Aviation Artists

     Welcome to the Aviation Artists page. On this and the other artists pages you will find brief bios and a sample artwork of the artists represented by Ignition Gallery. You can click on a number of the artwork pics and see a larger image. However, none of the images do justice to the vibrancy of the originals or limited edition prints.

Dru Blair

      Dru Blair was born in Newbern, NC., September 7. Growing up in Columbia, SC, his ambitions originally were directed toward a career in medicine. However, during his undergraduate studies at Furman University in Greenville, SC, he discovered an artistic ability. After receiving a BA. degree in art, he later found employment in Myrtle Beach, SC. as an airbrush artist painting shirts. He worked in Atlanta from 1985-1987 transitioning to commercial illustration. In 1988 he won the National Airbrush Excellence Award, which ushered in a wave of commercial opportunities. The following year he produced his first aviation painting, "Power" which became the first of three Air Force Magazine covers and remains the number one selling aviation print in the world . Dru has his own publishing company, Blair Art Studios Inc., and more recently, the Blair School of Art in Raleigh, NC. Dru Blair is an Air Force Association Life Member (1989), Honorary Member of the United States Air Force (since 1991), Army Aviation Association of America Life Member (since 1993) , member of the North Carolina Association of Designers and Illustrators (since 1989), member of the Air Force Art Program (since 1991), member of the Graphic Artists Guild (since 1993), Artist Fellow member of the American Society of Aviation Artists (since 1994), and board member of the International Airbrush Association. He has been featured in television interviews and on dozens of magazine covers. In March he was the Guest of Honor at the International Airbrush Forum held in Germany which drew over 10,000 artists from around the world. He was the official artist for Star Trek: Voyager book covers, as well as several of the other Star Trek licensees. Dru currently resides outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. See a sample of his art below.

Don Feight

     Feight Studios was established in 1994 by Paula & Don Feight inspired by the aerospace and aviation art Don was producing at his job at Lockheed Martin. Don has worked at Lockheed Martin for over thirty-five years as a graphic artist.
    Airplanes have been a lifelong passion from his early years living on Air Force bases, model building, and drawing airplanes, through the eventual building and flying of a homebuilt Glasair RG aircraft later as an adult.
    Much of the inspiration for Don's aviation art comes from his experiences as a pilot. The low-level flight over the water in  "Madman," the blue hole in the dark storm clouds in "Lightning,"and the spinning ground in "Performance" are a few examples of experiences of actual flying used to produce aviation art images.
    Unlike many aviation artists, Don's passion is for the aircraft and flying above all else.  See a sample of his art below.

William Phillips 

     William Phillips grew up loving art but never thought he could make it his livelihood. At college he majored in criminology and had been accepted into law school when four of his paintings were sold at an airport restaurant. That was all the incentive he needed to begin his work as a fine art painter. Bill Phillips is now a renowned aviation artist and the landscape artist of choice for many collector. The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum presented a one-man show of Phillips' work in 1986. He is one of only a few artists to have been so honored. In 1988, Phillips was chosen to be a U.S. Navy combat artist. For his outstanding work, the artist was awarded the Navy's Meritorious Public Service Award and the Air Force Sergeants Association's Americanism Medal. At the prestigious annual fund raiser for the National Park Service, Bill's work has been included in the Top 100 each year he has entered the competition and his work has won the Art History Award twice. Phillips was selected as the Fall 2004 Artist in Residence at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and tapped by the U.S. Postal Service to paint the stamp illustrations and header design for a pane of twenty stamps in 1997 entitled Classic American Aircraft. He was chosen again in 2005 for a pane oftwenty stamps (ten designs) entitled American Advances in Aviation. Bill's major collection of aviation art, Into the Sunlit Splendor, was published by The Greenwich Workshop Press in 2005.  See a sample of his art below.

 Wade Meyers

     When his family moved to Bossier City, Louisiana, Wade Meyers spent most of his youthful idle time watching the comings and goings of military aircraft from Barksdale AFB, which was adjacent to his neighborhood. From 1980 to 1997, Wade joined the volunteer staff of Barksdale's 8th Air Force Museum. Wade started flying lessons in high school, and later shared his love of flying as a Flight Instructor for 10 years. He has logged stick time in aircraft ranging from Cessna 150s to the sleek supersonic Northrop AT-38C Talon. Wade has had formal art training on the college level, and has studied with well-known aviation artist Keith Ferris. Though his early color work was in acrylics, he's since made the switch to oils. Wade spends many hours researching and composing his pictures. Wade says that his goals in art parallel those in his flying: "I'm always striving to learn more; to hone my skills and get better. It's a lifelong process." His work has been described by his collectors as "evocative", and "a refreshing blend of painterly style and representational quality". He is an Artist member of the American Society of Aviation Artists, and also holds memberships in the Tailhook Association, the 8th Air Force Historical Society, and the Association of the 4th Fighter Group. He has authored magazine articles and one popular manual for artists, and contributed to numerous other articles and books. Wade resides in Hoover, Alabama, with his wife Maria and their children Audrey, Anna, Robert, and Nicolas. See a sample of his art below.

Stan Vosburg 

     Stan Vosburg's paintings, narratives, and historical fidelity provide a window for observing aviation's most exciting era, the 1940s. They portray a nostalgic look at the individuals and the aircraft they manufactured on the home front during World War II. A native Californian, Vosburg has pursued a career as a professional artist and as an aerospace engineer. A lifelong interest in art, aviation, aviation history, and the construction of model aircraft has served as the catalyst for his artistic career. Encouraged by his family and friends, Vosburg began producing and marketing limited-edition lithographs of his paintings. "Shooting the Stars of the 94th" won the People's Award Choice in 1977 at the Horizons of Flight Art Exhibition, an event sponsored by Simulight/Flying Magazines. "Impressing the Night Shift" became living art in the 1999 Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, California.  See a sample of his art below.

Sam Lyons

     While Sam tackles everything with passion and dedication, his greatest love is creating aviation art. And he's been doing that full-time since 1985. A true Southern gentleman, Sam was born and raised in Atlanta , Georgia . Sam credits his father - a B-24 pilot during WW II - with sparking his early interest in aviation. Imagination is not the only fuel for Sam's artistic creations. He is one of the rare civilians who has flown in the F-15 Eagle while dog-fighting with Air Force pilots, the F-16 Falcon, and with the Navy in the Blue Angels F-18 Hornet. Sam has won many awards and gained recognition in military and civilian arenas. Through his membership in the Air Force Art Program, Sam's painting, LEAD SOLO, graces the Air Force Art Hall in the Pentagon. Other prints and paintings can be found at places like Blue Angels headquarters, The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Air Force Museum, Naval Aviation Museum, Royal Air Force Museum, and Disney. His paintings have graced the covers of numerous magazines and catalogs. He's been commissioned to create works of art for Barron Hilton of the Hilton Corp., Brig. Gen. C. W. Taylor, Dobbins AFB, Blue Angels, U.S. Army, U.S. Parks Dept., AT&T, Bell South, Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems and the Danbury Mint ... just to name a few. He's a member of the American Society of Aviation Artists; the Air Force Art Program; the EAA; Vintage Aircraft Association; Warbirds of America; the 8th Air Force Historical Society; and the Coast Guard Art Program.  See a sample of his art below.

Steven R. Daly

     Canadian aviation artist Steven R. Daly captures the the true wilderness adventure of the pioneering float plane pilots. Each of Steven's works are beautifully rendered with meticulous attention to detail as een through the eyes of a pilot. Steven is a self taught artist who has seen his hobby grow into a busy career. His paintings are now displayed in public and private collections across North America. Steve has many aviation related hobbies. He is an accomplished pilot and enjoys many hours flying his Challenger ultralight. Steve also enjoys building and flying model aircraft.  See a sample of his art below.

John R. Doughty, Jr.

    John R. Doughty, Jr. was born in Aurora, Colorado, in 1959. As the son of an Air Force officer stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in the early 1960s, John was exposed to the world of military aviation, ranging from the YF-12A to the B-58 Hustler. With advice from his father, John attended Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California, where he received an AA degree in Visual Communications, with an emphasis in Technical Illustrations. In 1982, he received a BA degree in Biblical Studies from Southern California College (now Vanguard University). In 1983, John married his wife Brenda, and they moved to the San Diego area in 1987, where John began working for Hamilton Sundstrand Aerospace Company as a Technical Illustrator-artist. John is the proud father of two daughters, Kristen and Melissa, and his son, Andrew. He became an Artist Member in the prestigious American Society of Aviation Artists in 1991. In 1994, he was given a VIP flight aboard a VF-11 Red Ripper F-14D Super Tomcat, one of many highlights in his aviation art career. John has also expanded his horizon to cover various art themes such as wildlife, automotive, and ocean scenes. His specialty is currently centered on his aviation art, with trademark fine-detail. Several corporations and military units have commissioned John for his artwork, and his original paintings are prominently displayed in main lobbies, corporate boardrooms, and squadron headquarters throughout the country.  See a sample of his art below.

C. S. Bailey

     C. S. Bailey graduated from the University of Utah with a BFA in Fine Arts and has been airbrushing for over twenty years. He specializes in modern aircraft, World War II aircraft and Naval ships of all types. He is a member of the American Society of Aviation Artists, and the Oklahoma Aviation Artist Association. As an artist it matters not what medium you use to express your ideas, whether bristle brush, pencil, clay or airbrush as long as your creativity takes flight. What better way to paint aircraft than with air? Its very nature lends itself to rendering aircraft. The way an airbrush produces the stressed skin of the aircraft or its fluidity in graduating skies, not to mention cloudscapes, fits my painting technique. I hope you enjoy my paintings as much as I did painting them.  See a sample of his art below.

Keith Ferris 

     Keith Ferris was born into the U. S. Army Air Corps, the son of a career Air Force pilot who served his country from 1925 through 1955. While an aeronautical engineering student at Texas A&M, he moved to enter the Air Force as a flying cadet. An allergy to some of the required inoculations effectively ended that dream. He changed his career goals and immediately joined the Air Force's Training Publications Unit at Randolph AFB as a civilian apprentice artist. Keith had chosen art as his way to stay close to the Air Force and his beloved flying machines. He left Civil Service to serve with Cassell Watkins Paul, a civilian art studio in St. Louis under contract with Air Force Publications. When the Air Force ceased its outside publications contracts, Keith moved to the New York market as a freelancer to serve the needs of airframe, engine and avionics manufacturers. He continues to serve this clientele. Becoming a member of the Society of Illustrators in New York in 1960, Keith was introduced to its Air Force Art Program. As a 47 year veteran of the Air Force Art Program, Keith has flown in and participated in the missions of almost every jet aircraft type in the Air Force. His 25 foot high, by 75 foot wide B-17 mural and 20 foot high, by 75 foot wide Jet Aviation mural in the National Air and Space Museum, as well as a large body of work in government collections and in civilian hands, attest to the wisdom of his decision to choose art as his way to stay near his airplanes.  See a sample of his art below.