Wings – RAF Acklington

HMP Northumberland

This painting titled Wings came off the back of a project I was doing with the men at HMP Northumberland. When the themed category “Wings” was announced for Koestler 2025 (A nationwide competition for UK Prisons) it became immediately obvious to launch a classroom-based project that recognised that HMP Northumberland was originally RAF Acklington. At the beginning of World War 2 it was the most important fighter base in north-east England. RAF Acklington’s Spitfires and Hurricanes were soon in action against German bombers.

Whilst the prisoners were working on this project, I decided to paint my own interpretation of one of the scenes that the men had been painting.

This acrylic painting depicts an aerial combat scene from February 1940, when Flight Lieutenant Peter Townsend from RAF Acklington flying a Hawker Hurricane attacked a German Heinkel bomber during World War II over the North Sea. This event was notable because it was one of the first confirmed RAF aerial victories on British soil during the early months of the war, known as the “Phoney War” (a period of relative inactivity before the Blitz and the Battle of Britain).

I’ve been inspired by some of the black and white pen and ink Commando Comic Book illustrations except I’ve added colour to the conflict.

Above, the Heinkel bomber flies across the golden sky. Thick, dark smoke trails behind it, showing it has been hit and is going down. In the artwork, Townsend’s Hawker Hurricane dominates the foreground, rendered in sharp, dynamic lines and bold camouflage patterns of brown, green, and sky blue.

The plane banks steeply, its propeller blurred with motion, capturing the intensity of the dogfight. Billowing clouds accentuate the drama, while the gold background gives the scene both an icon-like reverence and a sense of timeless heroism. In the past I’ve used 22 carat gold leaf to paint on which I’ve used on oil paintings like Buckingham Palace from Green Park. This time I decided to use liquid metal gold. As the light changes throughout the day, the colour of the gold changes.

Roy Lichtenstein

The style blends wartime poster art with the Pop Art comic book sharpness of Lichtenstein’s WHAAM! Flat fields of bold colour are contrasted with carefully inked hatching, giving the painting both immediacy and graphic power.