In an earlier post, I wrote about my desire to create three paintings that celebrate famous Ohio aviators. The paintings are coming out of sequence, but I have just finished the Wright Brothers. So once all three are completed this will be the first in the historical sequence. I should say up front that I am no relation to the Wright brothers - that I know of. But I have always been fascinated by their journey to achieve powered flight. Living in Dayton, Ohio, I am especially privileged to marvel at the incredible story of their perseverance to build the worlds first heavier-than-air, powered aircraft.
Although their gliders and first powered aircraft (1903 Flyer I) took to the air at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the brothers worked hard to test their subsequent designs closer to home in Dayton, Ohio. A few miles from the city center, they began testing their next aircraft... Flyer II (1904) and Flyer III (1905). It is this third plane that I show in the painting, because of its significance as the first truly controllable and recoverable aircraft. The original vehicle is now on display at Carillon Park in Dayton, not far from where I work at the University of Dayton.
As with my John Glenn painting, this is both a landscape and a portrait. For all three paintings in this sequence, I have tried to showcase the changing horizon in each image... in other words the aviators helped us see "over" the horizon. Consequently I tried to paint a landscape for this painting that looked as though it was seen through a fish-eye lens. This creates a uniform look across all three paintings. An important theme linking the three paintings is that Ohio is clearly visible as the backdrop and home of these pioneering aviators.
Let me explain the details of this painting... On the left side of the picture is the older and slightly taller Wilbur Wright. On his right is Orville Wright. In the background, I have tried to capture a view of the Flyer III as it looked in 1905, making one of the flights during the summer or early fall, over Huffman Prairie. Although the brothers both flew their aircraft, during this flight it is Orville at the controls with Wilbur on the ground with the flag. The view is looking out across the Ohio countryside towards the North. In the distance on the left, you can see the city of Dayton. I could not help but make it look somewhat industrial with some air pollution, because it was a very vibrant manufacturing center. Radiating away from Dayton towards the East, you can see the railroad that carried freight to Columbus, Cleveland and onward. You can also see the urban rail carrying a light passenger/freight car to nearby cities. Wilbur and Orville used this rail service to travel to and from their home and bicycle shop in Dayton. They would bring their supplies and assemble the airplanes in the wooden shed they constructed. The rail stop was called Simm Station, and can be seen in this picture. I have estimated the placement of the shed, but it does give you the sense that they wanted to be some distance from the interurban railway. At various times during this period of time, 1905, the Wright Brothers would be joined by a few family or friends - but especially by Charlie Taylor (next to the tool box that can be seen today at Carillon Park). He was the engineer/mechanic that created the engine that powered the aircraft. This picture shows one of the successful flights made by Flyer III in the presence of a few invited individuals. The general public have yet to catch on to what was happening... although by showing the paused interurban, you get the sense that members of the public are wondering what on Earth they are seeing (or what off-Earth they are seeing). Importantly, I did want to show that this flight was witnessed by Katherine, the sister of Wilbur and Orville, who took a great interest in the work of the brothers and did so much to support their efforts. Joining Katherine is Bishop Milton Wright, the father. I am also placing one of the other two brothers... Lorin, in the distance with a camera. There are a few other guests in the distance. Because the brothers flew multiple flights on different dates in 1905, I am taking the liberty of assembling this specific scene with these individuals, even though they may have been present on different dates.
I added a few embellishments... artistic license if you will. In the trees on the right you can just make out two "spies" sent by Samuel Langley. I also placed some ominous storms on the horizon to indicate trouble ahead. This could mean the patent battles that ensued in the coming years. It could also mean the beginning of World War I, which provided a terrifying use for this new invention of flight. Somewhat below the Flyer III, you can see a dove. I know that Wilbur and Orville were looking to the government to find good uses for their airplane, but I have not seen evidence that they imagined their invention being turned into a weapon, and generally envisioned peaceful applications. With all these serious elements to the painting, I also added a little bit of fun. One of the observers is a boy, seen with outstretched arms... the first child to imitate a plane, and accidentally providing one of the first clues to a newspaper reporter that indeed something was "up" with the rumors about the Wright brothers. Lastly I could not help but to add a Wright brothers-built bicycle resting against their shed. This signifies the origin of the Wright brothers technical prowess, hints at the passing of their interest in this business and more importantly documents several forms of contemporary transportation in this picture that are overshadowed by the new invention of the airplane. Automobiles are missing from this scene although they were starting to appear on the streets at this time.
As an aside, I have represented the 1905 Flyer III without the "blinkers" that can be found on the forward elevator in the Carillon Park restored aircraft. I did this because the original photographs (especially flight 46 when Katherine and Milton were present) do not show the blinkers on the plane at this time.
The colors I used for this painting (see below) were all Winsor and Newton or Cotman watercolors. These were mostly tube-based with some pans. The paper was Arches cold press artboard, 20 by 30 inches. No masking fluid was used for this painting even though I was sorely tempted.
- French ultramarine
- Permanent rose
- Permanent sap green
- Hookers green
- Vandyke brown
- Paynes gray
- New gamboge
- Raw sienna
- Burnt sienna
- Cobalt blue
- Purple lake
- Cadmium yellow hue
- Yellow ochre
- Zinc white (gouache)
I am also showing here the various steps leading to the finished work. Tracing paper was used to transfer images from photographs to the artboard. Google Earth was used to estimate the various geographic features and placement of Huffman Prairie.
