Tuesday, June 19, 2007




These oil sketches are studies, once again, for larger paintings I'm going to work on.

The image of the Marine on the radio is one of Capt. OJ Weiss, whom I'd sketched in pencil as he called in fire on an insurgent house back in November 2006.

The two sketches of Marines reading are from a series of photos I took while spending time with the 3rd Battalion 2nd Marine Regiment near Habbaniyah. They may not be scenes of action, but they are part of a series I've been doing, of images that emphasize the more banal aspects of Marine life in a war zone.

I'm learning a lot about quick rendering, and direct painting, from these studies. I believe that the techniques learned in these will spill over and bear fruit in the bigger works.

8 comments:

Jo Castillo said...

Kristopher, These as such nice renderings. The reflected light on the face in the second one is excellent. I enjoy studying your technique and the stories your paintings tell.

Jo

Bag Blog said...

I especially like the light in the second and third paintings - all are interesting as usual.

Anita said...

I really like these, particularly the second and third. Great to see the otherside of military life - the hurry up and wait side, when you can snatch a few minutes to relax.
Great lighting!

Beverly said...

Thanks, Kris, for posting these.

Gail A. said...

Wow, just wow.

Unknown said...

beautiful paintings!

Cecelia said...

I really enjoy and appreciate your site and your work. I'm a retired art teacher and would have loved to have shown your work to my students. I was curious about how you became a combat artist.
I, too, was impressed with Bill Mauldin. My uncle brought us one of his books when he was in the Army in WWII.
I admire your talent to do such realistic work. I tend to work in an expressionistic and cartoon style.
We don't hear of combat artists today, so I was certainly impressed to find your site. Wonderful, important work. Thanks for sharing what you do. You are such a talented young man.

Anonymous said...

Kris,

I'm glad I stumbled on your work/webpage! Ironically, Capt OJ Weiss is a old friend of mine from college days and it was a thrill to see your pencil sketch and now painting of him. If you have any more -- post away!

-Laura in upstate NY
(laura_danielle at hotmail dot com)