Up a Certain Proverbial Creek

This is an ink wash I did from photos I took back in Dec 2006, in Ramadi, Iraq. I used India ink, brush, and watercolor pencil on Arches watercolor paper.

We went out to see COP Falcon, one of the Combat OutPosts in South Central Ramadi, and we noticed a lot of muddy water in the streets at that time. It really made an interesting visual element, with the reflections and play of light, and I felt compelled to draw the scene, even after I found out the source of the water and its color (hint: they called the stream "S*#t Creek"...)!

I also found the sign on the back of the Humvee instructive, and I kept it in color to emphasize the feeling of intense alert one gets when in or near a convoy in a combat zone...

I very quickly came to admire these kids -- the Marines who regularly ventured into such challenging places as Ramadi and helped further the security and stability of Al Anbar.

Look, Ma, I made the cover!

I am about to have one of my works on the cover of Fortitudine magazine, the bulletin of the USMC Historical Program, produced by the History Division. It's a great honor.

The image is an oil painting I did of a MV-22 Osprey from VMM-263 as it is taxiing on the flight line at Marine Corps Air Station New River, NC.

As many of you may know, the Osprey is the "new wave" of Vertical and Short Takeoff and Landing aircraft, and is being used by the Marine Corps and the Air Force.

The aircraft will soon have its debut in a combat environment, as VMM-263 is expected to deploy to the War on Terror sometime in the near future.

Portaits R Us

John Singer Sargent was once reported to have said, "A portrait is a painting with something a little wrong with the mouth."

How true.

I have been working on a set of portraits of Marines I met in Iraq during my deployment.

Two of them I have signed, and the third is nearing completion, though I could paint forever on them (someone else said that a painting is never finished... that is also true)...

I am always excited when a painting comes to its completion--if it can survive over-working-- because as it matures, the colors and values all begin to resonate in harmony, and the time of ugliness is over for the piece (I have a theory that all paintings go through an "ugly adolescent" phase before they grow up and are let out of the house)!

I love Alla Prima and direct painting, as I have stated in previous posts, but there is definitely a richness in the classical methods of painting, in which layers of color and glaze are applied over an underpainting, slowly bringing the surface to maturity.

The hard part is that one can too easily get stuck in a painting and over work it. Also, an artist's production is drastically slowed with the more "Academic" methods.

Portraiture, with all its demands and difficulties, also has an inherent power, in that the viewer sees the arrangement of form and color that you've created as a personal object-- that is, when you paint a person's image, people relate to it more deeply-- especially if you've rendered the likeness in a pleasing way.

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.

Another Oil Sketch!

This is the latest in oil sketches and portrait studies I've done, and I'm pleased with it, as this one was done Alla Prima, sometimes called Au Premier Coup-- that is, in one setting, in one layer of paint.

It was done from a sketch I did and a set of photos I took when I was in a small Iraqi town called Anah. The 4th Civil Affairs Group was conducting a CMOC, and the Iraqi people were coming in, and the Iraqi Police and Army were doing security along with the Marines.

I saw this Jundi/IP sitting on a bench, and I talked with him (brokenly) and sketched him in pencil, just before he had to leave on a patrol. I took some photos of him, too, and decided recently to do an oil portrait of him.

The above is the result-- it's not a highly finished oil portrait, but I feel that it came out really well as an Alla Prima work, which was creatively "therapeutic" for me. I am moving more toward this kind of direct painting, because when done right, the paintings have freshness that more classically finished paintings sometimes lack (and you get more of them done in less time!).

Oil Study-- "Sleeping Terp"

In a couple of weeks, I’m going to begin a painting, based on an experience I had in Western Iraq back in January.

I was riding in an LAV going out to Rutbah—which was an interesting ride, in and of itself. Riding in the LAV were the crew, some other Marines, an interpreter, a civilian contractor, and all our gear. We bounced about for quite a while, with the dust flying, trying to keep our balance and sanity.

As an event, it pointed out to me for me the unique non-traditional aspects of OIF. The work is not just done by people in uniform, as there are so many non-military aspects to winning the peace as well as the war. As a scene, it was very interesting from a formal, visual/artistic perspective.

Above is the oil study I did recently of the “Terp” (as some call Interpreters), as he tried to "catch some Zs" as we rode along.

I am beginning to appreciate some of the reasons classical artists did oil studies of figures they were putting in larger paintings.

My sense is that a Study allows the artist to solve the problems of rendering the figure, before placing it in the composition, and enables the artist to develop the “muscle memory” of how the paint goes down as the figure takes shape.

It’s been helpful, and I will do studies of the other figures in the project as I go along...

Simple Pleasures in Life and in Painting

I've been working on a whole series of oil paintings, as you know, based on my recent deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

One of the works I began in Iraq, and on which I painted when I could in my "studio" in Camp Fallujah, was a small oil on panel titled, "The Chess Game at OP Steelers."

I've worked on it every so often since I returned, though my focus has been other larger format oils.

The painting is coming along, however, and is really close to completion, with only some details to be finished on clothing, equipment and faces... a painting is never done, as you know.

The Marines depicted were playing chess in a room being used as a makeshift sleeping quarters. It was Thanksgiving day, and they just got back from patrol-- they are Combat Engineers, and they just completed an IED sweep of the area, specifically the main route through their AO (Area of Operation).

It was a great scene, and they let me do a sketch of them, and I also took photos of them as they played.

Later, we had hot chow trucked out from the base to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. We talked and joked, and had a good time. And, believe it or not, when I recommended that we each go around the room and mention one thing we were thankful for, they each opened up and shared what they were thankful for (of course it was mostly for family back home...)!

It's scenes like this one-- depictions of seemingly banal activities in daily Marine life on the front lines-- that connect with folks back home, and show the human side of war. This scene captures something for me, and I hope it does the same for you.

Semper Fi

The Corner Office, Painting continues...

Here's the oil panel of the scene mentioned in the previous post, in process...

Note: The Marines made this guard post almost completely out of plywood, put it on a big steel-girder frame, and surrounded it with sandbags and HESCO barriers. They topped it off with bullet-proof glass panels, and made a screen out of netting to conceal Marines' movement as they ascend and descend the ladder.

Good ol' American ingenuity!

The "Corner Office" at Saqlawiyah part two

This sketch I did today is a study in ink wash, for an oil painting I mentioned last week titled,"The Corner Office."

Doing a smaller study helps me with the drawing and details of the larger work, as well as the value scheme. As I do the study, I become more acquainted with the territory of the image-- that is, my mind better knows what the subject really is, and it helps me have a more confident brushstroke as I paint.

From ArtLex, the online Art Dictionary:

study - A preparatory drawing, related to a sketch.

value - An element of art that refers to luminance or luminosity -- the lightness or darkness of a color. Value is an especially important element in works of art when color is absent. This is particularly likely with drawings, woodcuts, lithographs, and photographs. It is also true with most sculpture and architecture.

Smoke and Fire

I just finished these two India ink wash sketches, which come from an experience I had while out on patrol with Marines and Iraqi Army forces in November 2006. The Marines were in the process of transferring control of the AO (Area of Operation) to the Iraqi Army, and showing them the proverbial ropes, and giving them an idea of what the area looked like, etc...
Both the sketches depict the same event --an insurgent car burning. One sketch also shows the patrol as it heads away up the road and back to the Patrol Base.

I used India Ink and watercolor on these, because India ink has a great range of value, and the little bit of color in the fire contrasts the graphic nature of the smoke. Most of the application was with the brush, and bits of line were added with a quill pen.