More Spitfire Art - WIP

[ActionArt]

Our great Xplumber has inquired if there's anything new coming...yes there is! I know it may seem like I fell off a truck and vanished but I'm still here

It's nasty cold outside right now (-25) so there's no excuse to not sit down and do a bit of work inside.

I got to visit two great Spitfire pilots a few weeks ago. They both live right in Red Deer which is very close to me. I've been looking all over the country for pilots and they're right here! They both flew with George Beurling so they signed my Spitfire Domain original, that was very nice of them! I'll be doing 2 more Spitfire scenes obviously Left to right Doug Lindsey and Don Laubman. Both are high ranking aces and flew a multitude of aircraft after the war. What a great time is was talking with them. They had a wealth of stories.



The first piece will be of Doug when he attacked a formation of 40 109's with only 4 Spitfires in the lead and 12 coming later. I asked how that felt and he said "a bit scary". I would guess so!

Well, I hope to have something that resembles an image this weekend so will post

Cheers!

[Xplumberlives]

Thanks Len, we had started to wonder where you'd got to!

Looking forward to your next releases.

Do you record the time spent talking with these guys?

[ActionArt]

Looks like I have try to keep up with Terry too, he's been doing a fantastic job

I don't record (other than writing) when talking to pilots because it usually makes them nervous and you just don't have a nice comfortable visit with a camera aimed at you. However, a good friend of mine is actively interviewing hundreds of veterans on camera in a very professional manner for archiving and he interviewed both gentlemen.

[Xplumberlives]

Looks like I have try to keep up with Terry too, he's been doing a fantastic job

I don't record (other than writing) when talking to pilots because it usually makes them nervous and you just don't have a nice comfortable visit with a camera aimed at you. However, a good friend of mine is actively interviewing hundreds of veterans on camera in a very professional manner for archiving and he interviewed both gentlemen.

That's GOOD news, unfortunately they are an ever dwindling band!

[Terryjones]

WOW!!!!! Len you lucky ********!!!! What I wouldn't give to talk to just one of those guys!
Extremely jealous

You did give me a nice compliment though, so all is forgiven Looking forward to seeing the WIP, really enjoyed the last one.

Cheers,

Terry

[ActionArt]

They are a great couple of guys! This is the website for my friend who is archiving veteran's footage, it's worth a look:

http://www.vetvoicecan.org/

Terry, there must be a wealth of Spitfire pilots in your area, it's worth seeking them out. Once you find one you'll probably find them all as most of them seem to know each other

I'm sure they'd be happy to sign a few of your works as well. It's a great experience for them to see something like that too. Nothing starts a great conversation on air combat like a nice painting of it

If you happen to run across a Tempest veteran in your travels let me know. I'm still looking for one.

[ActionArt]

Here is the first preview. I'm working on the background right now so the first image is just the background. The second is the Spitfire roughed in but it will be quite different in the final, this is just a placeholder. The actual model was a Mrk 16 so the canopy is quite different.

Then add some gun smoke and hits. Also going to show the 109 canopy coming off because the pilot bailed right after taking just a few hits.

Let me know what you think so far

[RLN]

I know it's in its early stages, but i think the out of focus 109s are too blurred, but that might just be me. Otherwise, crack on - can't wait.

[MOD]

I like it ,very much, so far AA. Who is in the Spitfire? When and where was this action supposed to have occurred?


ibw

[Xplumberlives]

I like it ,very much, so far AA. Who is in the Spitfire? When and where was this action supposed to have occurred?


ibw

I bet it's one of the guys at the top of this page!





Looking mighty interesting so far Len!

[MOD]

I like it ,very much, so far AA. Who is in the Spitfire? When and where was this action supposed to have occurred?


ibw

I bet it's one of the guys at the top of this page!

Yes I know but whom and where?


GIT

ibw

[ActionArt]

I know it's in its early stages, but i think the out of focus 109s are too blurred, but that might just be me. Otherwise, crack on - can't wait.

Thanks! I'm still playing with how much motion blur to apply so what I'll do a little later is upload a few variations and see what's the most popular. It also makes a really big difference on what size you view the image so I'll upload some larger ones later.

The pilot is the gentleman on the left at the top, Doug Lindsay. More can be found on him here:

http://www.acesofww2.com/Canada/aces/lindsay.htm

He shot down 3 in this encounter with 40 109s and was awarded the DFC for it. I'll have to check with him again as I've forgotten but it's somewhere over France I believe.

[ActionArt]

Here's a few previews with varying degrees of motion blur. This is a critical decision for this piece as it really effects the impact in different ways.

More blur = more sense of speed but lack of detail in the rest of the scene. My goal is more a sense of action and excitement than to show the 109s in great detail but I also want to be able to make out what's going on in the rest of the image. Let me know what you think! Time to vote (don't forget to check the larger versions in the links)







http://www.actionart.ca/ForumPics/DougT3l.jpg
http://www.actionart.ca/ForumPics/DougT4l.jpg
http://www.actionart.ca/ForumPics/DougT5l.jpg

[Dan4th]

My only thought, and I'm still sorting out the logic
in my head, is that the 109s look to be blissfully
unaware of the Spit(s) bearing down on them
from their port side........

Have they just not seen what's coming from their
left or have they not yet had the chance to say:

"HOLY S**T!!!!!!!!!!"

The sole question is: have they had the time to
react to the threat at this split second of time?

Did they see the Spits first or only become aware
when the slugs started to hit them???????

Nit Picky?

Prrobably, but I wonder if some indication of a
reaction on the 109's part might be shown..........

.........or not.

Oh, and Great Stuff, as usual!

Danf.

[Mayfly]

I would say the second one. The fist doesn't give the same sense of speed. The last makes me feel a little disorientated if I look at it too long - as tho' I haven't my specs on and that is liable to hurt my eyes.

[ActionArt]

That's the one I'm leaning toward too Mayfly.

To answer your question Dan, from what Doug told me, he just broke out of the clouds and there they were right in front of him. He fired a fairly long range canon burst at the first one before anyone saw him (just a second or two after he flew out of the cloud formation). He got canon strikes on it and the pilot bailed immediately (you can see the canopy coming off). All hell broke loose after that!

So yes, at this point it was complete surprise and no reaction from the 109s just yet. There most certainly was a few seconds later!

[Dan4th]

I have to say that coming in full-bore
like that from the left is mighty........

Ummmm..........

COMPELLING!!!!!!!!!!!

Danf.

[Xplumberlives]

Well I would be happy with either No 1 or No 2, but I feel No 3 is TOO BLURRED!


No1 is the correct version to use, love the canopy falling away from the Me109!




AMENDED BECAUSE I THOUGHT ABOUT IT A LITTLE LONGER!

[Dan4th]

I have no opinion re: blurring or lack of, although
what we're looking at here is a frozen moment in
time, so it really doesn't matter.......

Whatever LOOKS best IS best........

I also forgot to mention I'm happy that the Mk. XVI
Spitfires flown by these Canadians were powered
by Packard Merlins!

Lots of little, niggly exterior differences for you
to worry over

Danf.

[Hungry Haggis]

No2

[RLN]

No.2 for me.

[ActionArt]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! This gives me a good sense of what will work. It's probably one of those things I'll fiddle with right to the end. If this were a photograph the amount of blur would depend entirely on the shutter speed of the camera so I'm trying to imagine what it would look like with the naked eye if you were traveling with the Spitfire. I used a similar technique on "Bolt from Above" http://actionart.ca/index1g.htm which I didn't know would be popular or not but it turned out very popular. I hoping to impart more or less the same effect here. The goal is to make you feel like you're there and not just show an illustration of an event. I may even have to print test it a couple times to get it right.

I also forgot to mention I'm happy that the Mk. XVI
Spitfires flown by these Canadians were powered
by Packard Merlins!

Lots of little, niggly exterior differences for you
to worry over

Dan, you might not want to hear what Doug had to say about the Packard engines, at least the first batch. He wasn't exactly overjoyed.

And yes, lots of niggly changes to make this a Mk. XVI, I was hoping it wasn't so much but the canopy is completely different and that's the hardest part.

Well, I better get to work

[Xplumberlives]

Yes Len

Please return to work, we are very keen to see this progress in to another of your wonderful creations!

[MOD]

It's number #2 for me Len.
I really hesitate to mention this, because I could be completely wrong, but the canopy in the full hi-res image looks a tad TOO sharp. If that 109 was doing, say 365 knots (its cruise speed) then that canopy - so recently ejected - would still have a fair degree of forward momentum and be (almost) as blurred as the aircraft that it had just come from, and it would be 'tumbling' fairly quickly as well.. imho

But what do I know. I failed my Art 'O' level.

ibw

[ActionArt]

You're absolutely right. Will make that change. Thanks!