Artist shares his love of art

Walter Sprague
NLJ Arts & Culture Correspondent
 
89-year-old artist Dave Paulley started painting in 1968. His attention to detail goes beyond his ability to paint photo-realistic renderings of aircraft, scenery, or western art. He studies his subjects in many ways. A series of paintings based on the Lewis and Clark expedition of the 19th century allows him to find locations and individuals where events happened, then incorporate them into those paintings. He could tell you about the history of different fighters or bombers, and builds scale models of those planes or jets, then uses them as models for his realistic, almost 3D-rendered paintings. 
Paulley began his studies with the Famous Artist Course that a person could take by mail, and has had private study from other artists from places like Cheyenne, where he learned how to paint realistic clouds and the effect of sun or rain on them. He has also used his wife’s granddaughter, Elizabeth, as a model for the pin-up images that adorn some of his bombers. He still lives in the house he grew up in, in Osage, and has his studio and model shop at his home.