SF Artist
 

Didnt really know just where to post this thread, hopefully this is the proper place.

In the late 1970s early 1980s there was an individual, (not sure if he was 5th or 7th SFG) that used to do MOS pen and ink characters. As well as other SF related functions.

I remember one particular drawing that featured an SF troop in MFF with a Claymore tied to his jump helmet and freefalling toward a Russian Mig.

Does anyone recall this artists work or name?

Ballinger IIRC. That was a long time ago. He also had Christmas cards and a comic strip "ODA 069". Last I heard he went to Florida in the early 80's. The Hobbit on Yadkin Rd. used to sell his stuff.

lksteve
 

lksteve uses a part of one picture as his avatar.

The one that has the rest of the A Team around the team leader.

Actually, that's from a much older print from the days when an SF Officer was a 31542 and was in existence when I first came to Smoke Bomb Hill - you could buy them at the PX and the old wooden IMA Book Store across from The White House (JFK Center). There were a whole series of them for all the Officer Branches and they were titled something along the lines of "The XXXXX Officer as seen by..."

The guy who did the HALO/SOT/SCUBA/etc stuff being asked about (Ballenger or Belanger or Balanger or however he spelled it) was a young SGT in the 5th circa the early '80s time frame.

Richard's $.02 :munchin

RICHARD:

I remember those when I was an assitant R.O.T.C. instructor.

Lot of those were really applicable too.

Those were definitely Bellionger's work.

Do you guys remember the REDLIW T-shirts that were going around in the 80's. I know some of you know what I"m talking about.

That created a HUGE stink.

AL

I have several of Pat O'Kelly's from back in the 80's: Ranger vs. SF Option; CLOWNs (Clandestine Liberators OF Wimpy Nations); The Creation; and Scripture For Planning.

Vaclav Havel "The Meeting"
 

The old 1-10th SFG(A) guys will remember SFC(RET) Vaclav Havel who was our language instructor in Bad Toelz and Stuttgart for years. He was retired SF, native born Czech (Lodge Bill), and was an artist. He's in his late 70's/early 80's now, and still in the Munich area.

He did the dot prints where the picture is actually thousands of ink dots with a pen. I'm not sure of the actual name.

One of the ones he made was called "the Meeting", which was the initial meeting between and SFODA and the auxilliary. All the persons depicted in the print are actual QPs. There is also the front gate of Flint Kaserne, the Berlin Wall Memorial ( he penned this in the early 80's, with a thru date of 199?). Damn he was close.

The prints are available from SFA 4-24 in Colorado Springs, CO, and from myself here at Bragg. SFA 4-24 website: http://www.sfa4-24.org/index.htm

v/r
Stras

LtC John L Cassady, aka: Jack or Cass did the original sketches Richard mentioned. There was a "Jump School", Ranger School", "Special Forces", and I think one other??

Jack is old school SF. He is mentioned in John Plaster's "Secret Commands".

He still lives in NC and runs a small art studio and school.

www.toonmaker.com/about.shtml.

He hasn't licensed the set for publication for years.

I had a complete set,, including the SF "A" Team, lost it in a move.

I now have an autographed copy of the SF A Team....

Does anyone have any of the other cartoons??

Did Jack happen to do the mural inside TMC 14 ?
The style is similar.

Don't know,, but his cartouche is very bold. I doubt he didn't sign it??

IIRC - there was one for each of the staff sections, too - the S-1, the S-2, the S-3, the S-4.

Havel worked in the graphics section down in the basement at Tolz after retirement, and many of us have certificates and plaques designed and made with his artistic hand.

Another SF artist of the era was Joe Beasly who did a great series of B/W prints/cards of SF skiers, HALO jumpers, combat divers, mountain climbers, etc.

Richard's $.02 :munchin

I believe its called stippling, similar to the woodworking practice.

The artist term for this technique is "pointillism", some refer to it as poinitism.

As someone who originally thought he wanted to be an art teacher and still dabbles, it is commonly accepted practice to refer to (1) pointilism in reference to the use of color/paint (e.g., Pissaro) and (2) stippling in reference to a similar shading by black ink dotting (crowquill pens, rapidographs, etc).

Havel and Beasley were very good at stippling. :lifter

I personally like to use pen/ink and color pencil. :)

Richard's $.02 :munchin

I've got all the MOS sketches that MA Balinger did--they are great! The date on the ones I have are '81, and I have yet to find him or his drawings on the net.

Thanks for the info, Richard.

Here's one of my pen/ink/color pencil sketches - "Deflection..."

Richard's $.02 :munchin

Very good!

QP Richard--

May we see some of the others? :munchin

Very nice, Richard! I agree with Sigaba, more please.

Pat

Mother Theresa

I did one of Col. Bank, Ive got to figure out how to transfer the image from 3 1/2 disc to my new computer. (I just mastered the lightswitch yesterday)

Watercolors are a tough medium - at least for me. Nice. :lifter

I am looking forward to seeing the COL Bank portrait.

Richard's $.02 :munchin

Richard and SWPA - What talent! I, too, look forward to seeing more. Thank you.:munchin

I agree with Pat and Sigaba, more please...................:)

GB TFS

Very nice Richard
 

Nice work of fantasy there Richard... An LT laying in a morter hahahaha

Just Joking;)

Blue

RICHARD

Its strange how difficulties are rated from artist to artist. To me, the art of sketching in any medium is difficult. You leave no room for error. Your rendering must be accurate and concise.

Water and Acrylics on the other hand is quite easy. You plop down a color you like, push it around with a brush and quit when it looks good to you. Nothing to it.

Thanks for displaying your talents. VERY nice.

swpa,
I agree. I find watercolor to be the easiest medium and most forgiving to work in. Oils, pastels and charcoal to me on the other hand are a nightmare and I tend to shy away. Pen and ink/watercolor wash are also a favorite of mine. Very nice piece BTW. Same goes for yours Richard. Both very nice works indeed.

Another soldier-artist who did work similar to LTC Cassady is George Finley.
Finley came on active duty in 1960, and retired in 1983.
Here is some of his work:
http://www.militaryart.com/caricatures.html

Col. Bank "A Special Forces Family Tree"
 

I finally downloaded my 3 1/2 floppy files to disc. Here is a painting that was made into prints. The original was donated to SFA Hq.

The photo is not of the greatest quality, Im afraid.

The painting was done in 1998, and represented the approved flashes that I had available to me at the time.

That would, indeed, make a nice poster - especially if autographed by COL Bank. Portraits ain't easy and it's difficult to capture the personality of the subject. IMO you've done that - and the SSI/flash history of what COL Bank created really adds to its meaning. Well done.

I've been playing around with my wife's new digital camera in an attempt to record some of my work - here's a color one I did a couple of years ago (5 IIRC) when I was playing around with oil pastels. Doing shapes like this was kinda fun - attempting Breck-girl like portraiture (my ultimate goal) is something entirely different. Maybe someday. ;)

Richard's $.02 :munchin

RICHARD:

OUTSTANDING! With your outlook on interpretation, your style would lend itself well to airbrushing. Something to consider when you finally find yourself "with some spare time".

Has anyone purchased tickets for the Portrait Artwork that the SFA is raffling?

Here is one I airbrushed for an old WWII - Korea AF Vet.

That one came out nice - very nice. I'll bet the guy loves it and gets quite a few compliments. :)

Richard's $.02

RICHARD:

The ole fella loves it. But, he says it has its drawbacks too, especially on the Interstate when all of a sudden all he can see through his rear view mirror are the words MACK or PETERBUILT, by truckers trying to get a better look.

What an outstanding looking Ford!

R99,

Wow, those pics are great only it's too bad you can't get to see the detail.......;)

GB TFS

Not everyone outside of the SFA even knows about the upcoming raffle.;)

TS, Selling my tickets was a breeze.... ;) My regret is I didn't request additional ones :(

GB TFS :munchin