MacArthur

Recently I saw a presentation at my work regarding Midway island.  Known in the past as to where a vital battle took place in the Pacific war of World War II.  Today it is a bird sanctuary to that of the very large albatross.  The documentary focused its attention on what is known as the “garbage island” in the Pacific.  Due to masses amounts of garbage being dumped in tho ocean each year the albatross have begun feeding on the plastic found.  100′s of albatross die each year due to plastic intake.  The videographers making this film have taken pictures of dead birds on the ground who’s insides are literally full of plastic; not the kind of plastic you might be expecting either.  Plastic in the way of lighters, toothbrush handles, Lego and baby toys.  It was pretty shocking.  You might be asking yourself what this has to do with MacArthur.

After this documentary I had a desire to brush up on my history of the Pacific war.  Being more in the mind of the rest of the world, my interests about WWII lead more towards Europe and Hitlers advances.  Thanks to Netfilx brushing up on pretty well anything has been made super easy.  I found a 23 episode documentary called The Crusade in the Pacific and I highly recommend it.  This documentary consisted of newsreel footage and footage taken right from the field of soldiers who were responsible for documenting all that happened.  I was quite taken with the whole thing.

This documentary talked a lot about General Douglas MacArthur.

Taken from Wiki – General of the Army Douglas MacArthur (26 January 1880 – 5 April 1964) was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines Campaign. Arthur MacArthur, Jr., and Douglas MacArthur were the first father and son to each be awarded the medal. He was one of only five men ever to rise to the rank of General of the Army in the U.S. Army, and the only man ever to become a field marshal in the Philippine Army.

He officially accepted Japan’s surrender on 2 September 1945, and oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951.

 

Upon seeing General Douglas MacArthur in the documentary with his magnificent pipe I knew I had to draw him, so today I did just that:

It took me quite a while to get his face just right.  I found I kept squishing his face upwards, which just looked plain wrong.  After watching MacArthur (the real MacArthur not some actor) through The Crusade in the Pacific I felt quite a connection to him and his work in fighting the war and eventually and personally accepting Japan’s surrender.  Being such a long documentary as well you almost feel as though you walked through  bit of their journey with them.

Being that it is quite an old picture the texture of his face appears rougher than it probably is.  In saying this, I enjoyed drawing the contrast of the rough surface of his face against his aviators, hat and shirt.  Here is a closer look:

To get the rough surface I used the side of an 8B and 4B pencil on top of a smudged and shaded surface.  His glasses, hat and shirt are all rubbed down quite a bit with a paper smudge.  I’m pretty happy with the results of both.

Now that I have brushed up on my history of this war I am looking to watch the mini series The Pacific and will look forward to ‘Hollywood’s’ interpretation of the stories lived.

 

If you are interested in the documentary regarding the albatross birds and the work of the “Midway Journey” documentary, please visit their Facebook page.  I highly recommend reading up on their word and looking for a launch date of their film:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Midway-Journey/117981432917

If this link doesn’t work, please search Midway Journey in Facebook.

 

 

Follow the White Rabbit

“Start at the beginning.  When you come to the end, stop!”

I guess I’m on an Alice in Wonderland kick, with a pen, because it’s the only thing I seem to enjoy drawing these days.  I’m not sure if it’s the art style or if I was really missing drawing with a pen that much, but I have two more Alice drawings for you:

Don’t we all wish we had a White Rabbit in our lives.  Someone who peaked our interest in adventure and easily lead the way down the rabbit hole.  No one willingly jumps down a rabbit hole, but if you are lead by curiosity it becomes a whole lot easier.

The Mad Hatter tea party is one of my favorite scenes in this movie and it was, obviously then, one of my favorite chapters in the book.  The Mad Hatter’s table is a place where everything that is reason becomes not and everything that is not becomes reason; without question.  In fact, if you question this you yourself become questionable.  If you become questionable you are immediately the one who is mad and must be immediately removed from the table.  It is a place where lemon fixes a watch and mustard will not!  Jam solves anxiety and it’s your birthday everyday… well sort of.  A place where having none means you can’t have any less and there is never room at a table full of chairs.

People these days are afraid to be silly.  This is why I love Alice in Wonderland so much!  It gives you permission to be completely silly without having to give any reasoning.  If you feel you have not appropriately filled your allotment of silly to day, please do yourself a favor and watch this…

It’s a Wonderland

So in the theme of my New Years Resolution I have drawn you a little selection from my February book. As you may or may not remember, Sherlock Holmes was my January book. This months book was none other than Alice in Wonderland. This story has always been a favorite of mine. Though many people viewed This story as a drug trip I viewed it as a wonderful imaginative getaway. I love the creativity of the story telling, characters, visuals and humor.

Have you ever thought to play croquet with a flamingo? Order a pack of cards to guard your castle? Thought to ask a caterpillar it’s name? Looked at a mushroom and considered its ability to cause you to grow taller than a tree or shrink you smaller than the mushroom itself? I didn’t think so. I do think that of more people thought this way the world would seem a much more magical place!

Writers Block

You might think that writers block only applies to writers.. It doesn’t.  I applies to artists too.

I go through phases where I can’t put my sketchbook down.  Then I go through phases where I attempt to draw something and it looks like Picasso drew it.  Maybe that’s how Picasso got his start.  Perhaps he was an incredible life-drawing artist, then hit a roadblock, but he had a deadline for an exhibit and just kept going.  I can’t do that.  I just get frustrated.

I am in a roadblock.  Allison, I attempted to draw you, twice and both failed.  I am still attempting.

If you are an artist how do you get through these blocks??

Want Me To Draw You?!?

Ok, so I keep looking at the drawings I have left to post and I’m not too crazy about a lot of them.  Don’t get me wrong, they will make it up eventually, but I would love to post some more recent stuff.  Seeing how my most recent drawing is of a monkey I thought I would bring the sophistication level up a bit.

 

Here you go, no drawing post today, BUT have you been looking at my art and thinking, “Man, I wish my face would appear on the internet in pencil or pen form”.  Wish no longer.  If you would like me to sketch a picture of your choosing please post a link to your photo in the comments below!

 

Now, I am only one person and each drawing can take me upwards of an hour or two.  This being said, I will only be choosing ONE photo to start with, so pick a good one.  If I fancy a few others I may expand and depending on how this goes I will be doing it again!

 

Thanks for participating… if you choose to.

Bringing People Together

Often when I draw I like to make it an event.  I spend a bit of time looking for that perfect picture, gather my supplies and head to a local coffee shop with the intentions of staying a long time.  Usually I do this in the winter.  Cabin fever kicks in and the thought of a hot latte I didn’t make kicks me out.

People are a lot friendlier than we give them credit.  The whole idea of “Stranger Danger” is great for a five year old in a playground; however, adults tend to apply this safe-guard when it’s not always needed.  Nearly every time I have drawn in public I meet someone.

When I drew the above there was a group of people sitting outside the window I was drawing at.  I could tell they were constantly watching my progress on the drawing and this made me nervous.  Not in the ‘Stranger Danger’ sense, but I felt a need to get each thing right.  Near the end of my time there one of the guys from the group came in.  He was in a wheelchair and commented on how talented I was.  He asked me where I got my inspiration from and began to tell me he was also an artist who got inspiration from his travels.  I asked him where he had been and he began telling me of one of his adventures; hitchhiking across the USA and yes, he was in a wheelchair during this adventure.  I bet his story would make an amazing film, but you would have no idea that story was there unless you asked.

I remember an Oprah show once that talked about peoples stories, complete strangers around you who had tales that could win Academy Awards.  The guy Oprah was interviewing on this subject would take phone books, point to random people, call them up and whoever answered the phone got to have a biography on them filmed and aired.  At the end of the show they set up a dartboard of the setting chart of her audience.  The guy Oprah was interviewing threw a dart at the board and the seat it marked had a segment on their story in the following weeks.

I remember the guy who was selected was originally from Africa and had a heart wrenching story of slavery and war. I can’t remember a lot of details and don’t want to attempt to write them from memory to ruin his story, but you get the idea.  Just think about that the next time you are sitting in a coffee shop.  Who exactly is sitting next to you?

Oh Brother

How many of you out there have a brother?
Yeah me too

How many of you out there got sat on by your brother?
Yeah me too

How many of you out there got spanked for something your brother made you do?
Yeah me too

How many of you made your brother’s nose bleed?
Yeah me too

How many of you banged on your brother’s door screaming you hated him?
Yeah me too

How many of you broke something of your brother’s and he got really mad?
Yeah me too

How many laughed with your brother until you cried?
Me too

How many have trusted your brother with a deep secret?
Me too

How many threatened to get your big brother if you continued to be picked on?
Me too

Cried with their brother?
Yeah

Consider their brother to be one of their best friends?
Yeah

Couldn’t imagine having to go through something tough without their brother?
Mmhumm…

Love their brother to death?
MMmmm…

 

My brother: