I finally finished my ‘nose art’ painting (Glenn Miller, anyone?)!
Captain Miller (of propaganda): “… ‘The Statue of Liberty is kaput’ – that’s disconcerting.”
– Tom Hanks – Saving Private Ryan
About this image: acrylic painting on aluminum flashing riveted to 24″ x 32″ hardboard panel
Refrigerator Magnate 
Nice artwork! That’s a lot of rivets. How many band-aids were required working with aluminum flashing?
Hahaha… it shocks me a bit to say this, but no band-aids needed (this time)! Bizarre, really – it seems like with my track record I could / should have almost lost an entire arm somehow! Thanks, Patti!
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How cute. The art reminds me old days somehow.
Thank you, sir – I was hoping this would feel like it was from an early time.
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That is awesome!
Love your endless, remarkable creativity. Very inspiring.
How incredibly kind of you to say, Karen!
Thank you so much – you spoil me with your generous comments!
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What a great piece of art!!! Nice job…it’s looks “perfect”….love everything about it! I could see a whole series of pinup girls from the 1940’s. 🙂
Thank you so very much, Mary! I was thinking it might be fun to make a small series at some point… I’d also like to make one that’s a much bigger scale, too (although this is already much larger than most things I work with).
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Well done!
Why, thank you!
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Nice piece of propaganda.
Very reminiscent of Betty Grable. 🙂
Thank you very much, Ms. C!
I have seen ‘Sentimental Journey’ at an airshow before… so maybe that had some influence on me.
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Nice rack! And I love those eyebrows. I also love how with you, fake rivets would have looked as good as these real ones do.
I have been working out, so, you know… thanks for noticing.
Aw, how kind of you to say, U.M, thank you! I did think it might be fun to see how realistically I could render the rivets with paint, but how often do I go behind my apartment and rivet stuff. I’m sure my neighbors are kinda wondering…
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Ooh, I like the look and feel of this one, Robert. The aluminum is quite effective. The image of the lovely lady really pops out, especially all the white. It’s quite splendid!
I’m so happy to hear you liked this one, B.F! Thank you! This has been on my list for quite some time now, so it feels good to have finally finished it (although I’d like to make a much larger one at some point, too).
Thanks again, Amy!
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VERY cool! Love it all, Inky. If you can, check out the nose art gallery at the Commemorative Air Force’s Museum in Midland, TX. Stunning stuff and I was just there the other day.
Sounds pretty darn cool, Mr. B… I think I’d better go fire-up Google…
and thank you! Very, very much!
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they don’t allow photography in there, or I’d have some cool stuff to share!
I can imagine! Yeah – I understand having rules like that, but at the same time it’s kind of a bummer sometimes!
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A real Beaut!
Many thanks, sir!
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She is beautiful and bears a striking resemblance to your lovely bride. Great work, SIG.
Everything (including the figure) was/is pretty generic, but I’m sure there’s some strong subconscious influence there…
Thank you very much, Red!
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This artwork is great, so real and timeless! She looks like real, beautiful! All best!
How very kind of you to say – thank you so much! It’s so nice to hear things like ‘timeless’… because that’s really what I was hoping for, so thank you again!
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Da bomb
Hahaha… thank you, Loon!
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I really like this piece … and I enjoyed reading the comments and your response to them.
I’m so happy to hear you liked this! Thank you very much!
Everyone who comments here is so kind (and creative) – I don’t mind at all that it totally steals the show!
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I like all your stuff, but the multi-media ones like this are superb. Such a neat idea, and great execution, too. What kind of rivets did you use?
Thank you, as always, sir! I’m happy to hear that – these things are a lot of fun (but they can also be a bit of a pain at times – particularly because I’m trying to figure out so much of it as I go along)!
The rivets were intended for leather crafts (I found them at an arts and crafts chain that rhymes with ‘Michaels’). Anyway, they seemed about the right scale (and length to fit through the backer board). They are set with a tool that looks like a nail-set with a concave head and a wooden mallet. There’s also a round metal disk you place behind each back piece as you set them. That was difficult – I live in an apartment and didn’t want to do this indoors (noise) so I set them in our parking space. The board was so large it was difficult to see/reach under / place everything in the right spot with everything just laying flat on the ground (so the backs of a few of these aren’t as pretty as I’d like – oh well, I guess)!
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Thanks for the details. That’s pretty funny, though, as I’ve done leather work in the past and have used those kind of two-piece rivets. Great way to use them in a project like this.
Very cool! You’ll have to remind me to never show you the back of this piece, (you would cringe for sure)!
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Ha, you’ve never seen my substandard riveting!
Hahaha… I don’t know… something tells me Rosy the Riveter would be much more upset with me than she’d be with you!
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Suweeet!! As always 🙂
Many thanks, R.N.P!
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Fantastic! I really like her expression. It’s really a very cool image.
Why, thank you! Very, very much! It was a bit of an experiment – but I think it’s actually pretty close to what I had in mind.
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Wow! What’s that I hear? Cat calls and wolf whistles? YOWSA. 😀
Hahaha… hopefully that’s just the wind rushing by and not a questionable engine noise…
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I LOVE THIS (yes, I’m yelling deliberately). 40s nose art is one of my favorite things.
I’m very happy for that kind of reaction, Madame, thank you!
This is one of those projects I’ve had on my ‘to-try’ list for YEARS…
it feels kind of strange to actually have finished this (but that’s not uncommon for me, I guess).
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Wow, this is very good! I didn’t even suspect you had such skills 😀 Love her pose, the colors… I’m impressed! You must have used magic 😉
How incredibly kind – thank you so very much!
I was really hoping to finish at least one painting a month – but I’ve only completed two so far this year (and I’m still getting set-up to start my third – behind already – this does not bode well)!
I’m very happy to hear you liked the pose and colors – I was really hoping everything would fit together okay.
Hahaha… is this your card?! No?! Um… this one?! No?!
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I’m happy to say the style is from before my time 😉 but I love this style. Maybe I was born in the wrong decade. Beautiful work and I especially appreciate that you made her a redhead.
It’s a bit before my time, too… but sometimes I feel like it might not be!
Thank you so very much, Ms. G – it seemed like it could use some red to balance out the white and blue…
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It’s excellent, Sig! i Knew it would be, but wow!! This was worth the wait! 🙂
Have a great week! 🙂
xx
How very kind of you to say, Deb, thank you!
I hope your week is going well, too!
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Excellent composition.
I can not help, but wonder if there are any yungun’s who think nose art is some how related to body piercing & tattoos. The rivets would take on a whole other interpretation . 😀
Thank you, sir!
HA! Good call – that never even occurred to me – even though I might fit into that category (nothing that a rivet would work with, though)!
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Are there no limits to your incredible bursts of creative talent and output? Splendid work SiG and what a stunning rendition in red, white and blue!
Thank you very, very much, Ms. K… you always spoil me with your great kindness!
I had a lot of fun with this one, of course… it’s been on my ‘to-make’ list for some time now…
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Ding Dong & Hubba Hubba!!!
Hahaha… thank you and thank you!
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I’m speechless, SIG. Wonderful.
You are always so incredibly kind, Peg! Thank you very, very much!
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This might be one of the most awesome mediums I have seen you use. I believe if you did repos of many of the old B-17s and had a show you could really command big bucks for each one. The aluminum sheeting attached to the wood with rivets has a world of possibilities. Vintage looking signs, Road signs. I am not talking craft art here. I am talkin’ true hangem in the museum pieces.
If you want to go the craft art then you could do school logos and all sorts of things.
Thank you so very much, Bo! I’m so happy to hear that! To tell you the truth I was dragging my feet a bit, because at first I was thinking I should maybe ‘wrap’ the aluminum around / or create a frame out of aluminum angle. Didn’t really have the tools (or experience) to do that in a way I felt I’d be happy with, but… for the most part… this is actually what I had in mind. Which is kinda’ cool (because that doesn’t always happen for me)!
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Mmmm, I love that aluminium background. And the painting on it. 🙂
But, um, nose art, Robert? You did this with your nose?
I’m thrilled to hear that, S.E – thank you!
HA! I’m not going to lie – it was a challenge not to sneeze…
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another post i seem to have missed. i am no longer getting new notification of blog posts, but am catching up. this is well done! and ymmg (= you made me google). i never knew that nose art was such a big thing.
Thank you, P&K! I think the first time I ever saw any was when I went to a ‘friends and neighbors day’ at an Air Force Base when I was a kid… they had some classic WWII era planes there… ‘Sentimental Journey’… among others… pretty cool.
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Very nice – have you considered applying to the Confederate Air Force for a job as Nose Art painter? I think you’ve really caught the 1940’s hair style in this work. It’s a great recreation of an art-form in which images were, all too often, short lived. I also appreciate your good lady’s modelling for your work – she’s clearly a very patient angel 🙂
Hahaha… I was just thinking how lucky I am it wasn’t my job… I’m SO slow the plane would have been decommissioned long before I ever finished the first coat!
Excellent! Thank you! She’s made-up from / based off quite a few different references… I did a quite a bit of research looking for period appropriate hairstyles, etc… a tough job, but someone had to do it! 🙂
Hey I am missing out on some exciting work here SIG and this one is Exciting with a capital ‘E’ how did you keep your painting skills steady for those delicious stocking tops, well some artists need their privacy so consider it an invalid question 🙂 lol Great work as always and something incredibly pleasing too I might add 🙂 What a lovely surprise for a cold and snowy Monday morning 🙂 Have a wonderful start to your day SIG and thank you for sharing your superb artistry 🙂
Hahaha… well, to tell you the truth my painting skills are never very steady… there are always touch-ups on top of touch-ups (so I’ve had a lot of practice with that)!
Thank you so much for your kind thoughts, Andro! What’s the deal with this cold weather?! It doesn’t seem very spring-like here yet, either! I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a bit more sunshine and some warmer temps!
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Usually I love Autumn and Winter but I never signed up for it to go on and on like this, you wouldn’t believe it but it is still snowing here, though not as bad as it has been in other parts of the UK…
Let us hope that this Summer is a nice warm one and that Spring is not lost due to all of this horrible weather 😦 I need a HOLIDAY abroad I think? 🙂 lol Have a wicked afternoon SIG 🙂
I’m a big fan of Autumn, too… but I guess I’m just getting spoiled about winter. I like experiencing it for about a week, and I love the photo opportunities it provides, but the cold, and the ice, and moving around snow… I don’t know… have I mentioned I’m getting spoiled?!
Absolutely! I hope you have a good one, sir! And I hope it shows-up much sooner than later, too!
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Nice work! That reminds me of pop art culture! 😀 The big star and the big letters.
Thank you very much, Cristina! I think these might be about the biggest letters I’ve ever painted… it took quite a while just to do the blocks of flat color!
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