Wilfred 'Wilf' Hardy (7 July 1938 – 4 September 2016) was a British artist and illustrator who contributed many painted pages to ''Treasure'', ''

Look and Learn ''Look and Learn'' was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness ...

'', ''

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

'' and ''Speed'' and ''Power'' magazines. He also produced work for the

Royal International Air Tattoo The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) is the world's largest military air show, held annually in July, usually at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England in support of The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust. The show typically attracts a t ...

. He specialised in

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

, producing posters and private commissions.

Early life

He was born in Brentford in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

(

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...

Aviation work

From 1976 to the 2000s Hardy produced work for the

airshow An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show ...

, formerly the International Air Tattoo. His first advertisement poster for the airshow featured a hovering

Hawker Siddeley Harrier The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a British military aircraft. It was the first of the Harrier series of aircraft and was developed in the 1960s as the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeoff an ...

GR.1. His artwork for the next five shows included aircraft such as the Panavia Tornado GR.1,

Lockheed Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desig ...

and

Hawker Siddeley Nimrod The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod is a retired maritime patrol aircraft developed and operated by the United Kingdom. It was an extensive modification of the de Havilland Comet, the world's first operational jet airliner. It was originally designed ...

. For the 1983 edition, he helped create a design that would become commonplace for many years to come, with the aircraft heading straight towards the viewer. Over time this design was refined further with more aircraft being included and with the medium of a poster primarily changing to that of a programme, this design can be seen in the 1994 and 1996 editions. In 1979, he designed the special paint scheme for a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2 (XV424), and its backup (XV486), which was to re-enact the

Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919. They flew a modified First World War Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, County Galway, Ireland. The Secretar ...

for the 60th anniversary of the crossing. Hardy also provided illustrations for other airshows and the cover of several editions of the Royal Air Force Yearbook.

Personal life

He lived in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He married Barbara Woolstencroft in 1960 in Kent. They had three sons (born 1961, 1963 and 1965).

References

External links

Look and Learn Magazine search for Wilf Hardy
1938 births 2016 deaths British comics artists British illustrators British poster artists People from Brentford {{UK-comics-creator-stub