Harley Copic - American aviation artist. Harley Copic's fine aviation paintings hang in many museums, in the Pentagon, and many private collections. Harley Copic is a self taught artist and his superb aviation paintings are produced after painstaking research to make historic aviation scenes. Harley began aeronautical painting in the late 1960s, before there was a developed market for aviation fine art, studying the works of model box-top artists. In 1971, he was invited to join the U.S. Air Force Art Program. As part of his research, he flew in a variety of Air Force aircraft. In 1972, he went on a research tour of bases in Southeast Asia.