A MOTORCYCLE: It was leaning against the fence and caught my eye.
Posted on 08/08/2007 9:14:06 AM PDT by Clive
Somehow 10 days have disappeared since my last hurried blog before flying out of Kandahar Airfield (KAF). I really had intended to write this sooner, much like I had intended to keep drawing when I got back to the world. In the end though I did neither. I'd like to offer up procrastination as an excuse but I didn't even have the energy for that.
I spent a few idyllic days in the UK before flying back to Canada, where I have spent the last five days reintroducing myself to my two youngest children.
Ten days is more than enough time to work on some brilliant last blog to wrap up the whole experience. I don't have it in me though. All of the writing I have done in the last two months has been first-person experience stuff. I don't have the breadth of knowledge to allow me to write about the Afghan big picture and the ramifications for Canada, and I am wise enough to know not to try.
So what I have for you are a few missing pieces that I think are probably worth looking at. Some are from my personal sketchbook, which started out strong but dwindled toward the end of the trip. Some are pieces I fully intended to post and simply forgot about. A couple are things I just personally like and am proud of.
A MOTORCYCLE: It was leaning against the fence and caught my eye.
QUEUEING OUTSIDE TIM HORTON'S: I am planning to do a large art piece on the queue outside of Timmie's on the boardwalk at KAF. Between 7.30 and 10.30 a.m. every day, some 10 to 30 soldiers of all nationalities stood armed, waiting their turn for their double doubles. These were a couple of guys waiting at the drive-through window.
A TRUCK: Probably saw service in Korea. Sketched in the late evening as I waited for my cancelled convoy.
WAITING ON THE CONVOY: These were a couple of soldiers standing around waiting to mount up.
SANDBAGGERS: These are a few of the sketches I did of the Afghan workers before I managed to talk them into sitting for actual portraits.
CORPORAL DANIEL DIGNARD: At 19 years old, Corporal Dignard was the youngest soldier I met. This is one of my two favourite portraits. The portrait and the sketch (below) of him resting his head in the oppressive heat atop the Afghan National Police (ANP) station were done on consecutive days of 50C weather.
GATE: This is a sketch of a gate in one of the Afghan National Army compounds attached to one of the Canadian Forward Operating Bases. The construction was what caught my eye. It is all found lumber. The bricks are all mud and straw. The gate is tied together with bark. The metal plates are flattened tins of food.
CAPTAIN RYAN SHEPPARD: This is probably the best portrait I did during my time there. The sketch displays a confidence in line work that I rarely feel. The second sketch of Captain Sheppard (below) shows him talking to air support on one of the patrols. This is one of the sketches I did immediately and then lost track of in my various sketchpads.
CORPORAL MARK AMOS: This is a drawing of Corporal Amos standing on an ANP station rooftop while scoping out someone in a nearby field.
MASTER CORPORAL KEVIN PAUL: One of the combat camera team members, working in the media tent in MaSum Ghar.
LAUNDRY: Sketch of Canadian soldier doing his laundry.
CORPORAL JONATHAN WILLIAMS: Corporal Williams leaning back on his heels to balance the weight of the machine gun after a 4-kilometre march across fields and ditches.
BOMBARDIER ADAM HOLMES: Bombardier Holmes smoking a cigarette inside the shot-up ANP checkpoint. With matches and cigarettes tucked into his helmet band, he reminds me of a GI from WW2.
CORPORAL JAMES LOVELACE: James calls himself Brett. This sketch shows him during the same forced march as Corporal Williams above.
ANA SOLDIER: He is sitting looking at a portrait I did of him. He is on guard duty and so has plenty to time to contemplate my interpretation of his features. He spent so much time doing so that I sketched him again.
ANA SOLDIER: He just wanted drawn and was willing to sit for a bit. I had tired of portraits and so drew him full-figure instead.
So that about does it for this blog. A few well-intentioned readers have written and asked me to continue it, but it is difficult to believe anyone wants to read about the humdrum of my daily family bliss, let alone see it captured in pencil.
What I am going to do is post a gallery of all of the finished art projects that I hope to do from the wealth of material I have gathered and seen in the last two months. Also watch this space for the complete portrait gallery and I'll probably post my complete personal sketch pads too. Drop back now and then when you are passing this way.
All that remains is to say thanks. Thanks to you all for reading and making this project a success. Thanks to the National Post for footing the bill and for having the nerve to see it through. Thanks to all of the soldiers who made me feel welcome and to the ones who didn't bother. Thanks to the various journalists at KAF and the FOB's who passed on untold amounts of real-world advice.
A final thanks to my wife, Karen, without whom I would not have achieved anything at all.
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Fantastic.
Worth several bumps.
Bump
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