Forward Observer

Forward Observer – Graphite and Digital

Prints Available

I know a lot of people stress their job selection and finding just the right job for them when they enlist.  I knew I wanted to join the Army, and while I didn’t know exactly what job I was going to go with, I knew it would be combat arms.  I had no desire to go in any of the admin/supply/etc. jobs.  When it came down to selecting the job I was going to pick, my recruiter and I simply went through a list of high bonus combat jobs.  When it came to 13F Fire Support Specialist, it just seemed right.  He was an old Mech Infantry guy and so knew FO’s I could talk with.  I had a quick chat with another recruiter who gave me a quick run down of the job and I was set.  I love what I did as an FO.  It was the best mix of small unit and large scale operations.  It allowed me to get into the mix with all combat unit types from Infantry to Armor to Scouts.  And it allowed me the chance to meet and befriend some of the greatest people I’ve ever known.

This drawing has been in my head for some time, and with all of the commission work I’ve been knocking out, I hadn’t had a chance to get at it.  I’m glad I was able to finally get around to working it up.  Though it wasn’t without issue.  I had a lot of trouble creating a believable sense of scale and background and I think that’s why it took me so long to work out an idea on how to color the background and fill in the scene.  I tried to let the color do most of the work with this one and I think it succeeds.

For more of my work be sure to check out my Facebook page or and shop.

Fire Support Recruiter

Prints available: http://society6.com/AaronProvost

Another commissioned piece that actually allowed me to explore a few elements I’ve been wanting to!  This one took a little longer than I was expecting mostly because of all that metal work.  I ended up redesigning things along the way with the fingers to add some interesting details that would keep them from looking bland. I originally had them as simple caps without any of the ridges or even some of the armor splitting.

Can you find the easter egg I left for the FIST crews out there?

Foward Observer

Forward Observer – Graphite and Digital

Prints available on Society6

I know a lot of people stress their job selection and finding just the right job for them when they enlist.  I knew I wanted to join the Army, and while I didn’t know exactly what job I was going to go with, I knew it would be combat arms.  I had no desire to go in any of the admin/supply/etc. jobs.  When it came down to selecting the job I was going to pick, my recruiter and I simply went through a list of high bonus combat jobs.  When it came to 13F Fire Support Specialist, it just seemed right.  He was an old Mech Infantry guy and so knew FO’s I could talk with.  I had a quick chat with another recruiter who gave me a quick run down of the job and I was set.  I love what I did as an FO.  It was the best mix of small unit and large scale operations.  It allowed me to get into the mix with all combat unit types from Infantry to Armor to Scouts.  And it allowed me the chance to meet and befriend some of the greatest people I’ve ever known.

This drawing has been in my head for some time, and with all of the commission work I’ve been knocking out, I hadn’t had a chance to get at it.  I’m glad I was able to finally get around to working it up.  Though it wasn’t without issue.  I had a lot of trouble creating a believable sense of scale and background and I think that’s why I’m more partial to the version at the top. It’s cleaner, it speaks more to how you feel when you’re up on the hill calling in fires, and allows the viewer to fill in the rest.

There are a few versions of this one that you can find on my Facebook page or in my Society6 shop.