Oil study finished for "The Debden Kidd" …

That is awesome. It makes me sick to see so much talent, what happened to my share? I can’t draw or paint. I couldn’t carry a tune (even if it was in a bucket) and I can’t write stories. My only talent seems to be annoying other people (what do you mean sod off?) 🙂

p51

I like the cool Mustang against the warm sky ,props great too – it has a lot of dynamism and I can hear the racket all those Merlins are making …awesome !!!

Fantastic stuff 🙂

The key thing here is that the P-51 has been accurately reproduced

I totally agree with you there – Wade did a great job on the ‘Stang – as usual. So few artists get the shape of the Mustang nailed. While creating my own Mustang artwork I found out just how tricky the shapes of this machine are. Lots of very subtle curves everywhere. Wade is one of those artists that manages to combine meticulous subject accuracy with a pleasing overall picture.

The key thing here is that the P-51 has been accurately reproduced, I’m no art expert, but it can be frustrating looking at a painting where the aircraft has something ‘wrong’ about it….where you are left wondering how the artist could have been satisfied with it.
No such problems here, keep up the great work and keep us updated.
As far as I’m concerned Wade is the 4th Fighter Groups official artist!

(ps….away from painting but staying with the subject of ‘The Kidd’, I picked up a very nice and accurately rendered 1/72 scale die cast P47 in the markings of Hofer’s ‘The Missouri Kid’………..now just got to wait for someone to do ‘Salem Representative’)

Great idea. I’ll try that.

I actually have several “dust pattern” photos I know of that I’ll dig up for general reference (which probably show the effect exactly as you describe), but I didn’t consult them (recently).

Wade

Yes the dust thing works well. I’d even stretch it further back, keeping it a fairly thin line till behind the rudder, then kick it up. Imagine the airflow over the wing (the pattern exhaust stains make) and pull it through till it hits the runway. There would be a good point to swirl up the dust, I think.

Very nice Wade!
Try put in a bit more of a hint of motion though. They’re buzzing past the viewer at considerable speed I assume.

Ronnie,

Yes – I’m not quite finished with it yet – feedback I’m getting is “universally” positive overall, but universally “hmmmm” when it comes to the motion aspect. Sooooo, after a suggestion on another site, I’m going to put some kicked up dust behind the planes.

I went into PhotoShop to ‘experiment’ with the effect … and I really like it!

This is the quick PhotoShopped “dust” version – this is the basic “look” I’m after:

This is how the actual painting looks today (also seen at the top of this thread … some dust applied behind the wheels) – I will let it dry a bit more, then get a little bit more definition in there to match (more or less) the PhotoShop version above:

Tell you what – my next piece will be airborne P-38s … can’t wait to get back in the clouds! But I did learn a lot with this piece for sure! 😮

Wade

Very nice Wade!
Try put in a bit more of a hint of motion though. They’re buzzing past the viewer at considerable speed I assume.

Gorgeous, I love it!