"For me, drawing is sort of synonymous with thinking."

May 2, 2017 10:49 PM

A young soldier sketches his way through World War II - and, boy can he sketch.

"When Victor Lundy was 21 years old, he was an American solider in World War II. Thanks to him, we are getting a glimpse into the life of a soldier over 70 years later. Because of Lundy’s passion and talent for drawing, we can now see exactly how the war looked in 1944 through the eyes of a young man." via Vintage Everyday

posted by ecorrocio (23 comments total)

Just wow. Thanks!
posted by mazola at 11:00 PM on May 2, 2017

Amazing drawings. The way he does shading and lighting while also mixing detailed and abstract moments into each drawing is extraordinary. D-Day in particular startled me.
posted by Corduroy at 11:07 PM on May 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Also, the Library of Congress website has all 8 sketchbooks online, with some commentary by Victor Lundy made during an interview in 2010.

Victor Lundy is also apparently also a successful architect.
posted by Corduroy at 11:13 PM on May 2, 2017 [11 favorites]

Our local living legend, 93-year-old artist/author/etc. Ashley Bryan, did the same, carrying his sketch pad inside his gas mask at places like the Normandy invasion. He talks about it here.
posted by LeLiLo at 11:15 PM on May 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

"... I remember getting on the deck and here were these guys, and that's just what they were saying, 'Son of a bitch!'"
posted by Corduroy at 11:26 PM on May 2, 2017

That's a man who, in active service, sacrificed his sleep for time to sketch. Just look at the number of sketches of his squad mates sleeping. Talk about dedication to his craft.
posted by Harald74 at 11:43 PM on May 2, 2017 [11 favorites]

Wow! These are amazing and I wonder if he kept it up in later years.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:57 PM on May 2, 2017

It is especially amazing to me that these drawings were done on a 3 by 5 inch pad - something about the size of an iPhone that could fit into a shirt pocket. No preliminary sketches ; no space for dud pages.
posted by rongorongo at 12:09 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Fantastic drawings. Such a great feel for light and shade as well as minimal lines. Thanks for sharing these!
posted by greenhornet at 12:34 AM on May 3, 2017

fantastic. the line quality of some of these is just astounding.
posted by mwhybark at 1:19 AM on May 3, 2017

You know, we've sometimes joked on here and in FanFare about how Steve Rogers was an Art Students League man - squint, and Victor Lundy is Captain America.
posted by mwhybark at 1:22 AM on May 3, 2017 [8 favorites]

These are extraordinary and accomplished. The more finished sketches are nice but the looser ones really strike an emotional chord. Wow.
posted by maxwelton at 2:34 AM on May 3, 2017

from his subsequent career as a modernist architect of some note (it's a Unitarian church in Connecticut)
posted by atoxyl at 2:40 AM on May 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

Now if only Hitler had his talent as an artist, we may have avoided the whole war in the first place.
posted by Green Winnebago at 3:40 AM on May 3, 2017

dunno how representative of the full collection these sketches are, but... 42 images, and the only one he added colour to is the blood from the only dead man he drew... great sketches in b&w, but I guess some things you can't convey with just graphite...
posted by russm at 4:09 AM on May 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

It's horrible to think how much human talent and intelligence died in that war
posted by thelonius at 6:27 AM on May 3, 2017 [13 favorites]

Here's a modern photo of the church of Sainte-Colombe de Crasville taken from almost the same angle as Lundy's sketch.
posted by jedicus at 9:40 AM on May 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

the only one he added colour to is the blood from the only dead man he drew

Cite? If you're talking about the German, I doubt the pigment is actually blood; too red after 70 years. Or maybe I'm misreading your comment.
posted by achrise at 10:01 AM on May 3, 2017

I think the point was that it represents blood, not that it is blood.
posted by atoxyl at 2:38 PM on May 3, 2017

I think the point was that it represents blood, not that it is blood.

yes, that's what I meant.
posted by russm at 3:40 PM on May 3, 2017

It's horrible to think how much human talent and intelligence died in that war

Every time I learn something new about the war, I marvel all over again that we survived it at all.

(And by "we," I mean the human race.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:32 PM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

I had a similar feeling, with each drawing I was more impressed at his talent and more frantic at the thought that he'd been in so much danger. We'll never know how many other talents went and didn't make it back.
posted by halonine at 5:55 PM on May 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

Lundy's experience seems to be similar to my late grandfather's. He crawled and fought across hedgerow country in France, helped to relieve the Battle of the Bulge under Patton, and made it some distance into Germany. He wasn't this prolific a wartime artist, to be certain, but we do have some cherished pieces he made while he was in France. This gives me a similar but much extended view of the sorts of things he saw. Many thanks for the post, ecorrocio.
posted by bryon at 10:08 PM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]