Nose Art was the practice of personalizing aircraft during World War II. The artwork ran the gamut of pin-up girls to cartoon characters. Whatever the crew picked set their plane apart from all the others in their squadron--and from all the tens of thousands of others that were built for the war effort. Many of these planes became famous from their artwork. "Memphis Belle", "The Ruptured Duck", "Thunderbird", "Lady Be Good" and "Shoo Shoo Baby" to name but a few, were planes probably more famous than the men who crewed them.
Most Groups and Squadrons treasured the men in their ranks, many of whom had been commercial artists in civilian life, who could express the crew's vision for their planes' name in graphic form. Many incorporated the latest pin-up girl from ESQUIRE or Yank Magazine. Many included the title or lyric from the popular songs of the day. Some represented a member of the crew, or a loved one at home, or somebody's home town....just about anything that gave the plane it's own identity.
This unique artform has experienced a resurgance in recent years, and I have been painting artwork on leather flight jackets and on aluminium "aircraft panels" for over 20 years.
Most are custom pieces done by family members for presentation to their special veteran. Some have been commissioned by museums; by organizations as gifts; and others are developed out of the (very active!) imagination of my customers.
Below are a few samples of some of the pieces I have done.
