Marines on the MEU

I recently had another great opportunity to go out to the fleet and sketch Marines in their natural habitats. Though the trip was part of my job as an artist for the Navy Art Collection, I of course came across Marines on the LHD (USS Bataan, LHD-5), training for an upcoming deployment with the 24th MEU. These are modest and few, but I thought it'd be appropriate to post them here in this venue.  It's all about the sketchpad, after all-- drawing what you see on location.

In the next month or two, I will have completed several full-color oil paintings and sketches based on what I saw on board the Bataan.  Stay tuned!

Sketching in the Cool Spaces, continued...

 Here are more sketches from my time on board the USS Harry S. Truman:

In the Ready Room for VFA-143, The Pukin' Dogs.

 In Flight Deck Control in the island.

 

Another cool place on board was called the Smoke Pit (Reminds one of the phrase, "The Smoking Lamp is Lit")!

Humanitarian Relief-- Operation Damayan assists the people of the Republic of the Philippines

In November, I had the opportunity and privilege of going to the Philippines and take part in Operation Damayan, the humanitarian relief efforts following Typhoon Haiyan.

I was only there for a few days, before the operation wrapped up, but I was there in time to sketch and photograph some of the activities of the Marines as they helped the people of the Philippines, especially in the hardest hit area around Tacloban on the island of Leyte.

Here are some of the sketches I made:

 

 

The whole area surrounding Tacloban City was nearly wiped out by the storm. The only structures still standing were made of concrete blocks, and even they were heavily damaged by the typhoon's raging winds and water.

The Philippine people have my great respect, because of the dignity with which they handled themselves in such a trying situation. They were patient and friendly with the Marines as they stood in line waiting for clean water that the Marines had brought in.