John Hume

John Hume is a nationally recognized artist specializing in aviation and maritime subjects. Until a recent move to South Carolina his work focused on the rich aviation and maritime heritage of the State of Alaska, his home for over fifty years. Growing up, he was always fascinated by history, and as a young man he spent way too many hours in the 900 section of his school libraries, where he discovered the wonderful Time Life series of books that ignited his love for the history of aviation and maritime topics.

 Much later, John earned a Cum Laude degree in Fine Arts at Washington State University. He went into graphic design back home in Alaska and did well enough to stay in the field for over forty years. Clients included everything from the State of Alaska to international oil companies, shipping lines, gold mines, the tourism industry, airlines, railroads, regional telecom companies and museums. He was also recruited as an adjunct professor to teach graphic design at the University of Alaska. Somewhere along the line he rekindled his interests in aviation and maritime history and combined it with what little remaining artistic skill he had to eventually establish a side gig of painting historical aircraft. This led to numerous connections with museums, Air Force organizations and pilots and the large population of general aviation pilots found in Alaska.

 John’s commissioned work ranges in topics from early pioneer bush aviation to the latest high-tech hardware flown by present day airlines, general aviation, military services and aerospace manufacturers. His favored topics, however, are the classic American airliners from the 1930s to the 60s. Their colorful paint schemes and gleaming, polished metal finishes served as flying billboards, and symbolized the romance of the early Golden Years of aviation when air travel was unique, adventurous and glamorous. The same can be said about another favored subject for John, the military aircraft from that same time period. The striking paint schemes on those aircraft served a different purpose, namely telling anybody foolish enough to oppose them: “here we are, we dare you to come up and try and do something about it.” Maritime history is another favorite subject, especially the period when the steam engine and steel gradually took over the trade once dominated by the majestic windjammers.

 John’s method of art is less about classical techniques and theory and more about portraying an actual historic event, or a moment in time, in an artistic way. Research of a subject consumes over half of the time spent on a painting. The painting technique itself is a process that employs various media to establish an underpainting on a canvas or illustration board. This is then sealed with several layers of a clear acrylic, which serves as a base for the final layers, which are done in oil. Just like the old masters... well, kind of.

 John is lucky enough to have been nationally-recognized for his work as an aviation and maritime artist, having been chosen to participate and compete in national shows of the American Society of Aviation Artists, the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, and the Alaska Aviation Museum. His work is in the permanent collections of the Alaska Aviation Museum, the Alaska Veterans Museum and the Alaska Airmen’s Association. Additionally, his clients include various Air Force and Navy organizations, the State of Alaska, major airlines, international aerospace corporations, and of course, countless individual military and private pilots.

www.johnhumeaviationart.com