Hornet's Nest

This illustration is done in mixed media- prismacolor pencil & gouache on ragboard, measuring approx. 40"x 26". In order to make sure I was getting things historically accurate for this scene depicting preparations for a famous bombing raid during early 1942, I consulted veterans who flew the mission. They were known as the "Doolittle Raiders", led by famous aviation pioneer 'Jimmy' Doolittle, and launched the first strike against Japan's home islands, using 16 Army bombers taking off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, approximately 3 months after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. This illustration served as an art print fund raising project for a Military museum in central California, and has since been used to illustrate a variety of publications discussing this particular joint Army / Navy mission in WWII.