Bob Aikins was looking for something out of the ordinary to sketch at the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum, so he bypassed the jet fighters, helicopters and other military-themed modes of transportation and settled on a box.
A soap box racer, to be specific.
This was his contribution as the museum hosts this year’s International Aviation Art Exhibition and Forum, presented by The American Society of Aviation Artists.
The exhibition, which runs through mid-October, will feature more than 50 examples of original aviation art by some of the country's foremost aviation artists. Each piece of art was juried into the exhibit by a panel of expert judges, who rated each entry on artistic merit and historical significance.
Last month, many of the artists represented in the exhibition were scattered throughout the museum drawing, sketching and painting.
“I liked it’s uniqueness,” said Aikins, a retired car designer from Farmington Hills, Mich., who worked on the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition and Explorer. “It’s not an airplane, yet it’s a bird holding an airplane that's justification for me to draw it with my airplane certification. This stood out for me.”
Aikins, who was using markers and colored pencils, said he expected the bird mascot would be hardest “just trying to get the details and everything right.”
To help him with faces and shading, Aikins was using “50 Portraits: Volume I” by his son, Dave Aikins, as a reference.
A few feet inside the front door sat Greg Jackson, who was working on a painting of a statue called “Reflection” by artist Rodney Carroll of a test pilot in a moment of calmness.
“I love airplanes and I’m surrounded by them here, but there’s just something about the statue,” said Jackson, who is a software engineer living in Ringgold, Ga. “I love painting people. I like the way the lights [from the windows] shine off it; there’s a sort of metallic brown. I noticed the light makes it look yellowy or orange, but the bluish light coming in from the sky makes it go from blue to orange.”
Jackson, who said the hardest aspect of his painting would be the details, said it would all come down to time.
“Something like this knowing I have to do it fairly quickly, I’ll start rushing it to get a basic impression,” he said, “and then depending on how long my ride is willing to wait I’ll go from there.”
The artists were in town in late June and attended a banquet where awards were presented to those whose works have been judged as the best of the best.
A news release said artists “will use the museum's unique collection of flight test aircraft and artifacts as subjects” and would be “an incredible opportunity for art enthusiasts, students and aviation history buffs to interact with some of the best in the business.”
The museum, which is located at 22156 Three Notch Road in Lexington Park, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.
Admission is $10, $7 for active duty and seniors ages 55 and older, $4 for ages 11 and younger, and free for ages 3 and younger.
For more information, call 301-863-1900 or go to www.paxmuseum.com.
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