Medic!

Happily and quite surprisingly, my Iwo Jima drawing, Uncommon Valor, has been extremely popular since its release on November 11, 2010. More than any previous effort, this picture has gained nationwide attention, and has generated record sales, in addition to a number of positive comments from individuals who might otherwise have never been interested in this unusual style of artwork.

Not long ago, I received a very complimentary e-mail from a Marine who had purchased one of the Valor prints, asking me to draw a Caduceus dedicated to all Corpsmen & Medics.

"As a Vietnam Veteran and a three time recipient of the purple heart, I have a special love for OUR CORPSMEN," he told me. He hoped I could come up with a design that would cross all branches of combat service, honoring those selfless heroes known to wounded soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen respectfully as “Doc”.

In just a few hours, this sketch fell out onto the paper, and quickly met with the veteran's approval.

A few weeks passed before I could find the time to tackle the drawing in earnest. I took the pencil sketch with me during an October art show tour, and chipped away at it during idle hours in my hotel room.

The caduceus design contains a helmet with traditional red cross emblem, bandage, bandaid, blood bag, butterfly, clamps, challenge coins, corpsman’s knife, dog tags (Stan N. Harmsway), dressing pouch, oral & nasal airways, pain pills, safety pin, scalpel, scissors, side arm, stethoscope, stop watch, stretcher, sulfa, syringe, thermometer (silver bullet), tongue depressor, and a Purple Heart.

Finally completed earlier this month, the Medic drawing is now available in a limited edition of 100 digitally generated giclee prints.