The ARRA track in 1964/65 with myself centre

Occasionally, on a club night, I would take down some of my pencil and charcoal drawings of racing cars and aircraft subjects. By this time I knew that Walkden was a greatly accomplished and respected landscape artist and he would cast a critical eye over my drawings and offer constructive criticism. Not only was Walkden a first rate artist but also a keen modeller and it was he alone that was responsible for all the scenery on the ARRA track. I suppose he must have seen some element of "promise" in my work and one evening asked if I had ever thought of doing any Landscape paintings. To be honest I hadn't but, having been invited up to his studio one evening and seeing the breathtaking quality of his work, I readily agreed to “have a go".

Walkden then introduced me to Harold Johns, again a very accomplished watercolourist and Illustrator, and they both invited me to go on a sketching holiday to the Lake District for two weeks. Naturally I jumped at the chance. Walkden's love of the Lake District certainly is reflected in his work and, being from the Eskdale area of the Lake District myself, I would like to think that there is some element of " continuation " of this in my work and that both Walkden’s and Harold’s initial faith in my ability was somehow justified.
I suppose that, in some respects, I was thrown in at the deep end in so much as both Walkden and Harold painted exclusively in Water colours, not the easiest medium for a beginner! However, I was encouraged to use the best quality materials from the word go. As will be seen, I still use watercolours for my Landscape work. I did try oils with, what I felt was, limited success. I feel that the subtlety of Water colours suits my way of painting Landscapes whereas the "solidity" of oil paints suits my aircraft work.

I would like to stress that I was encouraged very much to do “my own thing” and that neither Walkden nor Harold actually showed me how they painted. I was left to my own devices and strongly encouraged to develop my own style which is extremely difficult when learning from the best. When I had completed a painting I would take it to show them for their criticism and comments. This way, I feel, I learnt quickly and it wasn't too long before I was having work accepted for the annual local artists exhibition run by the Southport “Palette Club " which has a history dating back to 1921 and is generally recognised as being one of the more prestigious exhibitions in the North West of England.

These sketching holidays in the Lake District were always for a fortnight, giving us ample opportunity to drive and walk to any number of places that we chose to visit. Each day after breakfast we would study our maps and choose one or two places, within easy reach of each other that looked like they may be worth sketching. Not all our choices proved to be suitable; however, I was always encouraged to sketch something even if only a gnarled old tree trunk! When the choice did not produce a scene suitable for a finished sketch Walkden would invariably lie on the ground, pull his cap over his eyes and gently puff away on his pipe assuring Harold and myself that he was O.K. and simply "soaking in the atmosphere" and that he had plenty of material already. Walkden didn't drive and was dependant upon Harold and myself to get him from A to B. I recall Walkden mentioning that he had driven before the war and on one occasion had gone up to the Lakes driving a Morgan three wheeler pretty well flat out all the way.
Harold was a very active person, enjoying golf as much as his sketching and painting. On our sketching trips he would disappear into the distance eager to get to where we were going and be well into his first sketch before Walkden and I arrived. On the other hand Walkden had a very "laid back" approach to life and when at home wouldn't rise until lunchtime and would paint in the evening into the small hours of the morning preferring the quiet of the night in his studio.

Sadly, Walkden died suddenly aged just 66 in 1979 and Harold Johns some six months later. With both my mentors gone in such a short time. I was deeply saddened but resolved to carry on and strive to make paintings that would eventually justify their encouragement, generosity and kindness. Time will tell of course if I have succeeded. I am fortunate to own a number of examples of Walkden’s original works, some of these are simple charcoal drawings made to accompany model car articles. I also have two examples of Harold John’s work, both of which are landscapes.

I am including some pictures and articles taken from the local Southport paper. These relate to both Walkden and Harold and I feel quite strongly that people like Walkden Fisher and Harold Johns should not be forgotten . I suspect however that ultimately they will be better remembered for their connection with Frank Hampson and their contributions to the Eagle comic. I consider myself both fortunate and privileged to have known both of them albeit for only a relatively short time. They are both greatly missed.

Whilst better known for his locomotive paintings I also greatly admire the work of Terence Cuneo and would suggest to anyone that a close study of his techniques wouldn't go amiss. Similarly, no would be Aviation artist could ignore the work of Frank Wootton, Gerald Coulson, Michael Turner, John Young, Kenneth McDonough and David Shepherd. Each has there own readily identifiable "style" and while one should never advocate copying any of their works a great deal can be learnt from studying them and analysing just what does make them exceptional works of art in terms of tone, composition and technical accuracy.