Happy Independence Day!!

Happy 4th of July, everybody!
Take a moment to remember why we celebrate this day...
Now get back to your grills, your soda and beers, and your fireworks-- and remember to do all of those things safely!

& God Bless America!

Promoted!! (Updated, with New Rank Insignia!!)

Well, I guess the old adage is true, that it you work hard enough, for long enough,  something good will happen to you...

BEFORE:

("solid brass" sergeant-- though not "...since 1940"!)

AFTER:

(now I'm "scratch resistant" and "combat hardened" ?)
I was actually promoted Friday, the 1st of July, 2011, to the rank of Staff Sergeant, at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, VA.

CWO4 Timothy McWilliams reads the warrant:

 

Sergeant Battles stands at attention (and apprehension) as the warrant transforms him into a Staff NCO!

 Gunnery Sergeant Gary Porter and Capt Charles Grow (ret.) pin on the SSgt chevrons:

Relief, as it is accomplished (they even had it framed for me)! Charles Grow, Deputy Director of NMMC and a former Combat Artist and Curator says a few words to the crowd:

 It's certainly been a while in coming needless to say, as the last time I stood in formation and heard a promotion warrant read with my name on it was October 1990!

(See one of my earliest posts about coming back into the Corps at the rank of Sergeant, after having spent a decade out...)

Marine Week St. Louis!

This past week I had the privilege and honor of representing the National Museum of the Marine Corps while attending Marine Week 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri (Go, Mizzou!).

I was in period costume, specifically the 1898 Spanish American War Marine Uniform, complete with blue shirt and white suspenders, tan trousers, brown leggings, black combat shoes, and topped off with a Campaign cover...

I was able to do some quick sketches, in between all the conversations about the Corps and its history, with all the citizens of St. Louey...

Progress Report: "the Rifleman"

Here are the latest photos of the Marine Rifleman sculpture-- details are starting to appear, and I am beginning to clean up edges, etc.  I've added the "Camelbak", begun refining the rifle's hand guards and stock, and started "polishing" the boots, so to speak...

 

"Ma Deuce" M2 Crew Update

I worked this weekend on the M2 .50 Cal sculpture (some days I just can't put it down, and I have to take my work home with me). I worked on the belt of mini .50 Cal rounds, spent brass and links, the tripod's latches, and the gun barrel cooling holes...

Here are the latest photos:

 

The rounds are almost passable-- I was able to cast them using the wire from bread twisty-ties, and that allows me to form it how I think it will lay in the finished piece (they are a bit wobbly still, but that will be worked out when I sculpt the links over the wire:

   

I also began the glorious pile o' spent brass & links (bigger and more glorious pile still to come!)...

   

I roughed-in the title, though it's hard to see with the glare in a photo...

 ...and signed it as well, though it's not quite done (had to see how it's going to look): 

Give 'em "Ma Deuce"!

My latest sculpture project was inspired by a training deployment to "Javelin Thrust" last summer--  I sketched and photographed members of the CAAT Platoon of Weapons Company 3/23, while they were shooting the Browning M2 .50 Cal Machine Gun, affectionately known as "Ma Deuce". They were doing a quick-response drill, wherein they'd dismount the gun, place it on its tripod, feed the thing, and fire while the A-gunner provided spotting advice to more quickly bring rounds onto the target. Then they'd cease fire, disassemble and remount the piece on a Humvee, and displace to another shooting spot... It was exciting to see and hear.

I had done a drawing of the scene some months ago...

I liked the way it looked, and felt it would make an action-filled composition as a sculpture in the round.

 I started the sculpting process by the 3-dimensional equivalent of a sketch-- the maquette.

 Here are some process photos of the maquette of  M2 Crew in action, done to 1/12 of life-size:
Armatures...

 Fleshing 'em out and adding helmets...

 

Adding more bulk to the figures, to finish the "sketch in the round":

From Maquette to Sculpture: 

Here are some in-process photos of the "Ma Deuce" sculpture, done slightly bigger, to 1/6 of life-size (the tripod and parts of the weapon are made of wood to maintain strength)...

The whole piece is a bit rough, but near to finish... All that remains is detail on the figures and the weapon & tripod, etc. (and of course a glorious pile of spent brass and ammo links next to the weapon!)
And as for the.50 Cal rounds, I am working on that--
First off, I used the lathe to fashion a mini .50 Cal round...

  ...from which I'll cast a bunch of wax rounds in this simple mold shown below, and string 'em together ( then I'll really be beltin' it out!)  I'll also cut the tips of a bunch of them and use them for the spent brass pile...

More to Come...

Going Outside the Wire

Patrol Departs Hasan Abad 

This piece is an oil on linen mounted to panel, the subject of which is a Marine patrol departing Patrol Base Hasan Abad, Afghanistan in June 2009  (see original post here).

The architecture of the base I found exotic (it was built of HESCO barriers around old adobe walls, and the tower form seemed quite "pagoda-esque", or like a Japanese gateway).  This gate metaphor fits well with the image of the figures walking away into the distance, towards fate unknown.

VMFA to Allow Crazy Combat Artist Presentation 28 January!!

 "A Special Evening with Marine Combat Artist Sgt. Kristopher Battles plus Film"

 

If you are in the greater Richmond area on Friday, the 28th of January, 2011, and you want to hear about contemporary combat art, see a great film about WWII combat art, and see a great collection of Civil War art, then stop by the Virginia Museum  of Fine Arts at 6:30 pm.

I will give a presentation on my work and the combat art of today, followed by a question and answer period, and a screening of the PBS movie, "They Drew Fire". In the Museum itself will be an exhibit, Civil War Drawings from the Becker Collection.

Sounds "sketchy" I know, but it promises to be fun!

Combat Artist in Action

Here's a drawing I did today, featuring a combat artist in action, fulfilling his prime directive-- visual "reportage"!

CWO2 Mike Fay is pictured, sketching while at Mojave Viper out in 29 Palms CA, back in 2008. We'd just gotten done with a hike and the Marines were sitting down for a rest, and CWO2 Fay took advantage of the situation, set up his stool and sketch gear, and recorded what he saw.

I have been wanting for years to do a painting of a combat artist to match the one done by Tom Lovell in the late 40s. Now at least I've done the basic drawing for it, if I never get around to the oil painting!

Evening Parley

This is a small oil painting nearing completion, showing activity late in the evening at an Entry Control Point (ECP) in the FOB outside Rutbah back in 2007.

In the scene, two local Iraqi gentlemen talk with a Marine officer (back to viewer) about some issue or concern they are having...

The figure on the left is the interpreter, female, assisting the meeting (this ECP had a lot of civilians coming through, and the women had to be inspected by our women Marines-- so she served an interpreter for that activity as well).

I find the subject interesting, as one can have fun guessing what the narrative might be...

& from an artistic standpoint, the harsh floodlights made a dramatic effect that is fun and challenging to depict.

UPDATE Feb 5, 2011:
Finished!! (Well, at least it's signed-- a painting is never really finished...)