OCC 195

Here is the last design we’re working on for OCC 195 at OCS.

More Sketches

We’re so busy this week doing designs that I haven’t had a chance to post. Here is a couple sketches from this week.

Saturday Sketches

Post Your Drawings Online

Collaborating and learning from others is essential to intellectual development. Being self-taught is a misnomer; after all, no one learns in a vacuum.

I encourage those who like to draw, and those who would like to learn to draw, to post their artwork over at Drawingboard.org. You may have noticed it among the links on the sidebar. Don’t take it from me though. Here is a quote from comic book artist Mike Wieringo’s blog:

And if you are someone who loves to draw and create art– you should certainly register over at the DRAWING BOARD. I link to it all the time– and it’s a wonderful place for not only professional and highly accomplished artists to share their work, but also a great place for new artists to show their stuff and get helpful and constructive critiques. So for you artists who read this blog and love to show off your work, you might want to consider the DRAWING BOARD.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Drawingboard.org is a learning co-op that’s a lot like art school, but a whole lot cheaper.

I post under the screen name, “Jarhead1.”

IPAC, Yuma, AZ

Here is another design we’re finishing this week. I did the pencils and inks on it, and artist Kris Estep did the coloring and text.

Bulldog in Hummer

Here is a sketch from today. Drawing vehicles has always been difficult for me, but I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of it.

Sketches for Squadrons

Here is a couple of sketches from yesterday.

Wizards and Dragons

A few more designs we’ve worked on this week.

Variations on a Common Theme

Both of these were challenging for me, but I like how they came out.

Mentorship and the American Revolution

Unlike the Powell Doctrine – which calls for overwhelming force – during the American Revolution, the colonies had exactly what they needed for victory and no more. It is well known that our country was gifted with founding fathers who forged America on the Enlightenment principles of freedom and self-governance. Take away any one of a handful of men, like George Washington, Thomas Paine, or Benjamin Franklin, the scales of victory would have tipped in the balance of the British throne instead of on the side of American freedom.

The necessity of these men to the cause of freedom makes their means of being in the service of America during the revolution just as important as the men themselves. We owe a debt not only to the founding fathers, but also to their mentors who helped them so that they were in position to aid America in its hour of need. One such mentor, Thomas Denham, helped Franklin in his formative years when he found himself stranded in England.

When Franklin boarded the ship from Philadelphia, he did so at the urging of Pennsylvania governor William Keith, who promised to set the 18 year old Franklin up in his own printing business. Franklin, believing Keith’s promises, boarded the vessel bound for England to make contacts and purchase printing supplies. Only when he arrived in England and the dispatches of the ship were examined did Franklin realize that Keith did not send the letters of credit he promised. Keith’s promises were empty, and Franklin was stranded with no means of support.

He then turned to Thomas Denham who he befriended on the ocean crossing. In his autobiography Franklin writes:

I found my friend Denham, and opened the whole affair to him. He let me into Keith’s character; told me there was not the least probability that he had written any letters for me; that no one, who knew him, had the smallest dependence on him; and he laughed at the notion of the governor’s giving me a letter of credit, having, as he said, no credit to give. On my expressing some concern about what I should do, he advised me to endeavor getting some employment in the way of my business. “Among the printers here,” said he, “you will improve yourself, and when you return to America, you will set up to greater advantage.”

Franklin heeded Denham’s advice and worked for two excellent printers while in England, honing his professional skills that would serve him well later when he owned his own print shop.

While in England, Franklin settled in nicely and even considered traveling Europe with a friend he made at one of the printing houses, “supporting ourselves everywhere by working at our business.” Had Franklin decided to do this history may have taken a very different turn. He may never have returned to America at all, the loss of which to American culture, and the American Revolution is incalculable. The revolution, without Franklin, would likely have been lost. Denham, however, advised him to only think about returning to America. When Denham had concluded his business in England, he set sail for Philadelphia, and paid Franklin’s passage as well.

When they arrived back in Pennsylvania, Denham hired Franklin as his clerk and began to show Franklin the ins and outs of being a merchant. He instructed Franklin how to keep books, and as a clerk Franklin stated, he “attended the business diligently, studied account, and grew, in a little time, expert at selling.” The plan was to teach Franklin the mercantile business so that he could get set up on his own some day.

Alas, it was not to be; less than a year after returning, Denham took ill and died. Of Denham, Franklin writes, “[H]e counseled me as a father, having a sincere regard for me. I respected and loved him . . .”

Thomas Denham’s importance as mentor to Benjamin Franklin is subtle but critical. He helped Franklin navigate the consequences of an error in judgment. He guided Franklin through his decisions so that Franklin could make the best of his circumstances, and so that when he returned to Philadelphia, he was in a better position to succeed than when he left. More important than helping Franklin return to Philadelphia, and developing his business acumen, was Denham’s example of character. Denham’s example of mentorship was followed later by Franklin himself with equally resounding results. Much in the way that Denham mentored Franklin, Franklin mentored aspiring writer, and fellow Enlightenment thinker, Thomas Paine.

Thomas Paine met Benjamin Franklin when Franklin was in England as a representative for the colonies. After Paine expressed a desire to come to America, Franklin procured him passage, wrote him letters of introduction, and asked his son-in-law, Richard Bache, to help find work for Paine. To Bache, Franklin wrote:

The bearer Mr Thomas Pain is very well recommended to me as an ingenious worthy young man. He goes to Pennsylvania with a view of settling there. If you can put him in a way of obtaining employment as a clerk, or assistant tutor in school, or assistant surveyor, of all of which I think him very capable, so that he may procure a subsistence at least, till he can make acquaintance and obtain a knowledge of the country, you will do well, and much oblige your affectionate father.

Franklin referred to Paine as his “adopted political son.” Over the years, according to Paine biographer Craig Nelson, they became almost indistinguishable in matters of political thought. Paine discussed all his writings with Franklin including Common Sense. Franklin sometimes offered suggestions, but he always gave his support. Nelson writes, “In America . . .Thomas Paine [became] Benjamin Franklin unleashed.”

The writings of Thomas Paine proved critical for American Independence. Common Sense was the pivot point of public opinion regarding the British crown. It paved the way in the court of public opinion for a complete break from England and led directly to the Declaration of Independence. At the beginning of the war, after nearly a year of defeats at the hands of British army and navy, American Independence hung by a thread. To rally support Paine wrote the first of his thirteen part series The American Crisis, which famously starts:

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives every thing its value . . .

General Washington ordered The American Crisis to be read aloud to all of his troops on December 23, 1776, two days before the battle of Trenton. During the battle, soldiers would scream to one another, “These are the times that try men’s souls!” even while bayoneting Hessian soldiers. Trenton marks the first victory by the Continental Army against British and Hessian forces, and was a turning point in the war. Without this victory it is unlikely that Washington would have had the public support and morale to keep the Continental Army together. Paine’s support for the war in general, and Washington in particular, through his writing, helped public support for the war limp along during the war’s darkest days.

On Independence Day we celebrate the founding fathers like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. I think, however, we should also remember Thomas Denham. Denham showed the worthiness and positive consequences that can flow from mentoring just one person in need. He helped Benjamin Franklin – and through the example he left to Franklin – Thomas Paine. Franklin and Paine became instruments of freedom, indispensable in America’s fight for independence. That makes the contribution of Thomas Denham indispensable to America as well.

Happy Independence Day and Semper Fidelis.