Merv Corning, 80; Artist Specialized in Planes, Football Players

Merv Corning, 80, a Southern California artist best known for his realistic paintings of airplanes and football players, died Sept. 24 of lung cancer at his home in Solvang.

Corning, who had no formal art education, began his career doing commercial illustration. His first major commission was for Leach International in 1959. He used watercolors to paint World War I-era planes and pilots for ads to be placed in Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. What began as a series of four had grown to more than 40 paintings by 1970.

He also painted covers for the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Westways magazine starting in 1965.

In 1966, Corning was commissioned by the National Football League to paint player portraits and action-filled posters. He produced hundreds of paintings for the league and several teams through this year.

Born June 16, 1926, in Santa Ana, Mervin Allen Corning served in the merchant marine during World War II. He broke into the art world in the early 1950s working for Studio Artists, a small graphic design company in Los Angeles.

Since 1980, he had lived and worked in Solvang and displayed his paintings -- mainly landscapes and portraits -- at Young’s Gallery in Los Olivos, which is owned by a niece.