About John Doughty

John Doughty - John was born in Aurora, Colorado, in 1959, and as the son of an Air Force officer, he traveled extensively during the period his father was in the service. While stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in the early 1960s, he was exposed to the world of military aviation, ranging from the YF-12A to the B-58 Hustler.

He saw the X-15 fly low over his home on base as it returned to land on the dry lakebed, and witnessed the tragic crash of the XB-70 while playing on the kindergarten playground. John received his first art award for a drawing he did in kindergarten of the Edwards Air Force Base fire station.

His father took John and his brother to the Tehachapi Mountains, northwest of Edwards AFB, to watch Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroad trains travel around the famous Tehachapi Loop. With advice from his father, after graduating from high school, John attended Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California, where he received an AA degree in Visual Communications, with an emphasis in Technical Illustrations. In 1982, he received a BA degree in Biblical Studies from Southern California College (now Vanguard University).

In 1983, John married his wife Brenda, and they moved to the San Diego area in 1987, where John began working for Hamilton Sundstrand Aerospace Company as a Technical Illustrator-artist. John is the proud father of two daughters, Kristen and Melissa, and his son, Andrew. Unfortunately, his youngest daughter Melissa passed away at the age of two, after a ten-month-long battle with cancer. John’s artwork for Carley’s Magical Gardens, surrounding the Hematology / Oncology Center at San Diego’s Children’s Hospital, has been the most meaningful in his career.

In the early years of John’s art career, his focus was solely on railroad art and building High Iron Illustrations. After attending the 1986 International Railway Art Exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts, he decided to diversify, with the primary focus on aviation-related subjects. He became an Artist Member in the prestigious American Society of Aviation Artists in 1991. In 1994, he was given a VIP flight aboard a VF-11 Red Ripper F-14D Super Tomcat, one of many highlights in his aviation art career. John has also expanded his horizon to cover various art themes such as wildlife, automotive, and ocean scenes. His specialty is currently centered on his aviation art, with trademark fine-detail.

Several corporations and military units have commissioned John for his artwork, and his original paintings are prominently displayed in main lobbies, corporate boardrooms, and squadron headquarters throughout the country.