WWI Aviation books cover art

[Pete Hill]

Hi Jan,

of the thumbnails of book covers you posted, the first one has its image taken (as a section) from a larger painting by the late, great British aviation painter, Frank Wootton, a real pioneer of the genre.
Its a great shame that the art of illustration for book covers has become so de-valued. I have a friend who works in book publishing and she told me that nowadays there is an unfortunate stigma attached to it. Most people employed in that industry now see hand-painted illustration as fit only for the covers of childrens books or trashy romance novels. To employ such for a book intended for an adult readership is too often viewed as being old-fashioned, quaint and twee.
So therefore, publishers of recent books on the air-war of WW1 simply rely on photographs to illustrate their book-covers which is far cheaper, simpler and quicker than employing a professional illustrator.
Unfortunately, sometimes they don't even bother to do any research and simply plonk any old photo on the cover. Hence the recent book on the opening battle of WW1 - "Ardennes 1914" has, on the cover of the hardback edition, a well-known photograph from the battle of Verdun, taken two years after the battle on which this book is about.
If book publishers do decide to employ a painting for the cover, they can simply re-print an old one rather than go to the expense of hiring an artist to produce something new. Again, research as to the relevance of the image to the text of the book is sometimes not a priority. Thus, the current paperback editon of V.M Yeates' 'Winged Victory' has a painting of an SE5a being chased by a Roland two-seater on the cover whereas the squadron depicted in the story flies Camels and Rolands aren't even mentioned. Another example is the recent paperback editon of Gordon Prange's 'Miracle at Midway' whose cover features a wartime painting of a Hellcat and late model Zero, neither of which flew until at least a year after the battle in question.
Its a great shame that the wonderful art of illustration is being lost to a large degree, at least in the book world (magazines are still doing their bit, thankfully). The term Graphic artist has been replaced by Graphic designer and their craft is now almost exclusively photographic and computer-generated. A very successful Melbourne-based Graphic designer once confided to me that he couldn't even draw a circle free-handed yet he was one of the industry's most sought-after due to his computer-skills. Even hand-painted illustrations for architectural proposals are being replaced by computer-generated images.
Thank you to everyone who has posted these images to remind us of a lost art! Pete

[JerryBoucher]

I don't think such art is 'lost' - it still crops up on a variety of reference books. And one should not confuse computer-generated art with a lack of artistic skills. Either way, the art is still out there and various publishers still seem to favour it - Albatros, Schiffer, Osprey, etc. And let's not forget the illustration work used by modelkit manufacturers, such as Roden (whose artwork is often of a high standard). It's not all doom and gloom!

[Kirk R. Lowry]

Bonjour mes amis!

I do not believe that any of the Great War artwork by Kenneth McDonough, another of the excellent illustrators of modeling magazines, in particular Aero Modeller, has been posted as yet ...









Any of you with A history of Aerial Warfare by Taylor on the shelf will remember the evocative paintings included which were by McDonough.

Salut!
Kirk

[Kirk R. Lowry]

Originally Posted by Gregvan

Here is a children's book on the life of Richthofen, illustrated by the prolific illustrator Harry Schaare ...

The illustrations are nice if a bit basic, but the text of this book has to be one of the weirdest version's of MvR's life that I have read anywhere.

Greg

Hi There Greg!

Yes, I bought the book for my son several years ago ... though no great fascination for Great War aviation was fostered, the volume, unlike many, does remain on the shelf. The book is quite interesting and, as noted, bizarre! Elements of the tale considered, the artwork is, if not accurate in respect of markings, surprisingly detailed in such aspects as medals and radiators.

I quite enjoy noting the comment on the dust jacket about author Richard A. Boning who "studied the Baron's own correspodence, diaries of his contemporaries, as well as army and medical records of his time. Finally, the pieces of the puzzle that has long baffled and intrigued students of World War I fell into place".

Kirk

[Pete Hill]

Hello Jerry,

when I said computer-generated design, I was NOT including CGI-art such as the wonderful work you produce! So sorry if I in-advertently gave that impression! I meant that, at least in Australia, the vast bulk of design work is dominated by work that is exclusively based on photography and fonts.
You are right about model-box art and yes there are a number of magazines and journals that employ illustrators. But down here in Australia, illustrators must struggle to find work as the bulk of publishing here relies on photographic-based images.
Love your stuff by the way, I have been visiting for website for several years! Pete

[FliegerJG1]

Originally Posted by Gregvan

Here is a children's book on the life of Richthofen, illustrated by the prolific illustrator Harry Schaare:

The scene at the bottom comes from the interior and back cover of the book, which contains many colorful illustrations by Schaare and not a single photo. Of course, it's an imaginative depiction of the fight between MvR and Hawker. The illustrations are nice if a bit basic, but the text of this book has to be one of the weirdest version's of MvR's life that I have read anywhere.

Greg

Amongst the cover art here are some unusual versions of MvR's airplane. Both the man and his aircraft have given authors and artists plenty for some unique creativity.

FliegerJG1

[Gregvan]

Hi,

Speaking of red triplanes, FliegerJG1, here's Ed Valigursky's version for the September 1959 issue of Saga, one of those 'men's adventure' pulpy magazines that flourished in the late '50's.



It features what was the conventional wisdom of the day on MvR's Fokker F.I 102/17 - all red, with natural metal cowling and white wheel covers. Don't worry if you've missed this particular article on MvR - it's nothing special.

I'll make no comment on the "College Boy's Dilemma" article in the same issue!Valigursky was a very capable artist who did all those Ace Combat Classic paperback covers already posted above. I like his stuff, even if his refs weren't up to today's standards.

[Gregvan]

In the late 1950's and early '60's, another example of the genre of "men's adventure magazines" was Cavalier. Interspersed with racy pin-up photos of leading starlets and models of the day, political commentary, wild west adventures and horror fiction, there was also a series of articles about famous WWI aces by the likes of William E. Barrett (a long time pulp writer). The best aspect of these articles was the color art, often by Phil Ronfor, Harry Schaare or even J.D. Carrick. Unfortunately, when the art was featured on the cover it was usually splashed with blurbs for the article and other pieces, as well as partially covered with pin-up cheescake shots or other junk. Anyway, here's the March 1961 issue, which featured art of Goettler and Bleckley's DH 4 of the 50th Aero Squadron in search of the Lost Batallion (by Phil Ronfor). He got the 'Dutch Girl" insignia right, even if the camouflage on the DH4 is a bit goofy:



For the rest of this post, I've scanned only the art and left out the rest of the covers. Here's J.D. Carrick's version of Immelmann's demise:



Carrick's first (?) version of the fateful events of 21 April 1918:



Ronfor's depiction of Goering's white Fokker shooting up a Nieuport 28 (which never happened - he never scored in the white D.VII):

[Gregvan]

Also from Cavalier, here's Phil Ronfor's take on Billy Barker's VC fight:



It strikes me that there is ample opportunity for other thread's like Pete Hill's on the various depictions of Voss' last fight by different artists. How many times has Barker's action been portrayed by various artists, or von Richthofen's combats of 20 and 21 April, or Luke busting a balloon, etc?

[karrart]

This was seen previously in Post 103- an Alb D.II by Kenneth McDonough- but it was shown on the cover of the July '61 Aeromodeler! I guess good ol' pictures don't die, they get "recycled".
There's a few variations here and there, beyond what seem to be modern computer tweeks and twitches.
Robert Karr
www.karrart.comn