New drawing in progress.

Haven't touched a pencil since the beginning of 2018...except at work or for daily use...it happens sometimes, I'm inspired for new drawings, I plan to make a USCW drawing of a battle (real or not) that includes all the components of the era.
US and CS cavalry, infantry, artillery, navy, doctors and casualties, prisonners, US black soldiers, photographer, early Gatling guns, Indians volunteers, militias,civilians assisting the fight...what else ?
Any suggestion will be welcome, I'll show there the result. :thumbsup:
 
Working on it since sunday, I plan to make a "tryptich",using three sheets and joining them with corresponding drawings ; that way I'll represent everything I mentionned ; so the center will show the main battle, left and right sheets will show both sides rear (camp, wagons, hospital,etc...).
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Hope this will pass, out of subject, but I guess some people here might be interested, for those who know the 1979 british epic "Zulu Dawn" (starring among others the great Burt Lancaster) and for those who don't, hurry up, catch a file or a dvd of this film, I made some time ago these drawings concerning this battle (Isandwhana 1879) ,between the British and the Zulus...
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Hope this will pass, out of subject, but I guess some people here might be interested, for those who know the 1979 british epic "Zulu Dawn" (starring among others the great Burt Lancaster) and for those who don't, hurry up, catch a file or a dvd of this film, I made some time ago these drawings concerning this battle (Isandwhana 1879) ,between the British and the Zulus...
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Great drawings of a classic film. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
Some changes can be noticed ; definitely, many horses on the front view are just ugly...and the search for nuances of grey and blue (to figure used uniforms, or new ones just furnished...) is sometimes hazardous...but the photo doesn't give it very clearly.
About the green/grass color always so griiin ...I consider to use paint by now.
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It doesn't appears on the image, even bigger sized , but the chariot on the left is Matthew Brady's wagon, he comes to take pictures of the event (he and none of his colleagues wasn't in Appomattox, so he's here !).
Nice, but this couldn't be a darkroom wagon - they were completely enclosed except for some tiny windows made with red glass panes set in wooden sides.
 
I quited this drawing, started and finished an other one, more peacefull, no fighting, it may occure during the last months of the war, I forgotted James N. advice about the dark room wagon...some horses look strange, even sick (!), the green is definitly ugly, I'll change it by now.
The US officers on the right are supposed to show U.S.Grant (don't think he rode a white horse...), and G.A.Custer.
Near the CSA prisonners, you might see a scene representing the arrest of a Quantrill raider who tried to hide among regular troops...
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Here are photos of photographic wagons. All are from the Library of Congress.

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Unknown location. Wagons and camera of Sam A. Cooley, U.S. photographer, Department of the South, 1865.

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Photographer at Manassas, July, 1862.

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Photo shows a portable darkroom in the wagon, with photographer Alexander Gardner seated in middle of image, holding his camera lens. Man at left is holding a plant.

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Petersburg, Virginia. Bomb-proofs in front of Petersburg. (Photographic wagon, Engineer Department shown) 1865.
 
Every summer and winter my sister's husband's family gets together for a week. It started when her husband and siblings and their parents would get together. The kids went to school or moved away to start their own families and these meetings gave everyone a chance to get together and catch up. Not everyone could stay the whole week, not everyone could make it every time but it did give everyone an opportunity to get together and chill. One of the traditions they had was have a community jigsaw puzzle that anyone could sit around and work on while they talked with each other. They had lots of different puzzles over the years of photographed scenes, painted scenes, and drawn scenes. Your art work as it stands now, even with the traits that you feel are flaws would work wonderfully as a jigsaw puzzle. The fact that some things are not quite to scale and there are repetative elements such as the soldiers help make it more challenging. You could overcome the perspective issues or not, it would work either way. What really struck me was the surrender scene where nobody was being violent; if you are putting a puzzle together to relax you want a scene without drama. You can always say these are scenes from living history reenactors and you could include modern tourists and kids and dogs. Maby a bear or raccoon and some deer and possibly, with everyone giving it lots a personal space, a skunk smelling the flowers. Your colors seem so up-beat and your style is perfect. I think you should look into it. If it works out I'd buy a couple for my sister to take to one of the family rendezvous. (See, I really did go somewhere with this posting! I didn't just ramble off into the weeds and leave you there.)
 
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