Artist pays tribute to pilots of Alaska

John Hume took an interest to aviation at a young age, but his love for the industry never took to the skies.

Instead, it took to the canvas.

Hume is an aviation artist and creates classic aviation art. It’s his “second job” next to graphic design, and he creates paintings for museums and makes money on commission work.

“Once I start on a painting, and then I know the story, I go all in,” Hume said.

From patrol squadrons to bush planes, Hume has painted historic planes for years. He explained that even though the beauty of classic aircrafts draws him in, the history is what keeps him there.

“I’m depicting a specific moment in history, you have to get it right,” he said.

If you walk through the Alaska Aviation Museum with him, he’ll point out plane and parts, but you’ll find the topic of conversation often is blown toward the sacrifices the pilots have made.

Some of them are members of the military, others are early pilots who knew the dangers of flying in planes that didn’t have a stellar history of reliability in the early days of aviation.

“A lot of what I do is just a tribute to them,” Hume said. “A kind of, thank you.”

Hume helps organize the Alaska Aviators Forum along with his partner Bob Thompson at the Alaska Aviation Museum every first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. The public, mainly those who fly, meet to discuss topics and issues in the aviation world.

You can find more of his art work on his

website