"Deelen Wolves" (JG 1) pencil study ...

[chicoartist]

Hi guys,

Here's the latest from the Art Shack ...

I really like the interplay between ground shadows and aircraft shapes with strong lighting - the 190 lends itself to this effect quite well.

This is the pencil study for my upcoming 18 x 24 oil, "Deelen Wolves". It's mid-September 1943, and Oblt. Georg Schott, Staffelkapitan of 1./JG 1 and a veteran of the Legion Condor, is leading his wingman Uffz. Rudolf Hubl as they marshal for takeoff at their base at Deelen, Holland. Two ground crewmen wave while one takes a picture . . .

This will be one of the companion pieces to my upcoming 20 x 40 "Most Dangerous Game", which will show these very same 190s diving to attack 8th AF B-17s on withdrawl from an attack on the docks of Emden on 27 September. Oblt. Schott, a 16-20 victory ace (depending on your preferred source), flying his Fw 190 A-6 "White 11" (seen here) was downed by return fire from the Forts on this attack over the German Bight and bailed out. His body, still in his dinghy, washed up on shore on the island of Sylt three weeks later.


"Deelen Wolves" (study)
Pencil on Vellum
17 x 22.5 inches

 

[Gnomey]

Looks very nice Wade, I look forward to seeing the finished oil painting.

 

[Erich]

Wade if I may suggest :

take the ground crew and move them farther off to the left, they are way too close to the wingman as he is getting ready to take-off, he'd be kicking a lot of debris on those 3. maybe take them out altogether

E

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Looks good though.

 

[chicoartist]

. . . Maybe take them out altogether

Are you suggesting that art should be encumbered by reality?

Seriously, the two 190s will be on grass/dirt, with one of Deelen's concrete taxiways behind (the line is barely visible above the three mechanics) ... the intent is that they are taxiing out right after leaving their parking spots - thus the mechanics close by - not about to give 'er the gun for takeoff.

Thx,

Wade

 

[Aggie08]

I like it! Very nice. Keep us posted.

 

[Single-Handed-Sailor]

I've been a fan of your work for some time now Wade, and although I'm more of a USAAF fella it's nice to see you turning to a Luftwaffe subject.

Nice study, and the composition is fine. Looking forward to an oil study and/or the final piece.

 

[Erich]

Wade, I'll wait for the completion of the painting itself before commenting further. your pencil study of the Fw 190A-6's is impressive enough

 

[tpikdave]

Wade,

I grew up in a family of artists and you would have fit right in. Nice work. The FW190 was probably the most elegantly shaped fighter in WW2 and deadly too. It makes a great subject. I can't imagine a fighter with better lines.

 

[chicoartist]

. . . The FW190 was probably the most elegantly shaped fighter in WW2 and deadly too. It makes a great subject. I can't imagine a fighter with better lines.

Thanks ... and yes, there's just something about that plane. Beautiful, and looks "cool" in the air or on the ground. Dang Germans were pretty good at camouflage (drab paint jobs), so as an artist I have a preference for the "bright" cowls of I./JG 1s A-models. 8)

Wade

 

[evangilder]

Another great piece of work, Wade!

 

[tpikdave]

A lot of people forget too, how small an aircraft the 190 and Me 109 were compared to say a P47. The canopy of the FW is a work of art in itself. Without even being a "bubble type", it offered as much visibility as a bubble. The narrow waist of the fuselage right before the tail imparts a certain graceful sweep to the fairly small vertical stabilizer. The wide stance of the landing gear and the smooth almost "inline" look of the cowl and cowl deck gun ports give it a very sinister look. It has always been and always will be my favorite fighter of WW2.

I have the FW 190 book by Robert Grinsell, illistrated by none other than Rikyu Watanabe. The illustrations are the best I have ever seen.

I guess I am a bit obsessed of the Wurger.

 

[chicoartist]

A lot of people forget too, how small an aircraft the 190 and Me 109 were compared to say a P47 . . .

Right you are! After I had completed my final aircraft and figure drawings, I put everything together "to scale". I really had to trust my Descriptive Geometry planning and layouts since the standing figures looked too big no matter which way I looked at them! Shooting them with a camera for the photo at the top of this thread, and then looking at the image reversed, etc, convinced me that I had it right.

I'm working on another 190 painting, Most Dangerous Game. Follow the progress of that piece (in detail) here.

Cheers!
Wade

 

[Thorlifter]

A lot of people forget too, how small an aircraft the 190 and Me 109 were compared to say a P47.

I think all aircraft were small compared to the P-47

Oh, Great art work, by the way!!!!

 

[Bernhart]

Love your work, not sure what happened to this post? Would love to see you do some Italian stuff, they had some beautiful birds and there is hardly any paintings with any

 

[Milos Sijacki]

Really nice drawings there, can't wait to see the painting

 

[Maharg]

Beautiful art M8, Though the pilot in 11 looks a bit casual, I would think his hands would be holding controls rather than the way you have pictured them.

 

[chicoartist]

. . . the pilot in 11 looks a bit casual, I would think his hands would be holding controls rather than the way you have pictured them.

Good observation, and normally you're correct of course, but at Duxford I observed a pilot in a P-51 doing almost the same thing (using both his hands/arms to "lift" his body for a better view - if only for a second) . . . I filed that bit of "reality" away for future use, and it's now that I am "capturing" that moment, but in a 190.

A stretch with the 190? Maybe, but to say it never happened in an Fw is the real stretch. Reality, though a cornerstone in aviation art, is a rule, not a law.

Wade

 

[chicoartist]

An update of sorts ...

This is the pencil study for "Most Dangerous Game", the "aerial" version of "Deelen Wolves", if you will. The final canvas will be a 20 x 40 oil.

Most Dangerous Game (study)
11 x 22 inches
Pencil on 90# Canson paper

Cheers!
Wade

 

[Wildcat]

Awesome Wade!