We were lucky to catch up with Thomas La Padula recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Thomas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

One or two of the first paintings were posted on Instagram, and it was seen by an editor of a publishing company that specialized in military history. He askedme to write a book about Richthofen with my art as the focal point.  So what became a self-interest project turned into a book.

To create these paintings, I needed facts. For instance, what was the weather like on the given day of the fight? What type of day was it winter or summer,etc., what plane did Richthofen fly (he flew many)? Who was his opponent? What colors were the planes, etc., etc.? I wanted to be as accurate as possible. I was able to obtain Richthofen’s flight logs and his after-action reports, along with other data. This gave me the basis of what I would need.  I had made some friends in Europe, Belgium, where Richthofen was based, and a model maker who worked for the Deutsches Museum. My Belgian friend gave me information on what the landscape is like in each season, if there are buds on the trees in the early spring, and what time the sunset is. My friend at the museum guided me on the planes and their colors. 

I then went to work and painted or wrote 6 days a week for three years. I finished in 2024. The book “Richthofen’s Kills” is now in production.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born in the Bronx and began drawing at a very early age. All through elementary school and high school, I drew everything. I received my BFA from Parsons School of Design and, a few years later, my MFA from Syracuse University. For the last 48 plus years, I have spent my career as a freelance illustrator making images for national and international magazines, advertising agencies, and publishing houses. In that time, I spent at least half of my career drawing illustrations that focused on machines and people. Primarily, it involves mechanized construction equipment and oversized trucks. For a decade or so, I illustrated truck book after truck book with a few airplane and military vehicles books along the way.

Since 1986, I have taught a variety of illustration courses at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, where I still teach today.
 
My work is primarily known for dynamic compositions of vintage warplanes. As an illustrator, I am a storyteller and a narrator. I want you to feel the speed and the dizziness of air combat. Allowing the viewer to “feel” what the pilots experienced is my goal.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I like to paint, and because I was trained as an illustrator, I like to create work that imparts information to the viewer. So the Richthofen project was right up my alley. While working on the Richthofen book, I was contacted by one of his victims’ families. It seems the Red Baron shot down his great uncle, who was Richthofen’s 3rd victim. I sent him a print which he proudly hung in his home. His son was graduating from university with a media major and made a short film on his uncle and interviewed me. They came to NYC this summer, my wife and we took father and son to lunch – lovely people.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I do not like them, and I stay away from them. I am, how do you say very old school. Every time I post an image on social media, I am bombarded with NFT requests.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tomlapadula-aviationart.com/
• Instagram: @real_tom.lapadula_aviation_art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TLaPadulaAviationArt/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-la-padula-6b96b43a/
• Twitter: I dumped Twitter or X when Musk bought it.

Image Credits
All work is from my upcoming book Richthofen’s Kills, and was painted by me.