Roy Grinnell

Roy Grinnell developed a passion for drawing airplanes from a young age, which led to a lifelong hobby of building plastic models. After graduating from Santa Barbara High School, he joined the Navy and was stationed in Guam before studying at the Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles, where he graduated with honors. Roy then worked as an illustrator on Madison Avenue before becoming a freelance artist.
Roy’s versatile talent spanned various genres, including aviation, western and Native American art, wildlife, impressionism, and realism. As the Official Artist of the American Fighter Aces Association, he created 51 original paintings depicting aerial combat from WWI, WWII, the Korean War, and Vietnam, based on the aces’ oral histories. Roy received numerous awards, including the Society of American Historical Artists and the Cowboy Artists of America’s 1991 Silver Award for Drawing and Other Water Media as well as the R.G. Smith Award for Excellence in Naval Aviation Art in 1999.