top of page

The Army Sketchbooks

September 1972 - August 1975

A collection of sketches from three years with Uncle Sam in Europe compiled into four books (hopefully).  The goal is to complete this in 2023.
I will be posting progress on the Studio Blog and this page.

I enlisted in the Army in June 1972 to avoid the draft and Viet Nam. I ended up in Stuttgart, Germany as a Graphic Artist and a truck driver which meant I drove the general's expanding office into the field during field exercises. 

​

I traveled everywhere with my sketch books, in the field and across Europe. They were my sanity in a world so different than the Colorado mountains.  Daily chores were making charts and slide presentations for the general's briefings. Not being a stranger to work, my captain agreed if I had all my work done by Thursday evening, I could take a three day pass and travel. But if they saw me on Friday, then I got more work. 

​

During field exercises, usually two weeks three times a year, I would drive the general's expanding office into the field, set it up and then make flip charts for his briefings. I got wind that I was going to be assigned latrine duty which meant digging  and filling up big pit. I quickly convinced the general he should have me travel with him and create sketches of his travels. He agreed which meant no latrine duty. 

 

I have been consolidating the sketches into bound books in an effort to organize the mounds of paper. The plan is to have four to five books with the sketches arranged chronologically. 

bottom of page