NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MILITARY VEHICLES / HISTORYSHOTS

(2016-2023)

Since 2013, I’ve been working with Larry Gormley, from HistoryShots. His company produces beautiful graphics combining information and art. My contribution included illustrations of ballparks, maps, golf holes, NFL stadiums and classic motorbikes.

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M41

In 2016, Larry started creating signs with descriptions, specifications, timelines and illustration for a museum of military vehicles that was under construction. He invited me to illustrate a tank for one of these signs, the M41 Walker Bulldog.

Process

My process started with gathering references that shows the missing parts of the original photo (e.g. the main gun muzzle and the machine gun).

Based on all references, I sketched the tank.

The sketch was approved and transferred to a 300g watercolor paper.

Rendering with watercolor.

Scan in high resolution and adjustments in Photoshop.

More Vehicles and Guns

Larry and the museum managers considered using photos instead of illustrations on the signs. However, they felt my illustration of the M41 Walker Bulldog provided a powerful visual of the vehicle and, since then, we’ve created hundreds of vehicles and guns.

Larry and the museum managers considered using photos on the signs. However, they felt my illustration of the M41 Walker Bulldog provided a powerful visual of the vehicle and, since then, we’ve created hundreds of vehicles and guns.

This project required significant research along with the creation of the illustrations. First, we had to locate historically accurate photos to use as reference images. Many of these photos had a bad quality, the wrong viewpoint or were only in black-and-white. Then we needed to confirm the photos matched the exact model of the vehicle and do further research for the correct coloring schemes.

Our success was the result of developing a collaborative process with Larry - something I strive to do with all of my clients.

The National Museum
of Military Vehicles

The National Museum of Military Vehicles opened southeast of Dubois, WY, USA in August of 2020.

Its 140,000 sq. foot facility currently displays the world’s largest private collection of military vehicles (over 500), in addition to a large firearms collection.

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I love drawing vehicles since kid and am thankful for the opportunity of doing it professionally. Both for the pleasurable process and for the historical relevance of this project, it’s been a great achievement for me to participate.

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