NcDeuce
04-04-2004, 03:28 PM
Drawing attention to the 101st
Fort Campbell soldier uses art to convey images of military courage
By STACY SMITH SEGOVIA
The Leaf-Chronicle
When Larry Levin said, "What's in the bag, son?" he wasn't expecting to be impressed by the answer. Levin, a car salesman at Jenkins and Wynne, was just being himself -- gregarious and interested in everyone who crosses his path.
The drawings Frank Allen pulled out of his bag elicited stunned silence from Levin. He gazed into the images of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division in combat gear, deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the center of the montage he saw the dead-level gaze of an American bald eagle.
"This impressed me very much, so I went all over the dealership with him," Levin says.
Jenkins and Wynne owner Don Jenkins bought several copies of the print, as did many others who saw the artwork.
Levin found out later that the braces-wearing "kid" he dragged all over the dealership is actually a 5th Special Forces Group soldier with 20 years of service. Allen saw the things he draws firsthand. A soldier since 1984, he will retire from Fort Campbell, his final duty station, in July.
Allen knew early on he was interested in a career in art. His love of drawing began at age 4 1/2. By the time he was a teenager in Reno. Nev., making time for his art was much more difficult. He went to school every day, then worked at a casino for eight hours a day, five days a week. He squeezed in time to draw where he could.
"That was my life -- work, school and drawing," he says. "I never had a social life in high school."
While his schoolmates hung out, played sports and went on dates, Allen made no time for fun.
"In high school, I was always the shy kind of person," he says. "I didn't really have a lot of self confidence, I guess you would say."
His art, once a very private expression of his secret talents, has become, over the years, the thing that distinguishes Allen among great men, the thing that wins him admirers the world over.
When President Bush visited Fort Campbell last month, he left with a signed copy of Allen's "Operation Iraqi Freedom -- 101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagles in Iraq." It's not the first piece of Allen's art the president has owned. In 2002, General John Mulholland, former commander of 5th Special Forces Group, presented Bush with a shell casing from Operation Enduring Freedom. On it, Allen had airbrushed scenes of battle surrounding the silhouette of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.
For his prints commemorating military service missions, Allen draws only from photographs, because accuracy is more important to him than artistic interpretation.
"People can interpret things any way they want to," he says. "Photographs don't lie."
Allen traveled a circuitous path to become a graphic illustrator for 5th Special Forces Group, a job he has held for eight years. He started his career in the Army as a 9E M60A3 Tanker Crewman. Later, he trained to become a 19K Tanker on the M1 tank, where he served for nine years as Armor Crewman. He served with the 4th Psychological Operations Group at Fort Bragg for a time, then was sent to Korea with the 751st MI Battalion.
Finally, after more than a decade in the Army, Allen had the opportunity to do what he loved every day. He transition trained to become a graphic illustrator. Allen says people assume that in that role, he does not go on combat missions. In fact, he has deployed to Iraq twice in the past three years. While in Iraq, he was responsible for tracking locations of men and supplies using computer imaging.
Today, looking at the end of a 20-year career in the Army, Allen is enjoying the options that fill his future. He has made a thriving business selling high-quality, acid-free prints of his drawings for $40 each. Although he sells some through frame shops, most sales come from his Web site, www.fallengraphics.com, or word of mouth.
Allen primarily works in black graphite, but he is also a master airbrush artist. As a sideline, he custom painted several Harley Davidsons for fellow soldiers. He has contracts for graphics work in the corporate world, but is also broadening his skill base to include freelance Web page design.
Enticed by the possibilities, Allen is also pleased to have more time to spend on his artwork and with his family -- time that is one and the same.
"My family is a great part of my success as an artist," he says. "That's why my studio is in my living room."
Working at a folding trestle table, Allen is in the midst of his kids, Makenzi, 10, and Landon, 6, and is also near his wife of 13 years, Scotti, whether she is watching a movie or working on a project of her own. Once an introvert, Allen says he no longer likes to be alone when making art. He prefers to be surrounded by activity.
"I really like being around my family," he says.
Although his art has the ability to captivate people in an instant, Allen does not aggressively market it. He is currently working on a print honoring the 187th Infantry Regiment, the Rakkasans.
"I'm about just doing my artwork," he says. "If the work is good, it's going to sell itself. That's my theory on it."
That theory certainly proved true in Allen's chance meeting with Levin, which left an indelible impression on the salesman.
"He's a low-key guy, but he's really got a big heart," Levin says. "He fought for our country. He's a hero."
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/stories/20040404/localnews/167833-70302.jpg
Allen signs one of his drawings as his kids, Landon, 6, and Makenzi, 10, and wife Scotti watch.
http://www.fallengraphics.com/pages/prints/prints.htm
Pretty good stuff, we have one similar hanging in the hallway at home.
Fort Campbell soldier uses art to convey images of military courage
By STACY SMITH SEGOVIA
The Leaf-Chronicle
When Larry Levin said, "What's in the bag, son?" he wasn't expecting to be impressed by the answer. Levin, a car salesman at Jenkins and Wynne, was just being himself -- gregarious and interested in everyone who crosses his path.
The drawings Frank Allen pulled out of his bag elicited stunned silence from Levin. He gazed into the images of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division in combat gear, deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the center of the montage he saw the dead-level gaze of an American bald eagle.
"This impressed me very much, so I went all over the dealership with him," Levin says.
Jenkins and Wynne owner Don Jenkins bought several copies of the print, as did many others who saw the artwork.
Levin found out later that the braces-wearing "kid" he dragged all over the dealership is actually a 5th Special Forces Group soldier with 20 years of service. Allen saw the things he draws firsthand. A soldier since 1984, he will retire from Fort Campbell, his final duty station, in July.
Allen knew early on he was interested in a career in art. His love of drawing began at age 4 1/2. By the time he was a teenager in Reno. Nev., making time for his art was much more difficult. He went to school every day, then worked at a casino for eight hours a day, five days a week. He squeezed in time to draw where he could.
"That was my life -- work, school and drawing," he says. "I never had a social life in high school."
While his schoolmates hung out, played sports and went on dates, Allen made no time for fun.
"In high school, I was always the shy kind of person," he says. "I didn't really have a lot of self confidence, I guess you would say."
His art, once a very private expression of his secret talents, has become, over the years, the thing that distinguishes Allen among great men, the thing that wins him admirers the world over.
When President Bush visited Fort Campbell last month, he left with a signed copy of Allen's "Operation Iraqi Freedom -- 101st Airborne Division Screaming Eagles in Iraq." It's not the first piece of Allen's art the president has owned. In 2002, General John Mulholland, former commander of 5th Special Forces Group, presented Bush with a shell casing from Operation Enduring Freedom. On it, Allen had airbrushed scenes of battle surrounding the silhouette of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.
For his prints commemorating military service missions, Allen draws only from photographs, because accuracy is more important to him than artistic interpretation.
"People can interpret things any way they want to," he says. "Photographs don't lie."
Allen traveled a circuitous path to become a graphic illustrator for 5th Special Forces Group, a job he has held for eight years. He started his career in the Army as a 9E M60A3 Tanker Crewman. Later, he trained to become a 19K Tanker on the M1 tank, where he served for nine years as Armor Crewman. He served with the 4th Psychological Operations Group at Fort Bragg for a time, then was sent to Korea with the 751st MI Battalion.
Finally, after more than a decade in the Army, Allen had the opportunity to do what he loved every day. He transition trained to become a graphic illustrator. Allen says people assume that in that role, he does not go on combat missions. In fact, he has deployed to Iraq twice in the past three years. While in Iraq, he was responsible for tracking locations of men and supplies using computer imaging.
Today, looking at the end of a 20-year career in the Army, Allen is enjoying the options that fill his future. He has made a thriving business selling high-quality, acid-free prints of his drawings for $40 each. Although he sells some through frame shops, most sales come from his Web site, www.fallengraphics.com, or word of mouth.
Allen primarily works in black graphite, but he is also a master airbrush artist. As a sideline, he custom painted several Harley Davidsons for fellow soldiers. He has contracts for graphics work in the corporate world, but is also broadening his skill base to include freelance Web page design.
Enticed by the possibilities, Allen is also pleased to have more time to spend on his artwork and with his family -- time that is one and the same.
"My family is a great part of my success as an artist," he says. "That's why my studio is in my living room."
Working at a folding trestle table, Allen is in the midst of his kids, Makenzi, 10, and Landon, 6, and is also near his wife of 13 years, Scotti, whether she is watching a movie or working on a project of her own. Once an introvert, Allen says he no longer likes to be alone when making art. He prefers to be surrounded by activity.
"I really like being around my family," he says.
Although his art has the ability to captivate people in an instant, Allen does not aggressively market it. He is currently working on a print honoring the 187th Infantry Regiment, the Rakkasans.
"I'm about just doing my artwork," he says. "If the work is good, it's going to sell itself. That's my theory on it."
That theory certainly proved true in Allen's chance meeting with Levin, which left an indelible impression on the salesman.
"He's a low-key guy, but he's really got a big heart," Levin says. "He fought for our country. He's a hero."
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/stories/20040404/localnews/167833-70302.jpg
Allen signs one of his drawings as his kids, Landon, 6, and Makenzi, 10, and wife Scotti watch.
http://www.fallengraphics.com/pages/prints/prints.htm
Pretty good stuff, we have one similar hanging in the hallway at home.