THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605250217
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: 76 lines
Gary Trout once spent hours carving and painting wild birds, paying careful attention to each detail.
Now Trout's attention has turned to birds of a different feather - military birds that fly through cloudy skies on canvas.
Trout, a 54-year-old Isle of Wight resident, began dabbling with painting military aircraft two years ago after visiting an air show at the Hampton Roads Airport and seeing an F4F Wildcat parked there.
The first painting he produced was a 6-inch by 9-inch acrylic scene of an F4F flying through clouds. When Trout finished the painting, he took it to Smithfield artist Robert Clontz for a critique.
``He looked at it (and said) `That's good! Why the hell did you paint it so small?' ''Trout recalled.
Clontz's thumbs-up convinced Trout to paint military aircraft full time.
``I didn't want to start over in two-dimensional art, so I picked something I wouldn't get too tired of looking at too quickly,'' he said. ``I picked something that I really loved - airplanes.''
Trout's love for military aircraft has been lifelong. As a boy, he collected prints of military aircraft.
Working as a ship designer at Newport News Shipbuilding for 16 years also gave him the ability to put detail into his paintings.
Today, his studio is jammed with books and magazines featuring the construction of military aircraft, all tools that help him make his paintings believable for the military buffs who buy his art.
``They love to look at my paintings and point to the equipment, and I try to give them something to talk about,'' he said.
People began talking about Trout's paintings a year ago when he finished ``Quick Turn,'' a painting that showed military personnel performing maintenance on an aircraft at Langley.
``I was out at Langley taking photographs of aircraft, and Capt. Ted Pierson of the 94th Fighter Squadron said, `Why don't you do a painting from the maintenance angle? No one's ever done that before.'
``I said, `I've never painted people before, but I'll give it a try.' It was a challenge because everything had to be in perspective. The buildings in the background of the aircraft had to appear smaller in comparison with the plane. And even the colors had to appear faded, like they were far away.''
At the same time, Trout said the details of the aircraft had to be correct.
``I went to Langley several times to shoot photographs of just the landing gear, the exhaust systems - things I didn't have information on.''
The finished painting, on 24-inch by 36-inch canvas, now hangs at Langley. Officials there liked it so much that they agreed to pay for 1,041 prints, Trout said.
``They gave me 200 prints, and they're giving the remainder away to those who retire,'' he said.
He recently was asked to join the Air Force Art Program, where artists are selected as participants.
``It gives me the capability of going to air bases, where I'm allowed to stay in visiting officers' quarters and take photographs of airplanes that I will later paint,'' he said. ``I could even get to ride in the planes, but that hasn't happened yet.''
Trout now is concentrating on his next painting, an A6 Intruder flying through a storm over the ocean.
On Trout's studio desk, this stormy sky already has been sketched on paper. A detailed sketch of the A6 Intruder also has been drawn - all tools that will help create perspective in the painting.
``Perspective is the key in painting aircraft,'' Trout said. ``There's so many paintings I've seen where the perspective is just not there. When you have an aircraft in the sky with land underneath, it's got to look like the ground is way down there.
``I'm trying to decide if I want to put a carrier in the ocean below,'' he said as he stepped back and re-examined the unfinished painting. ``If I do, it'd better be at the right angle.''
So far, Trout has produced six paintings.
He said the next step is to find a gallery that will support his paintings.
``Exposure,'' he said with a smile. ``That's the art game.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JODY R. SNIDER
Artist Gary Trout has a lifelong love for military aircraft. by CNB