In learning the history behind the ships of yesteryear there can be a lack of color and creativity at times. Sure it is necessary and reasonable to perhaps place yourself in the mind of someone who was actually there when studying the subject but most of the time it is reading the history and viewing old black and white photographs. It, at times, can grow tiresome. One reason I am a huge fan of the 1997 movie Titanic is that it does a very good job of bringing the history to life. Cameron’s attention to every minute detail makes the viewer feel as though they really are on Titanic’s ill-fated maiden voyage. Another medium that excels in breathing fresh air into this rather static history is art, specifically maritime art. Maritime art is any and all art relating to the sea and the ships which traverse it. For as long as there have been ships sailing the sea there have been people painting them. For the purpose of this article though we will focus on the history of its use portraying the greatest ocean liners of the era.

Let’s begin in the early 20th century. Photography was in its infancy and lacked color. Even people back then knew that something with color would grab more attention and be more appealing. So in promoting their ships the shipping companies opted to use art instead of real photos to advertise. These advertisements were most likely to be found framed in each respective firm’s head quarters and on post cards. Places where people gathered for public transportation such as train stations would often have these pieces as well. Before the internet advertising was more simple. One would simply put there advert where they believed people would need/expect to see it. Every major shipping line of the day did this.

Interestingly enough a lot of these pieces would be created and put into circulation before the ships were actually even done being built which is why many of them possess inaccuracies. The piece featured above promoting Cunard’s speed demons is a rarity in that it is largely accurate to the ships’ actual appearance. Others, not so much…

These are small complaints though and are more of an observation at this point as there are many more accurate pieces out there having been created at a later date and by a younger generation. These vintage ads still hold their place in history as the originals and have their own charm to them with their more dream-like appearances. As time has marched on the art has only become more detailed and more accurate, as you shall now see.

The Present

It is hard to talk about more modern maritime pieces without mentioning the great Ken Marshall. For licensing reasons I cannot show you his work but it can be seen on his website which I’ve linked here. Anyone who has ever picked up a Titanic book or a magazine featuring something on Titanic has more than likely seen one of his pieces. He is usually recognized as one of, if not the greatest artist on the subject and has been painting Titanic since the 60s at the young age of 16. He has literally painted the ship from every conceivable angle. Another artist I greatly appreciate is James Flood. He has many pieces of ocean liners that are not Titanic and has many incredible pieces as well.

In the past 4 years I’ve been running @shipsofthepast on Instagram I have made many new friends in the community and a few of these have been artists who greatly enjoy depicting Titanic and other notable ships of the era. I first came into contact with Monni Monty a few years ago. I initially expressed my fondness for his work as it is truly remarkable as you will shortly see. We then began discussion on future pieces he could potentially create and he has reached out to me with a few questions here and there regarding the history and importance of some of the ships. What I realized is that every aspect of the community is involved with each other. The historians, the artists, all of us play a role in keeping these ships’ history alive. Ken Marshall even had a role in the production of the 1997 movie. He served as a consultant on many aspects of the film such as set design. It truly takes a village.

For Monni creating a piece is a very lengthy process. He paints and painting entails a lot of preparation before a brush is even picked up. The first part of the process involves creating a sketch to visualize what the piece will turn out to look like. Following a sketch final preparations are made such as planning the water, sky, clouds, etc. Typically all of this is painted first before the ship.

Finally the arduous process of painting the ship begins. Monni has told me it can take anywhere from 40-80 hours to complete a sketch and planning. The actual painting can sometimes take nearly double that. Being an artist of this caliber requires a lot of patience and time and for somebody planning to be a professional artist Monni is taking all of the right steps. As time goes on he will only improve and perfect his craft. His work currently is astonishing however he tells me there is room for improvement and that both myself and the community should be anticipating greater things to come.

Another artist whom I’ve come across in the community is Kerry McCoy. When I first came across their page on Instagram (@ships_of_state_studio) I was immediately blown away with the level of detail present in their work. Kerry’s medium of choice is the pencil, not the paint brush like Monni. Sacrificing color for clarity, their work is painstakingly detailed. Kerry has been drawing ships for a long while and is not just limited to ocean liners…

Finally there is one last piece I would like to show you. This drawing was done by myself. I completed it my freshmen year of high school in art class. It took me about a month. It is nowhere near as impressive as the previous artists’ work featured but it is important to me and the development of Ships of the Past. This is because any and everyone who is smitten with the history of Titanic and other historic liners has attempted to draw these ships at least once. I have literally never met anybody who is passionate about the subject who has never tried. I’ve seen many of varying quality but what is important is that these pieces were a way for us to exude our passion, even though we may not be gifted artists.

I would like to thank Monni Monty and Kerry McCoy for making this article possible. Please check out their pages which have have been linked above to support and/or see more of their work.