Black Hawks Go Hue-y: Artists Add Color to Military

Birmingham artists Don Stewart and Sue Ellen Brown have forged some surprising alliances with the military in recent years. Stewart’s complex historical drawings have drawn attention and much needed funds to the plight of wounded warriors in the US Army, the Air Force, and the Marines.

Now the team has been asked to add color to the Army’s Black Hawk program. 'Operation Rainbow Hawk' will investigate the possibility of adding a new color spectrum to the livery of an attack helicopter squadron at the Army Aviation headquarters in Fort Rucker.

UH-60 Blackhawk - photo courtesy of Mu Yeol Lee

Gone are the matte blacks and olive drabs that have marked battlefield aircraft since the Second World War.

“It’s kind of an experimental approach,” Stewart said, “With emphasis on the more mental aspects. We’ve been asked to develop new superficial design schemes for a number of purposes, from innovative, “visual stealth” camouflage to public relations and morale. Just thinking of the phrase “Black Ops”, for example, brings all sorts of negative emotional connotations that may not be sympatico with the direction and focus of our modern armed forces.”

Of note is the artists’ plan to outfit the helicopters with advanced urethane coatings, that use tromp l’oeil techniques to fool the eyes of passers by.

“So far we have decked out an old UH-60 helicopter, so it’s now virtually indistinguishable from a vintage school bus,” Stewart said. The artist stated that one such aircraft has been situated in the parking lot of the Galleria mall for over a month without anyone being the wiser, other than noting the unusual amount of engine noise at take-off and landing.

Artistic "Bus" treatment -  photo courtesy Greg Gjerdingen

 “It’s all about using the right palette to create the proper mood,” said Brown, a portraitist and illustrator who is just now applying her talents to military subjects. “It’s fun watching the expressions on peoples’ faces – or the lack of it – when they encounter one of our camouflaged vehicles.”

What’s up next for the team?  “The Navy has asked us to help them re-think the whole ‘navy blue’ thing. That ought to keep us busy for a while yet,” Brown said.

Grunt Grudge Match

The DS Art Studio is happy to announce the

2012 Grunt Grudge Match Challenge to Support Wounded Warriors

HOO-AH meets OOH-RAH.

03’s vs. 11B’s.

Who will win in a toe-to-toe, no-holds-barred competition?

Which team can raise $50K by Veteran’s Day?

CONTEST RULES:

DS Art is proud to donate half of the funds raised from sales of Marine Uncommon Valor and Army Follow Me prints to the Marine Wounded Warrior Regiment, and the Army AW2, respectively.

Sales of these two Army and Marine prints from July 4th to Veteran's Day, 2012 will be counted to determine which service emerges victorious. The branch with the highest total (most print sales and/or outright WW donations to the contest) will be declared the winner, and will own irrefutable bragging rights for a minimum of one year.

All uniformed service members (including POGs, swabbies, zoomies, coasties and weekend warriors), veterans, families and civilians are all encouraged to support their preferred branch of ground-pounding Grunts.

The winning branch of military service will also receive an original, WWI 75mm Trench Art trophy, handcrafted by Master Metalsmith Robert Taylor. This official Grudge Match Trophy will be presented to the winners’ own National Museum (National Museum of the Marine Corps, or National Infantry Museum) for at least one year of safekeeping, publicly showcasing the highest levels of loyalty and support for their wounded comrades.

The Uncommon Valor drawing is composed of more than 370 pieces, arranged in the shape of the iconic flag raising at Iwo Jima, placed in order of events from the founding of the Marines at Tun Tavern in 1775 to the current conflict in Afghanistan.

Follow Me is a collection of 225 Infantry images, tracing the historic path of Army foot soldiers from the Revolution to the present, with emphasis on the Seven Army Values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. 

Both artworks reflect a 237-year tradition of courage, honor and dedication to service.

Either drawing is available in 16x20” Signed Open Edition ($40) and 18x24” Signed and Numbered Limited Edition ($150) Prints.

Can either team raise $50K by Veterans Day? 
I’m betting on both.

The contest begins with the fireworks of Independence Day, and ends with Taps on November 11th. 

May the Best Branch win!

Left Wing Patriot

Yes, I’ve been called Left-Wing. 

Progressive. Pacificist. A bleeding heart tree-hugger. 

That’s okay. I’m an artist. It’s expected of me. And it’s mostly true. 

After all, I was raised in a religious tradition that emphasized forgiveness, understanding, and the Golden Rule. On top of that, I was trained to be a healer, and once took a solemn Oath that said I would do my best not to harm other people.

So it is that I find myself in a most interesting position philosophically, when I am researching, creating, and marketing my recent series of military drawings. This very question came up not long ago, when a conscientious friend asked me to explain how I could, in good conscience, justify the "glorification of war" in my art. 

In response, I told him that I felt a strong desire to balance my usual peaceful tendencies with the need  to support the equally dedicated individuals who are sent out to fight on my behalf, who then return home broken and changed, and find that in return for their sacrifice, they are offered little or no safety net. As an artist and a healer, I felt I could do something to help. As a responsible citizen, I felt I had no other choice.

These fighting men and women, and the people who care for them, are the ones who appreciate my intimate pictures of warcraft. If I do my job well, they will want to share my pictures with others - to support not only my calling as an artist, but also the various Wounded Warrior organizations that receive a significant portion of the proceeds from these drawings. 

For the record, I have no beef with anyone who puts on a uniform and follows orders. In fact, I applaud them all for choosing, then earning a place along a most honorable career path, for whatever reasons or circumstances might compel them to serve. More important, I salute them for setting aside their personal rights and freedoms so that I can selfishly enjoy my own. And I do, without reservation or apology. But not without gratitude.

To create Uncommon Valor, Follow Me, and the honorary military drawings that will follow them, I have worked hard to put on the skin of Soldiers and Marines, as much as a civilian ever can, in order to offer an authentic visual experience for them. In the process I have opened doors that have been closed to me before, and have had the opportunity to enjoy meaningful conversations and positive relationships with people from across the political spectrum, many of whom I am now privileged to call my friends.

Yes, I sometimes poke fun at others with my drawings - the medical community in particular. I have earned my stripes in that world, and feel comfortable taking them on as an insider, though always in good fun. 

For the military, I choose to speak in their terms, as a matter of respect for their ethos, and their unquestionable personal sacrifice, in order to fulfill a need that is being largely ignored by our politicians and their corporate partners. As a citizen, I will continue to work politically to try and build a better, more tolerant society, for everyone's benefit. With my military drawings, I am working artistically to support the millions who were and are willing to give up their lives so that I can draw funny pictures for a living.

I see no contradiction in that. If my efforts are successful, I will profit enough to help even more of them.

One of the best experiences to come from this adventure occurred over a long dinner, in the company of a retired Marine major, decorated for wounds received in three wars. After several hours of discussion, sometimes animated, he finally said to me, "Son, you and I are definitely on opposite sides of the political fence. But it appears to me that we both have our elbows on that fence, and we're leaning toward one another."

To my mind, that's the only way We as a People are going to solve our problems, by making bold connections, and making ourselves understood through civil discourse. That discourse is only possible because of a select few who are willing to die in its defense.

I think that's worth a little glorification.

Don

Army Infantry - Follow Me

I am very pleased to announce that my newest composite drawing, Follow Me, will be unveiled on Memorial Day at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus Georgia.

Based on the iconic "Iron Mike" statue that stands at Fort Benning, Georgia, and the National Infantry Museum, this latest composite image honors the United States Army Infantry. It is composed of over 180 objects detailing the history of the Infantry soldier, focusing primarily on firearms and personal items used by fighting men from 1775 to the present, with emphasis on the Seven Army Values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.

As we did with the 2010 Marine Corps drawing, Uncommon Valor, half of the proceeds from print sales of Follow Me will be donated to support our Wounded Warriors. Reproductions of the drawing will be available after Memorial Day in limited and open editions.

Uncommon Valor Component List

For those of you who have been curious about the individual images comprising the Uncommon Valor drawing, here are links to the the complete list, plus an introduction:

Uncommon Valor Intro

Uncommon Valor Component List

USMC II: Uncommon Valor

Much has transpired since the initial installment on the Iwo Jima drawing. It now has a name, Uncommon Valor (the phrase used to describe the performance of the Marines who conquered Iwo – where “Uncommon valor was a common virtue”), and a purpose: to raise awareness and funds for the USMC Wounded Warriors Regiment.

The image used in the drawing was already a compilation, even before I started placing smaller pictures into the design. The flag raising on Mt. Suribachi was recorded by four photographers, and has been recreated dozens, if not thousands of times by as many artists over the past sixty years. Each time, the original still photographs of Lowery and Rosenthal have been reinterpreted, re-worked and re-engineered to fit whatever format was needed, from War Bond posters to postage stamps, ice cream molds to t-shirts to tattoos. Even Felix de Weldon, the sculptor of the Marine War Memorial in Washington, D.C., used his artistic license to arrange the five Marines and one Navy corpsman into a more classic pose, and built at least three smaller versions of his world-famous statue. The version I chose as a model for the drawing now stands at the gate to Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.

After more than a year of research, a dozen books on the subject and a dozen more interviews with active and retired Marines, two trips to the National Museum of the Marine Corps and a tour of the base at Quantico, the design has settled into its current form. The first century of the Marines is illustrated in the lower left section of the base, World War I and the so-called Banana Wars in the lower right, with WWII in a horizontal band across the middle. Above these, the left peak represents the Korean conflict, and the right peak the Viet Nam era, with late 20^th-century expeditionary excursions in between. The modern Marine Corps (including conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on Terror) are represented by the three standing figures. Left to Right, they represent Air, Sea, and Land. The figure to the right combines all three, as well as the musical tradition that remains strong in the Corps.

The drawing will be unveiled on November 10^th, 2010, the 235^th birthday of the USMC. Limited and open edition prints will be available for purchase on November 11^th. (See details at www.DSArt.com.)

As usual, I’m already running a little behind schedule, which means I will be pulling a few late nights over the next week or two to complete the inking process on time. You are invited to follow the progress of the drawing, from initial sketches to final ink on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/dsart

A Few Good Pictures

My Marine Corps picture is half finished. The drawing itself is not.

That part’s barely made it onto the paper, and there are still a couple or three months worth of actual work time ahead of me before I can claim the project to be complete. But the project is, to my best reckoning, about half done.

Last week I was asked to come and speak during Career Day at a local middle school. After showing off my work and waxing at length about the virtues of being an over-educated, self-employed artist, one of the students asked if I could show them an example of a work in progress.

“Absolutely,” I said, and picked up my copy of Bartlett & Sweetman's Leathernecks, bristling on three sides with with multi-colored sticky notes.

“This picture is about half finished”, I told the kids. “You see, my artwork starts with information. I have a lot of studying to do before my pen ever hits the paper. This is one of a half dozen books I’ve read so far to help get myself up to speed on the United States Marine Corps. I have three or four more to read before I’ll be ready to do any serious drawing.”

The kids seemed impressed, though some looked a little bit confused, and a couple of them appeared to be terrified. (These, I assume, were the ones who thought they wanted to be artists.)

To date, a pencil outline of the Iwo Jima Monument has finally been transferred to paper. By my usual standards (I like to make small pictures), at 24 x 32” this drawing is going to be a big one. This will in fact be my most ambitious undertaking by far, not only for its size and scope (the composite drawing will include somewhere around 500 individual images), but for the impact I hope it will have on the future of a few good men and women.

When complete, the Iwo drawing will be a pictorial history of the Marines. The symbolic images will be arranged (more or less) chronologically, from the Corps’ birthplace at Tun Tavern in 1775 to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Half of the proceeds from print sales of this drawing will be donated to the USMC Wounded Warriors Regiment.

Rarely do we have an opportunity to give back directly to those who have given so much to us; rarely has the need been so great.

On the plus side, while my reading so far has only taken me as far as the Korean conflict, I already have enough images in mind to fill the entire space. Maybe twice. An idea that emerged early on is to render the flag-raisers’ camo-covered helmets as globes – world maps showing every region where the Marines have served. Elsewhere in the picture will be a violin with a mameluke sword for a bow (1st Lt. Presley O’Bannon, the hero of Tripoli, was a fiddler), the Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor, and a Flying Tiger emblem with a black sheep for Pappy Boyington’s squadron.

As always, the fun part will be collating and sifting the data, assigning pictures to people and events, and then trying to arrange them all in proper order to fit both the design, and the spirit of the Corps.

ETA on this project is late September to early October, 2010 – in time for the USMC’s 235th Birthday on November 10th.