Preliminary sketches for EANGUS of the Hurricane relief work done by the Army and Air National Guard. The picture is to show how the enlisted Air and Army work together in large operations. Combat is obviously one type but this picture is about the humanitarian side of the Guard and its ability to do big things well. The Guard are made up of soldiers who are employed full time outside of the military and at times can be a difficult balance between the two. A disaster could strike Texas one month then Florida or New York next, in every case its men and women from across the country coming to the aid of their fellow citizens.

The picture isn't intended to be place specific and should have the feel of any of the recent natural disasters. Lots of interservice action takes place there. I like the idea of equipment arriving along with soldiers and supplies. Lots of ideas to pick from and one these two sketches will form the basis of the final painting.

The completed painting titled Sky Soldiers, the 1/7th at LZ X-Ray. The picture was finished a few months ago and reproductions made. For the past two weeks veterans have been signing the prints which will be available very soon. There will only be 65 prints and have the signature of two Medal of Honor recipients Joe Marm and Bruce Crandall along with three Company commanders John Herren, Tony Nadal and Bob Edwards, Assistant Machine Gunner Bill Beck, B flight Huey pilot Dick Cline and UPI reporter/photographer Joe Galloway who covered and participated in the battle.

Medal of Honor Recipient Joe Marm

Colonel, John Herren

Colonel Tony Nadal

Colonel Bob Edwards

SPC 4 Bill Beck

Colonel Dick Cline

Joe Galloway ( Right) UPI reporter and civilian combatant.

Everything has a beginning and a end, the Green Beret illustration is very likely the final GI Joe illustration of my career. Starting back in the late 1990's with the Classic Collection for Hasbro and after that line ended it was on to the National GI Joe Convention specials for Brian Savage. This year the idea was to mimic the Sears box art from 1966 but after several frustrating attempts at this I abandoned that. The original wasn't designed very well, it lacked drama, good lighting and it looks like one guy is ordering take out or getting a weather up date while the other soldier fires the machine gun. No matter how I tried to rearrange the composition or use a 1960 illustration technique, none of it worked.

Original Sears box art from 1966

My mind eventually wandered over to some drawings for another Vietnam picture that was never completed, Valor at Nam Dong. The first Medal of Honor for the Vietnam War was awarded to Captain Roger Donlon who was also the first Special Forces soldier to receive it. It wasn't possible to rework that picture into the convention art but it was the frame to hang it on. Night fights are always full of drama, the low light and dark shadows contrasted with the bright fire light are very compelling.

This picture is like almost every picture I've made is a mix of costumed models and small scale scenes. Good models along with the right props make the picture, you just can't make it without them. The models have to do some acting which isn't always easy especially since they are not actors or professional models. There was a little bit of luck in finding someone who had a M-20 Super Bazooka that could be used for the reference shoot. The rest of the props are part of my collection for reference.

There is the small stuff you make because getting some pieces of equipment is just not possible. Making a pile of sandbags out of plasticene was a lot easier than filling some to stack up.

The final illustration

Took some time this weekend to do a couple of alternative ideas for Yankee 26, the CH-47 roof landing in Afghanistan by the Pennsylvania National Guard. The first idea was drawn quickly and now with some time to think it through these two new drawings may be part of the dialog with the client.

First drawing shows the helicopter from below and its a nice angle but a little far from the viewer at least at this stage.

Second version from a different side of the helicopter. a little higher angle with some nice angles in the landscape.

Third drawing from a completely different angle. I like this one but it might not work with the client. the soldiers are loading prisoners into the helicopter.

These drawings all have good composition points and some areas that will need improving to bring this up to what a good picture should be. New reference of the CH-47 will help along with building a small replica of the buildings.

If you know anything about my work or background it is that history and has had a large hand in shaping what I paint. As a young boy I started playing army and drawing soldiers, then years later becoming an illustrator who specialized in those same subjects.It shouldn't be a surprise since my dad was a soldier that any drawings would gravitate that direction.

Drawing is the heart of any good idea and picture. Translating that idea from your head to paper then working through all of the possibilities is how every picture begins.

In my sketchbook there are lots of notes on what I was thinking at the time. You might find some color or light that strikes you but over time that memory can fade, making notes will help allow those thoughts from completely evaporating. The drawings of night was something I saw traveling and then later changed the location and subject to Apache Indian's moving through the desert.

The printer packed some prints with paper that looked interesting and I tried out a charcoal drawing on it. Turned out the paper wasn't really very good for drawing on but a nice exercise. Free stuff laying around like cardboard or packing paper can work as supports for pictures, never turn your nose up to stuff like that. Experimenting can lead to new discoveries and looks you may not have considered.

Not every picture needs to be a painting sometimes just a pencil drawing is enough because color will not improve the picture. The completed drawing of my friend Joe Ranoia is an example of that.

Preliminary drawing for Stat MedEvac. This company is based in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and the city is the background for the setting. Very early in the process and will do a better more comprehensive drawing after some feed back.

The completed and approved painting of Cpt. Blanchard and Lt. Hess titled: Pitchblack 16 Capt. Aaron R. Blanchard, 32, of Selah, Wash., and 1st Lt. Robert J. Hess, 26, of Fairfax, Va., served in the 2nd Aviation Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division. On April 23, 2013 they were KIA in Pul-e ’Alam, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from enemy indirect fire. We used their call sign as the title Pitchblack 16 and the painting will hang at the Central Washington University ROTC building. Cpt. Blanchard was a graduate of the ROTC program at Washington, the painting will hang in that building after the presentation.

The painting is pretty close to finish with only a few things to work on like reflections on the canopy and some minor things. Will wait for the families to decide on the likenesses before doing the reflections. Lots of work on this one and the rivets took as much time as you'd imagine. Pictures of KIA soldiers require careful consideration of the content and how the soldiers should be depicted. It is the last word on someones life and a artist always must be aware of that.

The past several months I have worked on expanding the base of my work to include move human interest and nostalgic scenes. The Thunderbird Car picture was the seed of these pictures where I can use the vehicles as an anchor for the painting. The attraction to this is both personal experience depicting the scenes but also the ability to use some imagination to tell a story that does not normally cross my desk.

This idea started out as a Christmas tree delivery but found it wasn't a workable solution. Lots of parts to like but that doesn't make a cohesive picture interesting enough to hold the viewers attention.

These little drawings are very important to working out ideas and deciding on their direction. Pictures are not simply a straight line from idea to execution there is a lot of thinking that goes into the process. In todays world a artist has about 5 seconds to catch a persons eye and hold their attention or its off to other shiny objects calling out for their attention. Always prepare a picture like its the best one or last one you will ever make. To someone else this might be your only shot to convince them to look at more of your work. Don't be afraid to fail either, we can lean much from the lesson if you are willing to take chances.

The next move was to change the setting and idea, into buying the picture. Most people have a Christmas tree buying experience and memory that is common to what these sketches depict. They need refinement and better layout but have good picture making possibilities. This idea may change into something else but for now this is where its at.

I like the mom and two children picking out the tree set in New England late 1940, maybe an older guy as the tree or farm guy, none of these people should look too well off it would spoil the mood and mood is important. A woody sedan in the background gives the picture some extra interest. Story telling pictures require a delicate balance of drama and setting, what you leave out is as important as what goes in.

These last two drawings revolve around a Lionel train set the father is bringing in or has just bought. Both of these have some interesting potential and the train set could easily be another popular toy like Hot Wheels or Barbies. The street scene has other background picture elements like kids looking at the train display, other cars and some wet snow. The other version has a quite charm of the mom in the door with light from the warm inside casting shadows into the cold snowy surrounding area. The moon light and some Christmas lights will help set it context. Will see after some more thought which of these may be painted.

The 2018 Landscape and Military calendars are out now and can be found on my web site http://larryselman.com/available-artwork/merchandise We only did a small print run this year and will not be reprinting,get yours before they are gone for this year.