Brian Liddle, an Underrated - (Aviation and All Else) Artist

Brian Liddle showing off his elaborate artistry at AirVenture 2025   Photograph by Paul T. Glessner

Brian Liddle can draw almost anything but has a passion for drawing airplanes.  It was a pleasure to meet him and talk to him at EAA AirVenture where his work was on display.

In Flight USA PTG: Brian Liddle, if you would be so kind as to tell us where you were born and raised, how you got into art, and where you stand today in the industry.

Brian Liddle: I am 52 years old. I'm from Green Bay, Wis. How did I start getting involved in aviation art? Well, my parents, instead of showing me cartoons, they let me watch the movie Midway with Glenn Ford and Charlton Heston. When I saw all the fancy winning insignias and all the stars on the airplanes and I was enamored by that.

Moving on later in my childhood, I've been drawing since age 8, and around sixth or seventh grade at Parkview, Middle School in Green Bay, my teacher was having us do a large project that was going to be displayed in a local mall in Green Bay called Bay Park Square and he had little folders in the back of the room which were cartoon characters but in the advanced section were World War II airplanes. They were like coloring book images. So, I asked him if I could draw a B-24. He looked at me and said, “You want to draw that?” I said to him, “Yes!” He promised me that he would allow me to draw it as long as I paid attention to every line and every detail on that plane, do it as accurately as possible and by the way he taught me – on his terms. The teacher’s name was John Gordon and he actually designed the letter ‘G’ on the Green Bay Packers’ helmets that you see today.

Carrying on, I continued drawing airplanes throughout high school and college and after I graduated from college, I wound up in a call center and I continued to refine my shapes in between phone calls and my coloring, and my shading and people started walking by my desk and that's where I started getting the popularity and/or notoriety.

I continued to draw airplanes, refine my details, and learn more about shape and proportion. At the call center, some of the programs I'd worked on, the call volume wasn't very high. So I would occasionally sell (a picture of a) cat or dog or baby picture or something to my co-workers; very seldom an airplane, but I always had a passion for airplanes, and I have continued to draw them for pretty much all of my life, and that brings us to – today, here at EAA’s AirVenture and the warbird area.

Brian Liddle's variety of aircraft artistry – Photograph by Paul T. Glessner

 Brian Liddle and his P-38 drawing of Richard Bong's Marge against Jandina II – Photograph by Paul T. Glessner

I'm here fulfilling a family dream that my mom and dad wanted me to try and bring my artwork to EAA. So, I joined Warbird Squadron 32 out of Oshkosh, Wis., and I brought my various line drawings of aircraft to my wing leader, and she is currently the leader of Warbirds right now. I bring my artwork and display it here at AirVenture and many different other functions throughout Northeast Wisconsin and sometimes in Peru, Illinois and some of the smaller cities in Illinois. I'm pretty popular there at the TBM Avenger reunion.

At these little pancake and porky breakfasts and some minor fly-ins, I get a lot of attention. A lot of people come by and pay me compliments. And sometimes I'll sell occasional airplane prints or acquire a commission. Most of my prints are unlimited because I would say I'm in a growth stage, just starting out. I've been actually displaying my art for three years. I have done presentations on my artwork. I call it my journey as I will go to various EAA chapters throughout Wisconsin. I am also an aircraft preservation and education volunteer with the Commemorative Air Force; Wisconsin Wing and I've done my presentation for them as well. We have two aircraft which I've drawn: an SNJ Texan and a T-34 Mentor.

IFUSA PTG: What potentially famous aviators and/or organizations have you interacted with your lovely artwork?

BL: I give away some of my drawings to veterans of all the foreign wars: Vietnam, World War II, Korea, etc. I gave a P-39Q drawing called “Old Crow” to the last living triple ace from World War II, General Clarence Bud Anderson, and he accepted it with glee. I heard that he passed it on to another Commemorative Air Force member that owns a P-39Q in those colors before his death. Another famous veteran I handed an F-4 Phantom drawing to was Commander Duke Cunningham and Willie Driscoll. They are the only U.S. Naval aces from the Vietnam era that flew the F-4 Phantom. They shot down five aircraft and that was one of the first gifts I ever gave away to a veteran and he accepted it. I tried to get autographs from him and Willie so that people would be able to take a piece of history home with them. Another gentleman that I gave a drawing to is not a veteran, he is a CIA volunteer from the Vietnam era. He used to fly a C-123 Provider. He got shot down over Laos. He wanted me to draw his aircraft. I gave him the original drawing as a gift, and I have one print on display at the Aviation Heritage Museum in Sheboygan Falls, Wis.

That is one of my goals. I have a big passion for displaying things such as my artwork in museums. In the future, I will be going up to the Richard I. Bong Center up in Superior, Wisconsin. Richard Bong was a leading fighter ace of World War II with 40 kills in the P-38 Lightning. I have drawn a 24-inch by 28-inch original drawing of his airplane, named after his late girlfriend and wife, Marge. The center has graciously accepted the donation and hopefully they will use it.

I honor our veterans, and I try to draw my aircraft accurately. I would like to continue to draw these airplanes for veterans and keep the prints in their honor and sell the prints to maybe help their foundations’ finances to help them maintain their own warbirds if they are restoring any.

There are a few veterans I wish I could get in touch with. One of them would be USAF BGen. Steve Ritchie. He had a double kill in an F-4J Phantom during Vietnam. I have tried to contact him. Hopefully, we'll get to meet sometime. That would be an honor.

INFUSA PTG: Highlight what brings you to EAA’s AirVenture?

BL: My artwork. Well, I'm here to honor the fallen veterans and to honor the ones that are still with us with my passion for drawing aircraft. I'm surrounded by nothing but solid inspiration: Warbirds from all different eras. Now, World War I; it is just replicas now, but I'll throw some of them in there once in a while, and I'll do my research on those. With the Commemorative Air Force, they have some pretty nice, pretty colorful birds and some great people to work alongside. What I do for them is I will donate some money back to them after I sell a print, so that they can buy airplane parts or fill up their plane or have their own pancake and porky breakfast. What better place to sell artwork than at the world's largest aviation-based phenomenon? (704,000 attendees, err, airplane nuts and 2,543, including: 995 vintage aircraft, 910 homebuilt aircraft, 361 warbirds, 101 ultralights and light planes, 75 aerobatic aircraft, 74 seaplanes and amphibians, 18 rotorcraft, and 9 balloons.) We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of people. Learning. Inquiring. Observing. Showing their passions, and I am very honored to share my artwork with every soul on this flightline. The camaraderie? I'm a man of attention. I like attention, and I do my best drawing when people are watching me.

IFUSA PTG: Now, tell us about this special P-38 drawing you are about to show me, and where do you see yourself in the future?

BL: So, I do have the 24-inch by 28-inch P-38 drawing on hand as we speak and it will be photographed. Then, as soon as AirVenture is over, I will be flown up to Superior, Wis. by a friend of mine. So it will be put on display. Which brings me to the future. What do I foresee in the future with my artwork? Well, I see a lot more drawings. I see commissions and I do see other drawings other than their planes, but we're going to stay aviation-based right now. I see hopefully more museums in my future and my stuff on display throughout the United States; worldwide would be really nice. I will have one of my prints in Israel. I'm not sure in what city, but I did sell a print to a couple of Israeli gentlemen, and they are going to take it to a city near Tel Aviv. I do have some more artwork in Romania and across the border, I have a few pieces in Canada. But my goal is to keep making connections with museums and with important people, I mean, all of you are important. I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for the history and people like you. If it wasn't for those foreign wars, I wouldn't have anything to research or draw… And then there's the commercial airlines and the recreational aircraft. I'm happy to draw them, too. So, without people, without communication, without friendship and fellowship, I wouldn't be drawing.

IFUSA PTG: You are more than just warbird stuff. Have you drawn houses or buildings?

BL: Yes, I have done cats, dogs, houses, and buildings. I'm also a portrait artist. I have a friend of mine, Gary Otto. He's from Pewaukee, Wis. I drew a portrait of him to honor him because he was a very, very important friend in my life. He's an influential friend in my life. One of the kindest gentlemen I ever met. He earned the Wright Brothers award for flying 50 years in an aircraft. Fifty years of flight. I gave him a special hand-drawn 16-inch by 20-inch portrait of him flying in a T-34 based off of a selfie that he took. I'll just throw the joke in here. The ongoing joke about the selfie was that I kidded with Gary because he took too many selfies. I said to Gary, “What's the matter? Did you take one too many selfies with the wrong guy looking at him?” So, he's got a beautiful portrait. I framed it for him. I put a name placard on it. I mean I can do portraits; I can draw just about anything as long as it's got a shape and it exists. If there is some kind of fantasy out there, you'd have to help me envision.

IFUSA PTG: You are working on a new website to show off your artwork, correct?

BL: To that point, I am actually still in college at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay and finishing my Studio Arts Bachelor’s degree and simultaneously working on my website with the domain of BrianLiddleArt.com; in the interim, I can be reached at (920) 634-7034 / liddle.brian@yahoo.com / Brian Liddle on Facebook. Thank you for this opportunity to talk more about myself to the In Flight USA readers.

IFUSA PTG: Brian, thank you for the most informative overview of your background, artwork, desires, and a peek into your flourishing artistic career. Folks, I highly recommend looking into Brian’s exquisitely detailed artwork.