Pilot Portrait

Photographs are great, particularly really good ones. But in today’s world of digital photography, what options are there for a gift that goes beyond what a photo can offer, when you’d like to create something really unique? Well, like many things, investment in the craftsmanship in the creation of an image  can really help make a difference.

So with an idea to make something a little different to celebrate the first year of operation of the RV-8 that I share with FLYER’s safety editor Steve Ayres, I took the opportunity to work with a UK aviation artist who specialises in offering a unique pilot and aircraft portrait.

Graham Henderson, a Full member of the Guild of Aviation Artists, has been painting aircraft for many years, and has been commissioned by the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, and the British Army. Since 1999, he’s also exhibited annually at the Mall Galleries in London – as part of the Guild’s annual ‘Painting of the Year’ exhibition.

Graham likes to work from reference photos, so I supplied him with a number of shots of our RV and Steve, and gave him a some time to consider how it might come together. Graham sent me a few ideas about how the aircraft might appear with the portrait of Steve, until we agreed on one we thought worked particularly well. Then it was just a case of choosing a size  – A3 or A4, and he could start.

Painting, like any form of art isn’t quick, and Graham, working in his preferred medium of gouache, took around four weeks to complete the painting, taking an opportunity to contact me before it was complete, to see what I thought. I suggested just one minor tweak to a detail on the aircraft which Graham made – and a week later, the artwork arrived in the post. 

As someone who has always worked heavily in the visual world of photography, I was really stunned by the detail Graham was able to capture. And Steve, well he was completely blown away by his personalised portrait. 

It’s not as low cost as simply printing a photo, but it’s unique, and that’s hard to put a value on.

Website: grahamhendersongava.co.uk