Canadian Aerospace Artists Association
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Links and Resources
for Aviation and Aerospace Artists

 

Opportunities for Aerospace Artists

Canadian Forces Artists Program (CFAP)
The CFAP provides a range of unique opportunities to support the independent, creative work of professional Canadian artists of all cultures who wish to contribute to the history of the Canadian Forces. It is the aim of the CFAP to allow artists from across Canada, working in various media, to capture the daily operations, personnel and spirit of the Canadian Forces.

Aviation Art Organizations

American Society of Aviation Artists (USA)

Guild of Aviation Artists (UK)

Manchester Aviation Art Society (UK)

Les Peintres de l'Air et de l'Espace (France)

 

Aviation Art Discussion Forum

Discussion Forum for Aviation Artists at wetcanvas.com
Getting stuck on something? Try this forum. Aviation artists share their work (and works in progress) and receive comments and advice from other artists. Interesting and educational.

 

General Art Resources

Robert Genn's The Painter's Keys
The Painter's Keys is the online extension of Robert Genn's Twice-Weekly Letter. Creative folks from more than 115 countries visit this website for information, inspiration, artist advice, friendship and connectivity.

MITRA: Materials Information & Technical Resources for Artists
This site is intended to serve as a guide for artists who are interested in learning about best practices as well as up-to-date scientific research on contemporary art materials and artistic techniques. The forum is first and foremost dedicated to providing the most comprehensive, up-to-date, accurate, and unbiased information about artists’ materials.

Art Marketing Blog
Chris Tyrell Loranger's Visual Art Marketing Blog

Bruce MacEvoy's Watercolor Resource Site
Comprehensive resource for watercolor painters. Information on all aspects of watercolor painting: papers, brushes, paints, "color theory," painting techniques, art instructional books, and more.

Google Art Project Virtual Museum
The Art Project is a collaboration between Google and 151 acclaimed art partners from across 40 countries. Using a combination of various Google technologies and expert information provided by our museum partners, we have created a unique online art experience. Users can explore a wide range of artworks at brushstroke level detail, take a virtual tour of a museum and even build their own collections to share.

Empty Easel
Online art magazine with practical advice, tips, and tutorials for creating and selling art

How to Photograh Your Art
Video guide to taking the best possible photos of your artwork, using simple lighting and camera techniques.

 

Aerospace Research Resources
There are many repositories of current and historical aviation photographs, images, stories and data available to aviation artists. Artists are encouraged to use these for historical research and inspiration, but are cautioned to avoid outright copying of existing images.

CASPIR - Canadian Aircraft Serials Personnel Information Resource
Searchable database of Canadian military aircraft and personnel that combines data from multiple sources. Maintained by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.

Canada Aviation and Space Museum Image Bank
Searchable image bank of historical Canadian Aviation photos. May be searched by aircraft number, name, type or time period.

Canadian Forces Combat Camera
Searchable repository of photos and videos of Canadian Forces operations.

Canadian Forces Combat Camera
on the Flickr photo sharing site.

Canadian Forces Joint Operations Command
on the Flickr photo sharing site.

Canadian Military Aircraft Serial Numbers
Comprehensive listing of Canadian military aircraft serial numbers with notes on base, squadron and final disposition for each aircraft.

Canadian Military Aircraft Designation System and Fleet Serial Number Histories
Downloadable pdf histories of various CF and RCAF aircraft types, courtesy of Terry Leversedge and Kestrel Publications.

A Full Listing of Historical Events in Canadian Aerospace History may be found here:

RCAF and Canadian aviation history Part One: 1909 - Aug 1939
Illustrated chronology of RCAF and Canadian Aviation events from 1909 to 1939.

RCAF and Canadian aviation history Part Two: Sep 1939 - Dec 1945
Illustrated chronology of RCAF and Canadian Aviation events from 1946 to present.

RCAF and Canadian aviation history Part Three: 1946 - 1950
Illustrated chronology of RCAF and Canadian Aviation events from 1946 to present.

RCAF and Canadian aviation history Part Four: 1951 - Present
Illustrated chronology of RCAF and Canadian Aviation events from 1946 to present.

Searchable Database of WWII Commonwealth Bomber Nose Art, hosted by the Bomber Command Museum of Canada
Nanton, AB

airliners.net
Searchable database of high-quality aviation photos - and not just airliners either!

1 Canadian Air Division, Canadian Forces Europe
Photos and information about 1 Canadian Air Division and Canadian Forces Europe compiled by CAAA member Harold Skaarup. Check the tabs down the side of that page for links to a lot more historical Canadian military photos and information.

History and Heroes
Stories of Canadian and even foreign airmen and the impact they have made on our history, geography and national identity. Presented by Vintage Wings of Canada.

Hush-Kit
Alternative aviation E-zine with illustrated articles on varied aviation topics.

Military Factory
Comprehensive listing of thousands of articles and images of military equipment including aircraft.

Mission For Today
Thousands of visitor-contributed aviation photos filed under different topics. Just a few of the subjects:

Aviation Wings of WWII
Examples of aviatior wings insignia from WWI and WWII from many different nations - useful for portrait artists

Key Publishing Forum
Forum hosted by Key Publishing, publisher of aviation magazines and books. Lots of user-submitted photos and information.

Warbird Information Xchange
The Warbird Information Xchange is a place for Warbird enthusiasts to get together and share experiences, stories, pictures and to develope friendships.

Warbird Registry
Location and disposition (privately owned, museum, etc) of surviviing warbirds. Listed by category.

Warbird Resource Group
History, technical data and photos of thousands of aircraft types arranged alphabetically by nationality.

Axis and Allies Paintworks
This site is dedicated to the computer game IL-2 Sturmovik and there is a lot of interesting reference material in the forums.

WWII Database
A searchable database of articles and photos about WWII historical figures, events, vehicles, ships and aircraft.

Aces of WWII
A compendium of information, photos and stories about the aces of WWII from every nation.

1000 Aircraft Photos
More like 10,000!

12 O'Clock High Forum
Interactive forum discussing historical aviation and military subjects

Royal Air Force Commands
Forum and research articles about the RAF, including databases such as 'RAF Serial Look-up', a database of all RAF aircraft serial numbers containing over 250,000+ look ups and 700 images.

Imperial War Museum Archives
Searchable Archives of the Imperial War Museum

Golden Age Aviation in the British Empire
stories of the British and Empire aviators who raced, pioneered, flew for fun (and occasionally, profit) during the relative peace between the two world wars.

Navsource.org
Photographic History of the US Navy

Flights of History
Compendium of historical Canadian Aviation stories by different authors, many with accompanying photographs. A good place to look for inspiration and a jumping off point for historical research.

Pacific Wrecks
Searchable compendium of information on shipwrecks and aircraft crash sites in the Pacific through history (not just WWII), with lots of useful historical details on each.

Canadian Military Aircraft Serials and Photographs 1920-1968 by J. A. Griffin, 1969, Canadian War Museum Publication Number 69-2
A register of more than 22,000 military aircraft of Canada, listing type, serial number, source and disposition. The "holy grail" of Canadian Aviation Research books, only a few hundred copies of this 691 page volume were published. It was originally listed at $17.50, but a good copy now sells for hundreds of dollars, if you can find one. Fear not, there are reasonably priced options (see the following listings). However, if you do need to look something up, see if your local aviation museum library has a copy.

RCAF: Squadron Histories and Aircraft 1924-1968 by S. Kostenuk and J. Griffin, 1977, Canadian War Museum Historical Publication Number 14, ISBN 0-88866-577-6
Less comprehensive, but much more readily available and, for many, a more useful reference. Contents are laid out by squadron with a brief history, and a listing of a representative selection of squadron aircraft including serial numbers and codes, along with b & w photos of the aircraft.

Canadian Military Aircraft Serials and Photographs 1968-1998 by John A. Griffin, Robert H. Smith and Kenneth D. Castle, 2005, Vanwell Publishing, ISBN 1-55125-089-6
A follow-up to the original volume that covered 1920-1968 above, this book uses the same format to bring the database up to 1998. Every aircraft from gliders to fighters that was associated with the Canadian military during this period is listed, including serial number, dates of service, post-service disposition and often, unit.

 

Aircraft Specific Resources
Compilations of reference links for a particular aircraft type:

Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King Helicopter
References compiled for the Sea King 50th Anniversary Show in 2013.

 

Aircraft 'Walkaround' Photos
Created and maintained by aircraft enthusiasts and model builders, these sites are also excellent sources for close-up details:

Cybermodeler
Aircraft Scale Modeler's Resource Directory arranged by subject.

Aircraft Resource Center
Index of detail photos of various aircraft.

 

Books for Aviation Artists
A selection of books of interest to aviation artists. These may be out of print, but many can still be found through Amazon or Abebooks.com (search links provided).

Painting Planes by Don Connolly, ISBN 0-920002-10-2
A great book on all aspects of creating and selling aviation art by one of our founding members, Don Connolly.

How to Draw and Paint Aircraft Like A Pro by Andrew Whyte, ASAA, ISBN 978-0-7603-3391-4
This is the perfect book for getting started in aviation art.

 

Aviation Museums in Canada

Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Ottawa, ON

BC Aviation Museum
Sidney, BC

Canadian Museum of Flight
Langley, BC

Canadian Bush Plane Heritage Centre
Sault Ste Marie, ON

Comox Air Force Museum
Comox, BC

Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum
Halifax, NS

The Hangar Flight Museum
Calgary, AB

Montreal Aviation Museum
Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC

Canadian Forces Museum Directory

Greenwood Military Aviation Museum
Greenwood, NS

Bomber Command Museum of Canada
Nanton, AB

Okanagan Military Museum
Kelowna, BC

National Air Force Museum of Canada CAAA Associate Member CAAA Institutional Member
Trenton, ON

Reynolds-Alberta Museum
Wetaskiwin, AB

Shearwater Aviation Museum CAAA Associate Member CAAA Institutional Member
Shearwater, NS

Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada
Winnipeg, MB

Texada Aviation Museum and Library
Texada Island, BC

Botwood Flying Boat Museum
Botwood, NL

Vintage Wings of Canada
Gatineau, QC

 

Aviation Heritage Organizations and Periodicals

Canadian Aviation Historical Society

Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame

Air Force Association of Canada
Publisher of "Air Force" Magazine

Canadian Aviator Magazine

Canadian Skies Magazine

Wings Magazine

AV Web - Aviation News Resource

Canada's Airshow Heritage

CANAV Books

AerialVisuals

 

Links verified 28 Feb 2022

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