Back to the grind stone

I just wanted to post a quick post to get myself moving as I have finally started to transfer the images from the sketches to the boards to be painted on this long and exciting painting process. It is taking quite a while but I know it will be worth it.

Image quiality isn't the best but progress is happening.

sketchbook 004

Super Grinch is here to do something and it might be good and it might be bad it just depends on where you are in the story.

The other day my wife and I were talking to our middle boy and he was quite certain he thought he knew more than the two of us about star wars. We talked it up to him and tried to tell him how he was incorrect. I quickly thought we should just ask his older brother as he is a self proclaimed genius and would be alble to settle the debate real easy. In the end we were wrong on one account and right on the other, and to sum it all up the middle boy asked a clarifying question about the movie series to which I responded that the order of events being asked about all depend on which order you watch the movies in. We all got a funny chuckle out of that one and quickly got back to life!

The body here had some reference help from another superman cartoon comic sketch from another great artists blog, the head was a fun one to draw as the family enjoyed another christmas holiday movie.

sketch book 003

Here is some silly sketches from yet another page of the army lectures on something or other. If you really wanted to know I could tell you what most of this meant. I will admit that my visual note-taking here was not the best I have done. When I am focusing on good notes I will include some words. As you can see, no words here.

All this sketching here makes me more excited for some painting. I have a dozen or so paintings that I better get working on. I am at the stage of transfering the paintings to the boards that have already been prepared for the paint with two layers og gesso with a liberal amount of tactile texture.

I have been trying to spend a little time everyday watching a little tutorial on the youtube or from my classes I have purchased at folioacademy.com and it gets me excited to do my own work, or it just keeps me motivated to keep going as I am working more and more each day to reach my own artist goals.

Keep working and stay motivated!

Sketch book 002

This is a total copy, a one off, a repeat of another sketch I saw. I couldn't help but try it out. The overall design of the piece is what drew me too it. I need to push my own style into the ones in the future. I don't draw noses at all like the one here, but I do have the general graphic nature that was used here and maybe that is what is drawing me into this sort of silly-ness.

My kids asked me if this was me and with my lack of creativity at the moment I told them it was what I looked like in college before I met their mother and she made me into the hunk I am today! We still got a chuckle out of the short description.

I am having fun with this sketchbook filling it with green drawings done with my four color pen. I have fallen in love with the four color pens and not only have I transformed my little herd into using four color pens (we almost all have a pen with our own names etched into the side) but I love when others at work notice I always have the pen with me. I tend not not mix the colors much unless it is really obvious that I need to add in another color. Like red in the eyes seems to be the go to for anger. With only blue, black, green and red, I don't have a ton of liberty and I am too comfortable with value and haven't forced myself into color enough. Some day.

Sketch book

Here are a few sketchbook pages from a day of sketching when I had the pleasure of sitting through six to eight hours of lecture that is required of a soldier every year.  It wasn't that the powerpoint presentations didn't have important information or that the command didn't think it was important... I think it was the idea that I got board too quick from the speaker speaking in an uninteresting speaker-ish way.

I was thrilled when, as usual, I had a overprotective and hyperactive NCO tell me that my drawings may be cute but I should pay better attention. It is pretty common for too many to think that visual note-taking is not a viable form of 'paying attention'! I did pay attention and I did draw some drawings too. What fun it is.

Talking throgh the Terp

 

I don't know how perfect the interpretation can be but when you the interpretor is well trained and understands the intentions of what needs to be said it makes a difference.

 

I liked the different view points and varying sizes of the people in this compositon. I am excited to put some color on it, I will need to crop this one down a little but it needs to see some progress!

 



On the Road Again

 

We walked, and walked and walked, then we got into the vehicles and drove to another place to walk. This composition is a common sight, can you guess what is being illustrated?

 

I liked the feel of the group walking toward the viewer and although two different images were used as reference and some manipulation had to happen, I think it was a good one, can't wait to tackle this amount of faces, yippee!

Teaching the Track

 

I know there was a lot of assisting and aiding going on and I didn't witness much of teaching the different vehicles but it did happen. This was one time when some officers had the chance to get some training and teaching from one of the NCO's from the battalion on the function and ability of one of the track vehicles.

 

From the stand point of a composition, I wanted to get just enough of the track vehicle into the frame but not so much it became the focal point. I am not sure if the values here are able to play into that or make that happen, so some changes may need to occur before I put it into color.

 

Charge!

Spacing is Crucial

 

We were always so critical of our spacing, but the counterparts seemed to know a little more than we did. I guess that had something to do with being in their own neighborhoods. Most important for the patrol is spacing. I can think of watching the video games being played by the different soldiers and how they would use the various formations to conduct the virtual operations, what a blast, get it... a blast!?

 

I liked the the way the soldier on the left here helps to draw in the viewer to see and participate in what is being viewed. I don't know if it is the most effective but I like how it plays out.

Out of the Shadows

 

When I saw this coming up, walking down the trail, I knew I would be painting this. There was a huge overgrowth of vegetation and had created a tunnel of sorts that we walked through. You are able to see here that as much as we tried to assist and aid and teach and mentor there were times when all we did was go out on patrol and conduct our operations while the Iraqi counterparts were chillin' and talkin' with their buddies. The language barrier was enough that with only one interpreter it was difficult to make large leaps of progress. The actual training that was conducted was the most more instructional. The palm grove walks were great for me to get some cool reference and see how the local farmers worked. 

Old world transportation

 

I was amazed, not that I had never seen it, or thought I wouldn't see it, but the frequency rate at which I saw non-mechanical modes of transportation was awesome. This was just the better of the reference shots. I got to see several carts being pulled and the like in addition to the individual rider and his beast of burden.

 

This composition required three different reference shots and manipulating two of them by adjusting, cutting out, and moving parts to get everything to fit. This one is one of my favorite for just the idea of blending all the different elements together and making one cohesive piece. 

Photo Op!

 

These guys loved to get their photo taken, it never failed, they saw the camera and would group themselves together as though they thought they would get a copy of the photo right there and then. While I would walk around with my camera out, trying to take pictures of everything, most civilians did not want their photo taken, but the soldiers would without a doubt pose themselves, group themselves and ask for pictures to be taken. I don't know if there was some preconcived notions from other soldiers that inspired this but they ate it up.

 

I would like to add though that as I was working on this compsition, I used a few different photo references to get just the right grouping and mixture of what was going on. I think color would look great on this on and can't wait to block out some time and get busy!

Calling in the Bomb

 

I had the esteem pleasure of working with and hanging out with the FST'ers for a time before the deployment. I wonder if I would have had a better... I know my experience in the army would have been completely different had I worked more with the this group of individual.

 

I have had this sketch hanging at the battalion area for quite some time and just the other day the individual that 'posed' for the reference shot asked me if he was really hanging up at the battalion conference room. I guess not everyone understood what could happen when you get a photo taken of you during a deployment.

 

I am getting excited for great and wonderful things to happen as I more forward with my carreer. What a wonderful adventure the army has been and no one knows if this roller coaster will ever end or how the ride comes to a complete stop. Just remember to keep all arms and hands inside the ride at all times and hold on tight and scream through the drops!

A Group Chat

It is always a unique experience when different agencies get together with varying agendas work together to try to accomplish a similar overall goal. It seemed all too often we were just being fed stories that had been circulated a few times over already and it really was time to turn command over to the native forces.

I do enjoy the value patterns in this sketch and even with the complexity of having several figures in the painting I look forward to painting it. 

Training the few

I think this is what I planned on doing a lot more of, and this was the mental preparation that I did before going over to Iraq, especially in the 'closing down' period. I can't say we did very much of this, although it did happen. But to cover my bases, it was a very different experience than I would thought it was going to be. Lots of ups and downs, too many expectations and the build up did not match the actual event nearly enough to compensate for the varied experiences that have caused a traumatic return home. 

Road block

This was one of my favorites, it has a neat design, some better reference and more of a clean idea. 

Key Leaders

 

I am finally finished with the Battalion art project. I will admit that it did not have the grand ending I was hoping for with actual paintings happening. The framed artwork consisted of the preliminary value sketches for the paintings. I guess the 'Army' decided that the supplies needed to actually paint the project were not needed for training and are a hazard to the health of the soldiers so the funding for the project was not provided as agreed upon. I was not really surprised that the funding was pulled, even after good hearted XO tried all he could to make it happen. 

It is a little frustrating as this occurs in a long string of not so happy incidences that have befallen me at the hand of the Army. I will be continuing to pursue the completion of this project. It will not have the backing or support of my chain of command and will have to happen on a much tighter budget. I am have already purchased the backing upon which the paintings will be painted and with some gesso purchased for some personal projects I would like to begin preparing the boards for paint soon.

I like doing the full value drawings and paintings as they give me another idea of how things will look as a finished product and I can make needed changes to the project before it is too late. I don't always do this step so it has been a blessing in disguise to have been asked by the Battalion XO to put the full value on the sketches. I don't know if he realized that the full project would never be fully completed as he has a lot to do with the funding but he gets some credit for this step actually happening. 

I am afraid some of the detail that I enjoyed from the drawings were lost in adding the value. I tried to keep some by adding the line work on top as the value sketch came from a completed drawing yet it was a value sketch that was wanted to be framed. I have the other twelve sketches that will be coming on the blog throughout the month. It will be a great month for blog updates, now I just have to keep moving on the art work. There is a ton to do and so little time to do it. 

I think I see how easy it is for me to get distracted and not get projects completed. A new thing comes up and switch gears. The past few paintings I have completed, I had the capability to sit at a desk and paint in a way that the chance to get distracted couldn't come up. It was great. This project will require some effort to stay focused and see it through to completion. Due to the limited time available to dedicate to the project I will have to show some serious determination! Onward we go!

This was a fun little project. I had recieved a commision at just the wrong time. It was a fun little idea that I wanted to fancy up. The original sketch was fine for what it needed to do for its purpose but for the sketch here I wanted to do more. I had to change a couple of things and the coat of arms was an actual coat of arms from Italy. I don't remember where from and I am sure it would be easy to find on the internet. The individual that asked for the work has some lineage back in Italy if I remember.

The best part of this little project was that he asked me to draw it and I thought I was doing it as a commissioned work but he was leaving at the time and there may have been a few other gifts to him and I think he thought it was a gift due to the timing I was giving it to him. I never did get paid on the job but it was a donation with a frame that was not all there and I didn't like the surface I was working on as it didn't take real well to the wet media I used. It was a fun project, I am still learning new things and having a great time doing it.

I can't say I haven't done anything in the past month. I have finally finished with a request to draw a full leg sleeve tattoo. I will add again that drawing tattoos is not my favorite thing to draw in the world but as I make them more artistic and work at applying my own style in ways that make the drawings into works of art they become more to me than a prospective tattoo. I have asked for a few pictures from people that get the tattoos but I have yet to get any photos back.

This image was a midevil inspired one. The individual is from Puerto Rico as can be seen from the flag. He asked me for this one back when we were in Kuwait and I put it off till we returned to the states. I like the way it looks and he sounded super pleased. I was notified that he would be starting the line work to be done the following monday. I haven't received any photos back as I once again asked for some photos of the work in progress and of course the finished ink. I know I won't be getting any tattoos any time soon, but to each their own I suppose. 

 

Side Tracked!

I am posting some items that I have helped my wife create. Although she is taking full credit for them I feel like it will be a good explanation of what I have been doing that has kept me from doing the painting that I love to do. We contracted out the embroidery here but the assembly was done in house. It was a wonderful experience. As you can see the really fancy ones were for officers and are the final product that will be given to the officers as they leave. The red and white one is the prototype that was made and without any certainty that it would be given to anyone I put my name on it so I am now the only lower enlisted dude to get a banner. Although I am not leaving any time soon, I was awarded my banner. I am more than willing to get one made for you if you want, the individual that did the embroidery is happy to make a buck. My wife doesn't charge too much to put it all together so if you are interested you will have to let her know!

Indian in the Cupboard

This does not have much to do with the book Indian in the Cupboard but I did read the book and really liked it as a kid. Now as an adult I have enjoyed the illustrations of J C Leyendecker. I grabbed it out of a book a while ago, painted it a few whiles ago and thought now would be a great time to post it on the blog.

It was a fun one to paint. I like to take an older illustrators work and try my hands at a copy. I am trying to copy their composition, get a feel for their style as I practise control of my own tools and skills. It is a great exercise. I hope I did old J C proud or at least not embarrass him.

I should be framing it soon. I have been working on trying to reduce the price of my framing cost by first going to thrift stores and picking up good frames with lots of character there and now at a local hobby store they have a section of frames that were made for a custom job but for some reason the frame was not used. Often there is a defect in the material like a chip or scratch. I get excited cause I do some framing and can easily repair minor defaults. And they are usually selling them as fast as they can to keep product moving off the shelf. I have been pretty lucky here recent and hope to get this one settled into a new home. It just happens that the frame was one that my wife was not sold on, but due to a great price and Abe throwing a fit in the store, I did end up buying it. Now I need to take the frame apart and get it over to the apache art's center on Fort Hood to get it put back together in the right size!

Eagle Scouts and Blue & Gold

The Blue and Gold banquet was great. The spegetti was cooked and with several varieties of various preperation methods I was pleased. I did the usual technique of getting a few plates for the smaller kids and spitting it up between them. They don't always like this but I end up with more food myself.

As for the painting, I wanted a little something to show off and do a little advertisement. I think it ended up being pretty cool.

While working on it, I did some thinking about the scouting program. The cub scout begins his journey working with others and learning to work as a team. He learns his oath of helping a pack to go and the pack will help him to grow. Most all the activities involve participation in a group setting, with family or in the 'pack'.  Once the boy becomes old enogh for Boy Scouts he begins a new process of working to lead others more than be lead. He is given opportunities to be soley responsible for different things. The scout is given leadership roles and tries on the task of leading others to accomplish the goals of scouting. While the cub scout learns to be part of a group just like the wolf cub learns to play, hunt and live in a pack; the boy scout begins to learn to lead and work alone to accomplish goals just as the eagle flies alone. The skills from working in goups as the boy scout maintains an interpersonal relationship with those he works with and the boy becomes a man through hard work and his efforts to excell.

The painting was a fun idea. I wanted to have the flag for the back ground as it is very important to scouting (each country in which the boy does scouting will learn a responsibility to be a productive member of his society), the scouting emblem is full of symbolism. The eagle that normally is a symbol on the scout emblem was taken off for this piece and painted realistic to show the power and magesty of that symbol.

Finally done with Zebra

I have been working on this one for way too long and the last things I needed to get done on it where the flashes from some cameras. I am still not sure if I like them, I may revisit the painting and change them as I think they may look too much like stars but what can a guy do.

I have been super busy with another project and I will be posting it soon too. It has been very nice to be working so much on art. between the military project and the other painting I started and will finish in just under two weeks, this is great. I didn't get a lot of time to work on the painting because it is not military related so I didn't get to do much during the day time. I love this paint stuff.

The battalion paintings

I have fourteen other drawings at various stages of sketching that are all in this series. This is my Key Leaders painting. It is the most complete as I work the several different drawings up to this point getting a feel for where the emphasis will be and by extension will determine the amount of high detail, intense color and majority of value contrast will be placed.

This is not a new process to me but one that I have not done on this scale of this many paintings all at once for a very long time. The last time I did this amount of art may have been my senior year of college when I was taking 23 credits each semester and all were art classes. I was looking to be activated with the Air Force at the time and I wanted to get the degree completed with fears that it would be a very long time before I got actually completed with it if I waited. That was a busy time, and now I am remembering the idea that every spare minute must be put to the paintings.

I get to feel again like the juggler on stage with all the spinning plates and try to run around to all the plates and keep them spinning on their respective pole they are on. It is a wonderful feeling to be working so much on something I love to do but it is almost like a new activity and the job has some getting use to that I was not doing before now. I am learning about myself and trying to multi-task with inspirational podcas'ts, fun music, and some language learning. There are a lot of distractions that get in the way like military activities that have to be done, maintaining physical fitness, family needs with a herd of kids always take time, and then just the idea that I haven't done this much art in a long time so getting use to sitting down at a desk for hours is exciting.

I hope to get moving to the next phase of preparing the boards for paint and then PAINTING! Just got to get the needed supplies... I have no idea how to get the army supply system to work for such normally not thought of as military supplies.

Did I just hear my name?

I have a friend that I thought I knew a little about but I am thinking now we might be more of just associates. He is a great guy and I learned more about how great he is a person. I took advantage of some networking I thought I could do and I encouraged someone I admire to interview him. It took a couple of tries with Dr Paul to get him on the show but he did get on the show:

http://www.liveonpurposeradio.com/radio/2012/02/13/illustrating-success/

It is a great interview. I will have to admit I got a little laugh at hearing my name on the podcast, but the real fun was simply learning more about the man Will Terry. An even more admirable individual now.

 I have enjoyed listening to Dr Paul cause he has some people on the show that have gone through what I think to be more than I would ever want to go through and have all found their success as they have shared what they are passionate about and shared it with the world. They are inspiring me to find my passion and share it with the world. I don't know exactly how to do this but it is an exciting adventure to find how how I can share what I love to do with those that love what I can do.

I wanted to thank Dr Paul for sharing those great people he knows and also Will Terry for all the time he takes to share what he loves with all of us that love it! What a great reminder for me to get busy with what I love!

I should add that I borrowed this picture of Will from his sisters blog, I want to give credit where credit is due: http://myplasticfreelife.com/2010/12/letter-from-will-terry-a-normal-guy-and-not-some-tree-hugging-freak/

Gabriel Iglesias... the fluffy?

This was a pretty cool little situation. After finishing painting the walls I was given the suggestion of maybe having the super stars that come to Kuwait, and Camp Buehring sign them. I chose the final wall for the Stars to sign. The walls were a bit of a timeline and this one was the final wall and sort of representing today.

It was really neat to meet Gabriel Iglesias and the other comics he brought with him. I have seen their faces on different advertisements in department stores as I walk by the media section but to see them in real life is always a treat.

Gabriel and his troup were the second group of celebrities to have signed the wall, there was a first group...

Funny story with the first group that signed the wall. There was another volunteer at the USO at the time that was a little star struck with the idea of any celebrities coming at all and to be so close, I think she lost her head a little. She was almost hanging on the first group to come through, Daughtry. The band members even made a complaint or it may have just been the looks they made when she was around them that was noticed by the USO staff members but all the volunteers were asked to try and stay back a little for the next meet and great (there were a couple different ones to accommodate all the different soldiers wanting to meet them). During the second meet and greet for the photo shoot, we were going to ask the group to sign the wall, they were going to be the first. I was really excited due to the fact that both my wife and I knew who Daughtry were and we had seen American Idol to sort of see some background on one of the band members. I was going to get my photo with the group right after they signed the wall as a bit of a memorabilia and everything was going smoothly till the before mentioned volunteer threw herself into the group just as they were finishing signing the wall making a big groupie, flirty, teeny-bopper type attitude .... steeling my chance to take a picture. The staff were very embarrassed, I was a little disappointed and now best of all, I have a great sob story to tell. It wasn't really that big of a deal and I still have this great photo with Gabriel.

I wonder who else has signed the wall... Has the tradition continued... What is happening to the 'walls of Camp Buehring'?

My place of duty...

I can't tell you how wonderful it has been to be working here. Right here. I know it is sort of a mess and I need to clean up a bit but the idea that after I get done with PT in the morning and right after first formation I come to this desk right here and draw. I will be painting here soon enough. I still don't have the supplies. I need to get my final list of what I need and have the unit make the purchase. I have been itching to get started but what littlel patience I have has been on my side as I work to do this the right way. I am not positive what the future will hold for me but I know that this is a great situation I am in right now.

Some thumbnails...

I am working on my 'big project' today and looking at thousands of photographs. I noticed these little shots as I was looking at some of the images I photographed in Iraq. This was my attempt to document the progress as I painted the dragon dollar.

I had an idea but I wanted it to be different. I had a few with people cause that was what every bill has but I wanted to something different. I don't know if it was due to my extensive studies of Mandarin or my love of chinese history and culture. I have a couple of different ideas that I may want try. Once I decided on the dragon I tried a couple of different thoughts and then I enlarged it to get some more details. I usually don't move this quick but I felt good about what was happening and quickly transfered it to the board.

I had just finished the painting of Perry Stewart and I was feeling very confident in my painting ability. It was a time when I needed the paint to have a place to go to get away from what was going on around me. It was not like it is in the movies with shellings every day or that I ever did get into a single fire fight but it was difficult for me. This little project along with the other painting I did were such a wonderful experience for me.

After I got to Kuwait, once again my opportunity to paint kept me from completely going crazy! I am so grateful for those opportunities and I can't wait for more!

For a fellow soldier

A rough draft for a friend, he wanted an image with his deployment flag patch and his dog tags. Something simple to remember the 'fun' times I guess.

Lots of Photos

I don't have an drawing to post because I looked at way too many pictures today to try and draw one. I was looking at a million photos to select the ones that I would use to produce the paintings I will be starting on soon. I am really excited for the work ahead of me. It is both terrifying and exhilarating because of the amount of work that will be required. I have never set a goal to do this many works of art in this time frame that are all about one theme. I have done this many from school but they were all in different ideas and techniques and sizes and well, just different. This is going to be a great experience for me and I hope to get more posted as the productions enters a more visually apparent stage.

I am looking to involve this little scenario I have here. I have some other images and will probably use them as they offer a better persective into what was going on.

First rough

The work begins with the concept in mind. I will be composing several paintings to commemorate the work my company and other soldiers did and I have pencil to paper. Officially I have been working for a few days now but I wanted to keep you updated on the progress so far. This is a scene of a evening checkpoint that was conducted. I am not sure if a vertical format would be better. I think I will but I wanted to see it in the horizontal just to make sure. This is going to be a long journey to complete this job but I am looking forward to every pencil line and each brush stroke!

Painting Money

I have had this idea of painting my own money, or at least some imaginative bills of my own. This one was a lot of fun. I had a few tubes of paint and I let the paint direct my color pallet. Not something I normally do but this was going to just be a fun exercise.

I had a pre-textured board that I had brought with me to Iraq and with a few neon colors and a couple of colors that are less exciting I got busy. The sketching was completed in a day and with a quick transfer of idea I got busy. I tried to keep with some basic principles of light against dark, bright against muted and either turn the form or not turn the form, was if decorative or was it something that needed to pop. It really was fun and didn't take too long at all. Kept me busy on something productive in my down time.

The board was measured to fit a frame that I purchased at a thrift store. This project measured 12" by 24", a pretty good size for the design. It has been fun for me to pick up old and less than ideal frames that have been discarded by others. I have gained some inspiration and been able to frame some paintings of mine for quite a discount.

Getting finished with the 'Zebra'

I had finally posted a blog that I had written a while ago when I noticed that I am almost done with that painting. It is of my brother, one of my brothers. I have two and both are part time referees. It just happens that I caught this one in uniform at the house and so after a quick photo shoot wearing non-regulation shoes I started to paint. I am almost done. I think all I need is some camera flashes.

I am on youtube!

This was a crazy experience. I not only got to paint a ton of space but it also landed me on youtube. It is really strange to see myself on youtube. I teased with my wife that I was 'going viral now' but seriously it was great to paint. The individual that did the video has some other great videos he has on youtube and he is the one that helped me with the photo I currently have for the top of my banner on my blog here. I plan on painting it soon, but for now the reference is on the top of the blog.

Just an update on the painting!

I have made some encouragement from my brother to work on my skill. I have been wanting to work on it as I have been trying to listen to some uplifting talks and interviews as I travel back and forth to work or as I wait for a formation or just any extra time I get. It has been inspiring and I have been taking steps that I pray will have a lasting effect.

One idea that I am going to work on for this next year is coming up with a life vision. I will set some goals, establish some very specific ways of accomplishing these goals and then write out why I want to accomplish the goals. I guess by going through all this and writing it all in a first person way as though they have already happened is suppose to make them more real. Then I record myself reading the life vision and I listen to it daily. I hear myself telling myself what I want, how I am going to get it and why I want the goal to come true.

An old painting with some progress!

I am still working on this fish. I have done some work, now I just need to finish it.

I am so excited for a new start. It is a new beginning with the blog. I have proposed to the command if I can paint some painting to commerate the work the soldiers did as Operation New Dawn came to a close and the last of the U.S. soldiers were leaving Iraq. I am so excited for this great opportunity. I am going to try to make it as much as I can in every great way I can! I am trying to take some advise from a friend that has always had some great advise . I think I am combining a couple things in one as he challenged to do something new and he says to keep a blog. I redesigned the blog cause the blog is important to an artist and my new activity is to use my art for something more the drawing tattoos. The future is bright. I am looking forward to all I can create, not just on the canvas but with life! I did want to thank a friend for his support, here is the post he put on his blog reminding all artists to have their own blogs:

Back again

Okay, it has been too long. I have been away to Iraq, doing my part in the job I signed up for. I am back now and would like to get started posting more of what I love to do. This is a portrait I did while in Iraq. I took just enough paints and a few boards to be able to have some fun. I have been wanting to do this one for quite some time, the reference was some pictures I obtained from a social networking site and threw them together. I felt like it matched the personality behind the man quite well.