SpeedieoftheWeek 15 KRIEGSHUND

Subject: Remembrance Day (November 11th) Tribute
Experiment: Painting a german shepherd dog. (Best dog in the world and traditionally the favourite breed for military and police service work. )
Time: ....I lost track after my laptop decided to be a bitch about smudging and take an HOUR AND A HALF to smudge the clouds. Lappy and high .dpi do not agree.
Comments: This one took far longer than what's legal for a speedie probably (over 3 hours) but I'm okay with that, because this one is a little personal for me. Every year since grade 8 except last year, I have drawn something for Remembrance Day. It started with a Canadian Remembrance Day poster contest, which the local legion and my art teacher always encouraged me to participate in. Now, I'm continuing it because I love Remembrance Day, because it's a day to pay respects to our fallen soldiers. It doesn't matter if they're Canadian. To me, Remembrance Day is about remembering ALL soldiers, no matter what side they were on or what war they fought in, or even their species. Yes - species - in the Vietnam war hundreds of soldiers survived to see another day not because of another human, but because of a war dog like the one depicted here, who sniffed out the landmines which would of killed those soldiers. It's not just dogs either. It's horses (which have served in 'modern' wars too, contrary to popular belief), pigeons - even cats! Be it two legger or four, a soldier is still a soldier and they deserve our respect whether they are killed in combat or not. Lest we forget their sacrifice.


In Flander's Fields
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flander's Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flander's fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flander's fields.

In Flander's Fields is perhaps the most famous WWI time poem in history. Every year in Canada, at every Remembrance day ceremony it is traditional for somebody to recite it, as it is also traditional to play the Last Post and have a moment of silence.

Research wise, I spent a ridiculous amount of time on this. Originally, I was going to draw a war dog and its handler, but I wasn't able to procure good enough references for the soldier's uniform. Then, I heard about a war dog named Sgt. Gander, a Canadian newfoundland dog who had served with the Royal Rifles in Hong Kong, finally saving the lives of a group of wounded by picking up a live grenade and running away from the group. Gander didn't survive, but his heroic sacrifice is just more proof that animals, particularly dogs, are extremely intelligent. So, I thought of drawing Gander. But I couldn't figure out a composition that I liked for that (or find good enough refs for Gander's gear - yes, I'm a stickler for accuracy) so I went back to my original vague idea, which I had liked so much - a german shepherd in a trench, about circa WWII. Partially, this was an excuse to draw a german shepherd, my favourite breed of dog, but mostly I chose a GSD because as I wrote earlier, german shepherds have traditionally been the favourite breed for 'service work' because of their intelligence and tenacity, as well as the strong loyalty which they display to their handlers.

In any case guys, please don't mention the perhaps slightly out-of-scale sandbag or the slip shod looking barbed wire. I'm aware of it.

YAY I CAN FINALLY GO TO BED. ><

And by the way - I will HIDE any comment that makes a off colour crack against ANY of the forces in ANY of the wars. This is a tribute and is not a subject for debate! Please and thank you for being respectful!

Sorry this was uploaded so late. Blame my laptop!

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Look forwards to next week's speedie. Updates every friday! See gallery link above for details.

(c) Rosanna P. Brost do NOT copy, trace, alter, reuse or redistribute!