Gold, Just Gold...

This poster is great, not much to it, very simple, but it says a lot. Originally created by Charles Buckles Falls it speaks volumes about the culture of the 'Corps: "JOIN ME" The first to fight on Land and Sea, U.S. Marines.

You can get the full information and some close-ups here.

Image retouching tutorial on Squidoo

I have just created a lens over at Squidoo demonstrating how I go about retouching the Marine Corps historical posters. There is some specific info on how I scan images, as well as some advice on working with original images versus duplicate data. If you are into that sort of thing, check it out: :)

Squidoo Lens

-Jason

"Christy Girl" Recruiting Poster

Hi,
We have just posted a beautiful print by Howard Chandler Christy. It is an iconic recruiting poster featuring one of his famous "Christy Girls". They were dubbed that nick-name because of the unique look of his illustration style.

You can take a look at the poster with some great close-ups here.

One of the unique things about this poster is the marine Corps flag in the background. It is the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor on a blue field rather than red.

-Jason

Time-lapse Restoration

Here is a time-lapse video of a poster being digitally restored. The poster is by Howard Chandler Christy. It is a good example of the original "Christy Girl" that became famous during the era of World War I.




I really like this poster, not only is it a great image, but it is also interesting in that unlike most recruiting posters of the time, it features a woman in uniform.

There is a fun detail in the background of the painting. Note that there is a Marine Corps flag being carried into battle; in front of the American flag. Nicely done! But the American flag is higher, and rightfully so.

-Jason

Be a U.S. Marine! Poster now online

I just posted a this new image, it is one of my favorites. It is a restored recruiting poster of a Marine holding a handgun, U.S. flag in background.


I really like this image a lot, it is a very strong image, very iconic. It is a good study of a Marine Corps uniform typically worn during WWI. Interestingly, the Evening Star Building referenced in this poster was home to Washington, D.C.'s most important newspaper at the time, the Evening Star. Located at 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. the building has long since reigned as one of our nation's capital's premier signature architectural landmarks. The original artist was James Montgomery Flagg.

After some digging, I found this information about the artist:
James Montgomery Flagg was born in Pelham Manor, New York on June 18, 1877. He was enthusiastic about drawing from a young age, and had illustrations accepted by national magazines by the age of 12 years. By 14 he was a contributing artist for Life Magazine, and the following year was on the staff of Judge Magazine. He studied fine art in London and Paris in his early 20s, then returned to the United States, where he produced illustrations for books, magazine covers, political and humorous cartoons, advertising, and spot drawings prolifically. Working as an American artist and illustrator, he worked in media ranging from fine art painting to cartooning, but is best remembered for his posters.At the height of his career, he was reported to have been the highest paid magazine illustrator in America.

In addition to his recruiting posters, his most famous poster was created in 1917 to encourage recruitment during World War I. It showed Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer with the caption "I Want YOU". Over 4 million copies of the poster were printed during World War I, and it was revived for World War II. Flagg used his own face for that of Uncle Sam (adding age and the white goatee), he said later simply to avoid the trouble of arranging for a model.

James Montgomery Flagg died in New York City May 27, 1960.

Parris Island Chapel

Hi,
I am working on a new painting and have been trying to lay my hands on some photos to use as references of the chapel at Parris Island. Specifically, I am trying to find pictures of the stained glass in the chapel that features the Marine using the flamethrower; although, any references of the chapel would be welcome.

If you happen to have any photos that you would be willing to let me use as a reference I would greatly appreciate it, not looking for originals, scans would do quite nicely (the higher resolution the better!) :)

Thanks for visiting.

Poking around the web i found a YouTube video of these windows, check it out!

-Jason

Great Commercial...

Ok, so this is not strictly related to my art,but I stumbled across the site that has all the back story for the new Marine commercial that features the amazing Silent Drill Team. There is a lot of good stuff there; the making of and tour information, and also some very cool videos of family and friends of the marines that participated in the video. As an aside, if you ever get a chance to see the Silent Drill Team, do so, it is an amazing experience. I saw them shortly before graduation from boot camp, it was not the most relaxed atmosphere to enjoy their performance but it was tremendous demonstration nonetheless.

In case you have not seen the new commercial, I have embedded it below.

Semper Fi!

-Jason

New image posted

Here is the latest image that I have completed restoring over this past weekend:

"Do Your Duty, Join the U.S. Marines Help Them Defend America on Land and Sea."
Check out my art gallery!

It was originally posted between 1914 and 1918, and I am not sure who the original artist is, if anyone knows, please be sure to let me know so I can attribute the image properly.

The poster shows a Marine artillery crew firing a cannon aboard ship featuring a space at the bottom of the poster for a recruiting station address. Additional images of this can be seen here.

Thanks and stay tuned for more restorations and art to come!

-Jason

Marines smash through recruiting goals

Good info and great news for the Corps, it speaks to the relevance of what our Marines still bring to America's young people; discipline, strength, and honor. More importantly, it demonstrates that America's youth still value and those traits.

A few choice quotes:

"In April, the Marines signed up 2,233 recruits, beating their monthly goal by 142 percent, a level that far exceeds any other military service."

"..the Marine ethos, a combination of history, toughness and sense of duty and commitment, is a powerful sales tool..."

"The physical and mental challenges and the intangibles of duty and honor are the Marine Corps' biggest selling points."

"I don't have to sell the Marines. They know what they want when they step in the door" said Marine Recruiter Staff Sgt. Jessie Jelks

"When potential recruits walk in asking how much money they'll get or benefits, it's not unusual for a recruiter to walk them to the door and point out the Army, Navy and Air Force offices next door," said Capt. Antonio Hinojosa


Check out the full story:

Marines smash through recruiting goals

Semper Fi!

-Jason

Remembering D-Day

Today, let's take a moment and remember the sacrifices made 64 years ago during D-Day, the invasion of Normandy. More than 9,000 allies were killed or wounded that day, securing the freedoms that we enjoy every day.

Army D-Day site
Normandy France D-Day site

To all veterans of all the services that participated in World War 2, thank you.

-Jason

p.s. - Thanks Grandpa (both)

3 New Fans!

Holy smokes, there are already 3 fans watching my Imagekind gallery (thank you!), I need to get cracking on getting more of the marine recruiting posters online...

I have one that is almost ready to go with maybe 4-5 hours left to work on it, I should have it done this weekend and ready to post by Monday evening.

Here is a thumbnail, I don't want to link to a big picture until it is finished, I have a tendency to be a bit of a perfectionist.

I like this one a bunch, it's got a cool feel being one-color, the blank box at the bottom is where a recruiting station address would be written in.

Once the big version is posted to my gallery you will be able to get a close look at the old-school ships cannon that the Marines are loading, in this case they are feeding a power charge in after the projectile. Thinking about it, I would be curious to find more information about Marines serving on gunnery crews aboard ship...

-Jason

Site is live!

Hi,
Not a real long post here, but I am excited that the www.LeatherneckArt.com website is finally live. I have posted my first set of images and will be adding many more in the near future.

I have been restoring old Marine Corps recruiting posters in Photoshop for a little while now (just for myself mainly), and with some encouragement from my wife, have set up a web site to offer them to other people that might be interested too. I am pretty excited about this as I also hope some of my own original art as well.

I am using ImageKind for fulfillment; they have really good prices and lots of options for buying art. Check them out if you get a chance. :)

I have noted on the site that if you are affiliated with a charity or service group and are interested in offering any our our prints as part of a fund raiser that benefit Marines or organizations that help Marines both current and former, please contact me about receiving prints at a significantly reduced cost.

Be sure to visit www.LeatherneckArt.com

Here is a little widget that directly links to my Imagekind gallery and let me know if you have any questions, I'd love to hear from you!

-Jason