It appears that illustrator David Russell has inherited his father’s pioneering spirit. While his dad, James C. Russell, blazed new trails as one of the courageous Tuskegee Airmen, David also broke new ground in 1985, becoming the first African American to be admitted to the Illustrator’s and Matte Artist’s Union.

With that in mind, it seems only fitting that David was invited by producer George Lucas, creator of the “Star Wars” dynasty, to design key action sequences in “Red Tails,” the high-octane feature film inspired by his father’s amazing story. From the raid on a German airbase through a heart-stopping series of dramatic dogfights, the screen virtually explodes with Russell’s controlled creative chaos.

“As a storyboard artist, your job is to work with the director to create the first visual road map of the film, and eventually, from my drawings, the storyboard acts as a kind of comic book version of the film as it might be shot,” Russell explained during a recent interview. “What’s great about my particular job is you’re one of the first people to get a blank sheet of paper, so to speak. The film has existed as a script until the storyboard artist is brought in, and finally, after the storyboard artist starts creating a look of the most important scenes in the film, the visual look of the film begins to develop.”

Russell, a Los Angeles native who has been in the film industry for almost 30 years, was initially hired by George Lucas to work on “Return of the Jedi,” and went on to become one of the top Hollywood concept and storyboard illustrators. His credits include “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “Moulin Rouge,” “Terminator2: Judgement Day” and “Batman.” In 1985, Russell became the first African American to be admitted to the Illustrator’s and Matte Artists Union, courtesy of Lucas’ “good friend” Steven Spielberg, who hired the talented artist on his groundbreaking film, “The Color Purple.”    

“I broke down the door with ‘The Color Purple’ back in 1985,” said Russell. “It’s noteworthy that it took someone with the power of producer Kathleen Kennedy and director Steven Spielberg to make that happen. Until that time, there had never been a Black illustrator, and I can assure you, it was not for lack of skill. Essentially, when I joined the Illustrator’s and Matte Artist’s Union, I think it was comprised of about 63 men and two or three women, and they were all white.  

“Since I broke open those doors, now there have been several African-American illustrators, and some of those, including Peter Ramsey, have gone on to become directors. Progress has certainly been made [but] Hollywood still maintains a fairly rigid color line, and it’s difficult, particularly for African Americans, to move up the ranks into producing, directing and even writing. But improvement has certainly occurred.”

One might think that the son of one of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen would be privy to the amazing stories of heroism and heartache that are certain to emerge from such an extraordinary experience, but Russell says that initially, that was not the case.

“You know, it’s very interesting. With a lot of men from the Tuskegee Airmen, and perhaps in World War II in general, a lot of them didn’t want to speak [about their experiences],” he said. “I know that I pressed my father when I was a teenager on several occasions for more information about his experiences, but at that time he was reticent. Only much later did I learn that the Tuskegee Airmen had a kind informal agreement amongst themselves not to talk too much about their experiences, because so many were laced with so much stress on racism, and they didn’t want their children growing up to be unpatriotic because of what they experienced.

“I think also, a lot of the men were traumatized by what they experienced, but I know that wasn’t the case with my father. He was very, very strong, and endured what he experienced in the war very gracefully. But again, I was probably in my 30s before he began opening up about his experiences. He opened up a whole new world.” Two weeks after its January 20 release, “Red Tails,” featuring Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr. and a brilliant young cast, has grossed $33,750,118.

Contact entertainment reporter Kimberly C. Roberts at (215) 893-5753 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .