R. Michael Payne is an Australian artist who specializes in maritime art featuring submarine subjects. His attention to detail of people, machines and nature is truely wonderful. His site has been up since May, 2014.

R. Michael Payne has more than 35 years experience in illustration, graphic design and advertising art direction. He was an Honours Graduate Swinburne University. One of his lecturers was the Australian War Artist Alan Moore whose work is displayed at the Canberra War Museum.
Michael has used his craft to travel the world. He has worked in London as an art director and for eight years lived in Germany where he worked in advertising agencies, also as an art director. His areas of expertise were in the production of press, print and television campaigns. During this time he gradually changed direction and moved into illustration. He has worked for most of Germanyʼs major book and publishing houses as well as a sprinkling of British publishers.

In Australia his work has appeared in museum exhibitions, advertising campaigns and even on the Australian $10 banknote. He is known for meticulous attention to detail and is a regular contributor to Australian Geographic Magazine. He is a member of the Submarine Institute.

His work is available at the Submariner Art website and covers subjects of multiple nations.
First shown here is “Into the Timor” - the HMAS Dechaineux, a Collins class submarine, exiting Darwin at dusk on a westerly course into the Timor Sea.

Michael's latest work that has not yet been posted to the webs site is "USS Toledo (SSN-769)" depicting a Russian Oscar II class boat in the process of making a sudden starboard turn to clear his baffles -the so called 'Crazy Ivan' manaeuver. The following Los Angeles class boat, USS Toledo, has stopped her propellar and in an attempt to go quiet and avoid detection. Michael says this painting was inspired by the rumored encounter between the USS Toledo , USS Memphis and Kursk (K-141).

Take a look at the site and his other artwork of some truely beautiful depictions of these boats and the people who crew them. Commission work is accepted and take 3 to 4 months for very detailed subjects.