Of Narcissus and Airplanes

Shown here are the latest four encyclopedia pages I have completed!

The "narcissus" page is the larger size I began the project with. The "airplane," "alphabet," and "A" are from a much smaller, multi-volume set of encyclopedias my sister-in-law gave me.

It was inspiring to come across the "Airplane" page shortly after thoroughly enjoying David McCullough's new book on The Wright Brothers. However, I chose to illustrate a Curtiss Robin model because it was one of the planes mentioned in this pre-WWII entry.

I have three additional "Airplane" pages, so I plan to vary the style of airplane, along with the color palette (though red and yellow do seem to be fairly standard for this model), for a colorful set. Maybe these will find their way into a little boy's nursery someday.

"Alphabet" was a good challenge in color mixing, letter layout, and brush control.

I would paint a whole series of capital letters like "A," but - alas -

I do not have a complete set of these encyclopedias.

We could hardly wait to get up in the morning.

- Wilbur Wright

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It is hard enough for anyone to map out a course of action and stick to it, particularly in the face of the desires of one's friends; but it is doubly

hard for an aviator to stay on the ground waiting for just the right moment to

go into the air.

- Glenn Curtiss