Illustrators draw on real-life experiences

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Sara Banda
  • Air Force National Media Outreach Office
NEW YORK (AFPN) --  In this digital era, a group of distinguished illustrators still volunteer their time and talent to capturing the Air Force mission on canvas.

"When you look at an oil painting, you are looking at the (artist's) original thinking," said Keith Ferris. "Digital images can be altered countless times and are not good for preserving history."

One of the first artists to work with the Air Force Art program, Mr. Ferris was inducted into the Society of Illustrators' hall of fame at a dinner in Manhattan Sept. 15, held to exhibit new paintings being donated to the Air Force. Mr. Ferris described his dedication to the program as a way to showcase the branch of service he idolized at a young age while traveling to each assignment with his father who was in the Army Air Corps.

"I had always wanted to be in the Air Force, but couldn't get in," said Mr. Ferris. An allergy to eggs prevented him from being able to receive mandatory vaccinations.

So in 1961 when the Air Force needed an artist to highlight some missions in exchange for "travel and adventure," he eagerly accepted. Since then, Mr. Ferris has gone through deep-sea survival training and has flown in numerous aircraft, having logged 300 flying hours as a jet artist. The Air Force collection includes more than 50 of his paintings.

Since 1952, members of the Society of Illustrators have traveled with the Air Force, sometimes during ongoing operations, to visually document its activities around the world. From Korea to Antarctica to Africa to Alaska, and on to current operations in Iraq and humanitarian relief assistance in Indonesia and Louisiana, artists from the society have flown in to work under austere conditions, witnessing and recording history.

In just the last two years, artists have visited nearly every major command. During a Hurricane Katrina mission, seven artists flew into the devastated area to discover the scenes that would lead to future works of Air Force art.

Some of the works are valued at tens of thousands of dollars and tell the story of Airmen at work, from the walls of offices across the Air Force and in the hallways of the Pentagon.

"We never ask for any particular interpretation (from the artists)," said William Davidson, administrative assistant to the secretary of the Air Force, standing among the artists and their works.

"(We tell them), 'You go see what the Air Force does, you interpret it any way you like, and we appreciate that it is from your heart and not necessarily from something that we directed.' "

The New York City exhibit, along with one which debuted in Chicago recently, will travel across the country celebrating the Air Force's upcoming 60th anniversary, Mr. Davidson said.

Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Lichte, assistant vice chief of staff and director, Air Force staff, was at the dinner and thanked the artists for their donations of time and their artwork.

"When you document, and as you see (here), with all the emotion and spirit that are captured in your paintings, that shows our people the pride that you have in the mission that they are doing," he said.

Mr. Davidson said the illustrators' art captured recent Katrina operations better than any other medium.

"Most of us saw it on the TV, (but) ... you really haven't seen it until you see some of that artwork that has come out of that effort," he said.

The Air Force Art program office oversees the day-to-day administration of nearly 9,000 paintings that have been donated to the program. For more information, visit www.afapo.hq.af.mil.