Tanks on the battlefield

It has been my custom in the 5 years of this Blog to follow vintage art with fresh art, so that you get a good mix. But first I have to make the fresh art, which sometimes I'm too lazy or time-constrained to do. And I want to deliver to you the best quality Art By-Product which means no slacking on the job. Sometimes though I can only do tiny doodles in the "Fresh" category, such as this one. I got a book on "How to draw tanks and other war vehicles." This is one of my first results. It's probably from the Warhammer 40K world and is just an experiment, a battlefield miniaturized onto a sketchbook frame strip.

I've been looking through my early 1970s journals and am sort of sad that so much of what I wrote was about being angry with myself. I was angry because I wasn't working hard enough, that I was obsessed with religion, that I was silly and escapist, that I had no social skills. All the things that make up my life now, I was embarrassed or angry about when I was in my early 20s. But those were the things that matter, religion, art, and escapism. In the grinding politics of that generation and the waning Vietnam War, anything having to do with fantasy art or writing was viewed as distracting from your true mission to enlighten the people, end poverty, and stop the war. I tried political "action" (demonstrations and invading a store) once or twice but found it insincere and embarrassing, and I didn't do it again.

Meanwhile, I studied subjects which nowadays guarantee that you will never find a job in your field: Greek and Latin Classics, and Art History. Interestingly, the techniques of analyzing artistic style and chronology I learned in Art History class are useful to me now as I put the catalog of my mother's art together. You never know when something you learned 40 years ago might be useful.

"Tanks on the Battlefield" is ink and greyscale markers, increased and completed with Photoshop, 9" x 3 1/2", December 7, 2013.