture plane, OK?” “Yep” said Gabriel “So, using the one and a half times rule of thumb, what is the viewing distance?” said God. “Well” said Gabriel “I make that 450ft and, of course, the perspective appearance of the aircraft will correspond to 450ft”. “Well done” said God “You will notice that, although the size of the 40ft aircraft looks completely lost on the 300ft wide picture plane, the appearance of the aircraft does not offend the eye because its perspective at the 450ft viewing distance corresponds to the 300ft width across the Cone of Vision.

“Now think of the same 40ft aircraft on a 100ft wide picture plane” said God. “OK, what`s the viewing distance now?” “I make that 150ft” said Gabriel “with perspective appearance to match”. “Right” said God “but in this instance, the size of the 40ft aircraft sits much better on the 100ft wide picture plane and, just like the bigger picture plane, the appearance of the aircraft does not offend the eye because its perspective at the 150ft viewing distance corresponds to the 100ft width across the Cone of Vision.

mavas 30 So what do you make of those little exercises?” said God. “Well” said Gabriel “There`s nothing wrong with either of those arrangements. The viewing distance, the perspective, the picture plane width and the image size are all in harmony in both cases. However, I thought the second one was a much more pleasant picture to look at than the first one”.

“Right” said God “now this is the crunch so you had better be paying attention - I hope you have noted that you can make the image on the picture plane any size you like – it can even stick out beyond the sides of the Cone of Vision – just so long as the perspective corresponds to the viewing distance. The size of the image on the picture plane is determined entirely by the composition you have in mind” “Well, I`ll be damned!” said Gabriel “You probably will be if you carry on like that!” said God. “By the way” said Gabriel “would I be right in thinking that you could work that scam the other way round? I mean, if we started off with a required viewing distance and image size, the perspective on the 40ft aircraft would be set anyway and the picture plane width could be worked out by the one and a half times rule”. “Either way” said God “That`s spot on” “Hang on a minute” said Gabriel “You`re having me on. All this is full size. I can`t just nip into Hobbycraft and buy a 300ft wide frame. It would cost a fortune!” God smiled smugly causing Gabriel to yell “Don`t give me that Madonna grin, I`ve got a bag of picture planes – sorry, canvases – here, what am I supposed to do with them?” “Have you never heard of scale?” said God. “Yeah” said Gabriel “on a pigging fish! “You cheeky little archangel” said God “I meant scale measurement”. “Yep, I suppose I have” said Gabriel “What about it?”

“Well” said God, “Supposing you wanted to paint the equivalent of the true 40ft aircraft on the 100ft wide picture plane with the viewing distance of 150ft and you only had a 30 inch wide canvas. It doesn`t take much (40 divided by 100, times 30 = 12) to figure out that the corresponding scale aircraft in that composition would need to be 12 ins long. We`ve set the Cone of Vision at 36º so scale viewing distance to the 30 inch canvas would be 45 inches – one and a half times 30. The most important thing to remember is that the perspective appearance of the full size aircraft seen from 150ft is replicated on the 12 inch image”.

After his outburst, Gabriel became very thoughtful. “Look Boss” he said “all this has been very interesting but surely, if I can`t be bothered with the sums, all I need to do is to draw a 36º “vee” on a piece of paper, mark in a centre line and then slide a little replica of my aircraft along it until it fits nicely within the width of the picture plane (canvas) across the “vee” to give a balanced

mavas 31 composition?” “Yeah, providing everything is to the same scale, that`s about it” said God “then all you have to do is to measure back to the point of the “vee” to get the viewing distance in order to establish the correct perspective appearance. If you did this with your 12 inch image and stopped sliding it when the distance across Cone of Vision was 30 inches, you would find that viewing distance to “vee” point was 45 inches” “Wow” said Gabriel “That`s nowhere near as complicated as I thought. I am going to enjoy drawing out various combinations of viewing distance, image size and canvas width across the 36º Cone of Vision. I know now that I can make the image any size I like to make a good composition, just so long as the perspective corresponds to the viewing distance. I might even try different Cones of Vision because people`s eyesight varies so much”.

“Well now” said God “do you think you have caught up with the Blobs?” “Pretty much so” said Gabriel “the only thing that stumps me is how do I determine what perspective looks like at different distances?” God screamed inside. He just wanted to get away. He looked blankly at Gabriel. Then, suddenly, it came to him. “Look at me Gabriel” he said “study my appearance as I stand here.

Now observe how it changes as I back further and further away. See how angles and size change with distance”. It was a good lesson for Gabriel. God got smaller and smaller until he ended up as a dot. His last words to Gabriel as he disappeared over the horizon were “Bless you my son, and this is a vanishing point!” and “pow!” he was gone. Later that day, Gabriel received a Stardust Express telegram. It read, Got home safely stop. For more info get APM off Joe DeMarco – its what I use all the time stop. Kettle on stop. Good luck with art stop. More in September issue stop. Toodleoo, God.

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NEWS ROUND Indefatigable Charles Thompson made a foray over the Pond to the ASAA annual forum and exhibition in May this year which was held in the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. He had three paintings accepted for the exhibition which will be on show in the Museum until September. Two of them - "Somewhere in England" & "The Graceful Princess" - were exhibited in the Guild of Aviation Artist's exhibition last year. The third - "Buddies" - was painted expressly for the Pensacola show because of its US Navy connections.

"The Graceful Princess" won two prizes - the $500 Aviation Week & Space Technology 1st Place Commercial Award and the Winsor Newton Award.

And "Somewhere in England" won the $500 Boeing 'Spirit of Flight' Award.

Not only but also A few Saturdays ago he attended the Guild's London Region painting meeting that was held at the deHavilland Heritage Museum in North London. Armed with a piece of 6" x 8.5" MDF board he elected to paint the Hawker Siddley 125 See Rear Cover

On Saturday 2nd July, it was the turn of the East Anglian Region meeting at Duxford. It was a great day and because the Museum was getting ready for the 'Flying Legends' air show the following weekend, a lot of 'new' subjects had arrived. One of them, the lovely shiny Hawker Fury, caught his eye and after lunch he sat down and produced an oil sketch on a 12" x 10" canvas.

A Brave Foray into Darkest Yorkshire

Peter Nield, Ron Leigh and myself had an enjoyable visit to see Keith Woodcock and he took us around his terrific exhibition at Baysgarth House Museum in Barton-on-Humber, writes ace reporter Peter Grove (inset). Unfortunately they hogged the limelight, completely blocking our view of all those lovely paintings. Honestly you just can’t get the staff.

A Song for an Unsung Hero - ???

Thanks must go to Steve Ridgway (King of the Scraper board ), seen here looking for his sanity after being incarcerated in a railway carriage in Bury with Terry Farrimond.

Steve has done sterling work as Exhibitions Officer at Manchester International Airport and with Ossie Jones at the Southport

Lending a Hand at MOSI Ossie Jones will again represent the Society when he gives a painting demo on August 2nd as part of the museum’s summer program.

Your Editor will be giving an illustrated talk on August 4th on the use of computers in the art world.

mavas 34 Keith Stancombe

Sketching in Air and Space Hall

John Williams

Ron Sargeant

Peter Nield

As with previous Sketching sessions in the Museum, this event was chaired by Len Sakowicz. Thirteen members attended, including Chris Jones who has recently rejoined. Chris brought along Tate who is currently being fostered by Chris and partner Josephine. Unfortunately, some of the work was not photographed so only eight of the sketches were recorded. The winner was David Steeden with his excellent sketch of a microlight aircraft and his prize, a box of pastels, was presented by Len. The pencil sketch of the twin hull speedboat produced by Tate (with a little assistance from Chris) was highly commended.

Meeting held Tuesday 5th July,2011

Tate Dore Terry Jones

Roger Rumbold

Dave Steeden

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DIARY DATES Meetings are held from 7-00pm to 9-30pm in the Conference Room in the Air and Space Hall at the Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester on the first Tuesday in the month unless otherwise stated

Tuesday 4th October, 2011

“Avro Trophy Competition” Subject this year – “Eastern Bloc Aircraft of the Cold War” Adjudicator, Mr. Tony Hill, Museum Director.

Appraisal by Ron Sargeant

Tuesday 1st November

“Bring in Alternative Work” Appraisal by Eric Yuill

Saturday 5th November

“Workshop” To Be Announced

Tuesday 6th December

“Market Place” Annual Xmas Meeting No specific subject – general get together Bring in items for sale, swap etc – 10% on sales to MAvAS. Hopefully, there will be a few mince pies etc.

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Editor: Dave Bates 9, Busk Road, Chadderton, Oldham. OL9 6SF Tel: 0161 284 3467 Email: david-bates@ntlworld.com Society website: www.mavas,co,uk

Issued free to members (pdf version available for free download from website), extra copies available from Peter Nield tel:0161 764 3928 members 60p others ÂŁ100