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yankeedog — Spad 19
Published: 2004-02-20 15:55:09 +0000 UTC; Views: 1388; Favourites: 10; Downloads: 139
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Description
WWI was the war to end all wars. It didn't. WWI saw the airplane's first use as a weapon of war. The 13th Aero Squadron came to France as part of the 2nd pursuit Group. They came ready to fight and with the help of the French built SPAD, fight they did. Some of the squadron was already there, flying with French units before the United States entered the war. The squadron boasted 5 aces with a total of 29 victories by the end of the war.This illustration shows a pilot and ground crew.
The 13th was at: St Maixent, France, Jan. 1, 1918; Issoudun, France, Jan. 27, 1918 (detachments at Meucon, France, Apr. 6 - May 11, 1918, and Haussimont, France, May 11 - June 24, 1918 ); Colombey-les-Belles, France, June 5, 1918; Toul, France, June 28, 1918; Belrain, France. Sept. 23, 1918; Souilly, France, Sept. 23, 1918; Colombey-les-Belles, France, Dec. 16, 1918; port of embarkation, Feb. 6 - March 3, 1919.
Adobe Illustrator 8.0, Apple Macintosh Power Mac G4 OS 9.2
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Comments: 38
Great work again. I`ll give you my fav, but I think there can be some additional work on background. More grass, and clouds is what I don`t like. Eddie & his spad is still my favourite work from you. Anyway, great work.
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Great work again, Don. If you ask me, WWI is the forgotten war, even more than Korea. I'm glad to see you honor the warriors of Great War as well.
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Thanks Bruce, it was along time ago. My grandfather was wounded in the Battle of the Argone. Although he died before I was born, I have always tried the maintain some sort of link to WWI with my art. It will not be forgotten by me. [link]
-YD
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I'm sorry you never got to see your grandfather. I remember mine, and even though he never talked about the war (I asked my aunts and uncles and they said he never talked about it either), I did see the pain and suffering he endured as a result of his injuries. I think becuz it was overshadowed by WWII is why I feel it is a forgotten war by most of America. But their courage and sacrifice is just as noble as all the other veterans of our country.
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Yea, I would have enjoyed knowing him. You are lucky to have known yours even if he didn't talk about his WWI experience. -YD
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and that was the last time France fought ! LOL j/k
This is awesome....I don't think I have ever seen anyone else work the way with Vectors that you do.....absolutely amazing!
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Thanks for the comments! I really appreciate it. I've put a lot time and hard work into these illustrations, it really means a lot to me when other artist appreciate all the hard work . The French are all right, after all there would be no America without the French. -YD
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no peob! Well I like it I'll say that! Hey gotta remember though to, there would be France if not for us either LOL Ya I like their wine, cheese and breads.....
so how many hours you figure are into this and how many layers??? I am curious.
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There s no doubt about it that they owe us big time. In both WWI
and WWII, it was American might that tipped the scales. Thousands and thousands of americans paid the ultimate price and all the wounded, yea they owe America.
Enough politics, back to the art. 
1) the sky and clouds
2) the ground crew on a layer
3) the hangar, the trees and the ground and shadows
4) the plane is on a layer
5) the pilot is on a layer
-YD
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OK I am suprised.....I thought that it would been at minimum 10. Again, just incredible. You work professionaly at all? You should submit to some of the aviation mags if you haven't yet
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Thanks again John! I tend to use groups rather than layers, that goes back to the days when illustrator didn't have layers. Yes, I work as a graphic designer at a design firm in Pittsburgh, PA called Prisma Inc. [link] I mostly do packaging for H.J. Heinz Co. I've never submitted to any of the aviation magazines, is there any money in that? I would be fun to see my art in some of those publications. -YD
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Ohhhh there is some SERIOUS cash in doing freelance illustration work for mags. Often upper 100s (minimum) to around 5k, depending on size, time, and also how it's used. Covers are naturally the highest. One thing i would seriously do is this...if you REALLY are interested in doing this......go to Google, type in aviation magazine, airplane magazine, world war 2 magazine and world war 1 magazines, and contact them via email asking for a free sample of their mag and their art guidelines for freelance illustration as you are wanting to send samples. U will hear back. It will also tell you what they pay. Just make sure you don't sell ALL rights!
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That sounds cool! I do most of this stuff for fun, but it would be nice to get paid for it. Since I work for a studio in Pittsburgh, I really haven't persued much freelance work. It might take the fun out of it, but who is to say it can't be for fun and profit! Airbrush Art + Action magazine published an 11 page spread of my work last year that featured 25 of my illustrations. -YD
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no kidding? Which issue was that in? Post sone of yer airbrush woek! I wanna see!? I haven't used an Airbrush forever. Have an OLD Pasche VL.....man bad memories, Even though I had a PPG CAR paint full mask, with filters, I was still sneezing paint and coughing it up. Damn Golden colors LOL
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[link] The irony is that I'm not an airbrush artist, sure I had dreams of being one when I was in art school and I tried my hand at it, but all the work featured in the article was done on the computer. I had a VL-1 and a T-C. I don't miss it except for the sound Pssst, Pssst... -YD
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wow really!???? So it was all done in Photoshop? I am suprised by that, been awhile since I have picked up an issue as u can see, but last I had heard they were not gonna feature digital artists. Hmmmm that is wild.
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They have been bought by a new publisher and the name of the magazine has been change to reflect a change in content ( Art Scene International / " Illustration, Visual Art & Digital Imaging" ) [link] , but they will still feature airbrush artists. My friend Edward Reed is a Editorial Consultant/Contributing Editor [link] . I wouldn't mind doing another feature on my art, their distribution is even bigger now. -YD
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ahhhh a german mag! Luckily I can read german
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It's actually printed in 4 languages. I have samples in French, Dutch, German and English. If you click on the Brit flag, the site will come up in English.
-Don
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ya i'll have to write em and request a sample copy. There is another really good mag outta the UK called Artist and Illustrators magazine you may wanna check out [link] they will send u a free copy...see left frame
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Thanks John, I e-mailed them. -YD
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Amazing eye for detail as usual... Although the cloud is sharp, it fits well with the illustration. I'd only like to see more sky lighting from this (sunlight direction; as with dawn or sunset). Nice work Don!
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Thanks Jim! Yea, I could use some work on the lighting, it would give it a more dramatic look for sure. The photo I was working from was pretty washed out, I fudged and refined most of the details from other reference and modern photos of a SPAD taken at the Air Force Museum at Wright Paterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. The basic composition of the original photo was nice, so I just built on that. I'm guessing that the photo was taken around 11:AM - 12
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It was just an afterthought. By no means does the actual artwork need to changed. It's great stuff!
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I certainly respect your opinion and of course the beauty of working in Illustrator is that it can be changed. Thanks Jim! -YD
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This Squad is famous ! We can't thank American enough for the great help 
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Thanks Patricia! the 13th is one of the elite squadrons of the US Air Force, with a long and distinguished history. They have fought in almost every major conflict and are almost a history of American aviation in themselves. I'm working on that publishing thing.
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Great job men, i like it lot. The plane is awsome, and the clouds are very nice too
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Thanks! I spent a little too much time on those clouds, I was hoping they weren't overworked. The SPAD did come out nice, I'm pleased with it. I still need a little work on the ground crew and there are a few other details I want to refine on the plane. That's the beauty of working in Adobe Illustrator, you can always go back in and fix things. -YD
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Thanks Andy! I appreciate that. -YD
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Not a lot of people pay attention to these machines - amazing bits of engineering. I would love to see one in person, but I'm not sure about flying one! It's funny reading stories of encounters between rival pilots in the air - early on if one were to run out of ammo they simply flew off without worrying about the other aircraft - a simple wave and the two would part.
Another great vector - I love how this feels like an old photo (composition wise)
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Thanks Evan! They are amazing aircraft. They have a beautifully restored SPAD at the United States Air Force Museum at Wright Paterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. I will be there in September for the 13th Bomb Squadron reunion, I'll make sure I take a few photos of their SPAD while I'm there.
Those were strange times in aviation. A lot if not all the American pilots were highly educated, from schools like Harvard and Yale, they lived by a code conduct that few today can understand. There was a sense dignity in the way they lived and the way they died. Chivalrous.
The 13th Aero Squadron's insignia pretty much sums up their view on life and death. They called him "Oscar", "The Devil's Own Grim Reaper". He has appeared on almost every one of their aircraft in some shape or form since 1918 and is even on the Squadron's B-1B bombers today.
This illustration is based on an old B&W photo. I embellished it some but the basic composition of the photo is there. -YD
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beautiful vector. i always love looking at your world war one and two plane work.. its so awesome! the plane looks amazing and the people are phenominal! I also like how you stick the subject matter into little scenes.. its awesome man
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Thanks! And thanks for the +fav! I'm glad you like my work! -YD
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great work again
u did a good job with the details though the pic itself would be even better if u'd enlarge it a lil bit to show the detail.
anyway the pic and the background information work great together.
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Thanks Taw! I never know how big to save the posted images. When I'm working on these illustrations, I'm working very large, 60" to 100", then I usually reduce them down to 8"x10". -YD
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