Interview with artist Nicolas Trudgian

Few artists can capture the essence and precision of wartime aviation quite like Nicolas Trudgian. Renowned across the world for his historically accurate yet deeply emotive scenes, Trudgian has brought our brand-new limited edition Hurricane Force wooden jigsaw to life with painstaking research, artistic mastery, and a personal connection to the era.

In an exclusive interview with The Westminster Collection, Nicolas discussed his early influences, meticulous creative process, and the stories woven into every brushstroke. Here, he shares the inspiration behind Hurricane Force and offers a rare glimpse into the making of this remarkable artwork.

Early Life & Influences

Q. You grew up in Plymouth — a city steeped in naval and military history. How did your surroundings as a child influence the subjects you were drawn to as an artist?

A. I love landscape and machinery, and I think that has a lot to do with growing up in Plymouth. We had Dartmoor to the north and spectacular coastline to the west and east, and the city in the early 1960s was full of trains and ships. I was born in a house in the middle of a railway junction and close to the River Plym. I couldn’t get away from noisy machinery even if I’d wanted to. Being a big military base, there always seemed to be aircraft overhead as well. Most of my friends shared my enthusiasm, so I thought this was all normal.

Q. Was there a defining moment in your early life when you knew military art was the path you wanted to follow?

A. As children, we all built Airfix model kits, saw war films on TV and at the cinema, and looked forward to the annual air show and ‘Navy Days’ at Devonport Naval Base. In the 1960s, when TV sets were small and black and white, a cinema film on its huge screen and in full colour made a contrasting impression that’s beyond anything today. And of those movies, the 1969 Battle of Britain, I’d say, left the most life‑changing impression. Even now, while I’m painting, I occasionally have it playing in the background because it’s so evocative.

Q. I’ve read that your father served in the RAF during the Second World War — how did his experiences, and the stories he shared, shape your career as an artist?

A. My father and uncle were in the RAF, my aunt in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, and many other relatives and neighbours had lived through the Blitz on Plymouth, so there was never a shortage of war stories. The descriptions of what it was like to be civilians, seeing their city destroyed around them, I found most chilling. In the 1960s and ’70s, the evidence of the bombing was still clear to see in the ruins which I cycled past on my way to school. In a classroom at my junior school, the ceiling was stained brown where an incendiary bomb had burnt through the plaster, but nobody had got around to repairing it.

II. Artistic Process & Practice

Q. Could you walk us through your typical process from initial concept to final painting? How much of it is research versus time at the easel?

A. For many years, I designed pictures using various images on tracing paper and putting them together with sticky tape. Now I use Photoshop. Essentially, it’s the same process, just a digital version of it and with the extra features that Photoshop offers in endlessly moving things about and changing their size. Once I’m happy with the design, I’ll make the image the same size as my canvas, print it out, and then trace it onto the canvas. The design process may take a week or two, and then the painting itself another four to six weeks, depending on its size and complexity.

In that first week of actual painting, I produce an ‘undercoat’ version of the whole picture, hoping to capture the mood and lighting I’m striving for. It usually needs modifying, so once the first is dry enough to work on, a second coat of paint is added, gradually refining the image. Finally, the details are added, with the brightest and sunniest highlights coming at the end. I then like to put a painting out of sight for a few days so I can see it later with a fresh eye. There’s usually something that jumps out as needing to be improved. That’s also a good time to see the painting in a mirror — what a shock that can be. Sometimes it’s a pleasant surprise if the picture looks better than I imagined. Other times, some glaring error will be all too apparent. I’m never 100% happy with anything I paint, but that’s fine. It gives good reason to start the next one — which will be better. Or so I hope!

Q. What does your research/planning phase involve?

A. I’m lucky in having some close friends who help me with research, which is just as well, as the history of both World Wars is vast. The internet makes life a lot easier. No longer do I spend literally days on end finding a single piece of information or reference photo. Some clients do all the research for me because they want a specific result. Others leave me entirely alone to create whatever I fancy. That is good, except it means that all mistakes are down to me.

Q. How do you strike a balance between historical accuracy and artistic emotion?

A. That is a perennial problem, but if ever I feel a balance can’t be found, then I’d stop and paint something else. A common conflict is in deciding how much detail to paint. Collectors like to see detail, even count the rivets on a wing or fuselage, but that detail ‘slows the plane down’. It can look rather frozen. So I have to find ways of showing detail while also blurring edges to create a sense of speed.

III. Inspiration & Creative Direction

Q. Where do your ideas for specific scenes or moments come from?

A. They come from every source imaginable: from books, movies, TV documentaries, and suggestions from friends or collectors. Sometimes the best ones come from pure imagery or lighting effects. My most successful tank painting was inspired by a scene from TV’s Xena: Warrior Princess — the sunlight on snow against stormy clouds was beautiful.

Q. What do you hope someone feels when they see one of your paintings for the first time?

A. I hope they feel like stopping and taking a closer look, read the description of the scene, become absorbed by the story, and look into the detail. I like to think of my paintings as ‘landscapes with aeroplanes’ — take the planes away and there should still be plenty to see.

Q. Are there any particular stories or veterans that have stayed with you and shaped your work over the years?

A. I’ve been so lucky to have met and become friends with many veterans of all sides in World War Two. One American Corsair pilot told me how my painting of his squadron over New Guinea was “like a still frame from the motion pictures of my memory”. That meant a great deal to me. I’ve been at occasions where Allied and German veterans have stood arm in arm and spoken about how they lost so many friends in combat — ‘the best’ of their generation. They talked about the futility of war and asked us to promise never to forget those times, learn from them, and not to let them happen again. With that generation having largely slipped away, it’s even more incumbent on us to keep that promise.

Q. You’ve travelled widely to research your scenes — is there a location that had a lasting impact on you?

A. To stand on the Möhne Dam, the main target for the Dam Busters raid, gave me a strange feeling. I’d actually already completed my first painting of this location some months before, so I really should have been there sooner. Nevertheless, the vast scale of the dam and its dramatic setting has left a mark on me that I hope will never fade. There’s nothing quite like visiting an actual place to sense the ghosts that are still there. You feel more connected with history, and you paint with a little more authority — as I found with the Normandy D‑Day beaches, the Ardennes Forest, or Hitler’s ‘Eagle’s Nest’ in the Alps.

IV. Art as Legacy & Adaptation

Q. Out of all the military paintings we’ll be using for our jigsaws, what’s one piece you’ve created that you feel best captures your identity as an artist?

A. That’s so difficult to answer. I think the landscapes with aircraft but without combat are the most easy on the eye, but then I painted Target London, depicting German bombers over the capital. Pilots have told me how ‘that’s just how it was’. That’s when you feel you’ve created something worthwhile.

Q. What legacy would you like your work to leave behind — for collectors, veterans, or families of those who served?

A. Colour photography existed in the 1940s, but the film was too slow to capture anything moving quickly. That’s why the vast majority of the visual record of the war is in black and white. An artist is not only able to recreate those days in full colour, but also put the viewer in the midst of action and places which would have been impossible to record back then. That, more than anything, makes military art worthwhile. And it can mean so much to veterans and their families. Our prints are usually adorned by the original signatures of veterans, forming a tangible link between the events depicted and the people who were actually there. For their families and enthusiasts, and hopefully for generations to come, I’d like to think the art is like a window on the past. That’s why I, and other military artists, strive to make the paintings as accurate as possible.

V. Spotlight: Hurricane Force

Q. Can you tell us the story behind Hurricane Force — what inspired this specific scene and composition?

A. I’ve always been fascinated by the contrast between the life‑or‑death struggle in the skies in the Battle of Britain and the relatively normal life that continued for most people on the ground. Much of rural Britain really did look idyllic back then — the village railway station with connecting bus service, the RAF officer on leave with his MG sports car, the local pub — all set in a lush green rolling landscape with sheep grazing in the fields. Many years ago, a Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot pointed to the background of my painting and said, “That’s the Britain we were battling for.”

Q. Why did you choose the Hurricane?

A. Well, historically, the Hurricane played a much bigger part in the winning of the Battle of Britain than did the Spitfire. And they look rather attractive in side view, as here. At the time, many years ago now, I’d recently painted Spitfires, so I thought it only fair to let the Hurricane share some of the limelight. These Hurricanes belonged to the ‘Millionaires’ Squadron’. The story goes that when the squadron got low on fuel for their aircraft, a couple of rather wealthy pilots bought the local village petrol station!

Q. The background landscape in Hurricane Force adds so much atmosphere — is that based on a specific real‑world location?

A. Wherever possible, I base my landscapes on real locations, even if I then change many of the features. This composition was based on a mirror image of a scene in east Devon. I had to change the architecture of the station from ‘Great Western Railway’ to that of the ‘London Brighton and South Coast’, and the train became a Southern Railway N Class. Even the type of trees and field patterns needed to be changed to better capture a sense of place. And the finishing touch was the ‘Southdown’ bus.

Q. What kind of references did you use while working on this piece?

A. I used large‑scale models to get the shape of the Hurricanes, and the train was an OO Scale model from my own collection. Being born in the middle of a railway junction means I’ve also never lost my interest in steam trains!

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