Corporal Radar O'Reilly

.....Of the 4077th M*A*S*H.

Drawn with B, 3B and 7B pencils.

I got bored yesterday, so I decided to do a pencil drawing. Tonal pencils have an amazing ability to be incredibly versatile. For this they are my favourite media.

This is Walter 'Radar' O'Reilly, Company clerk in the TV Series M*A*S*H. It's an old show, dating from the 70s, but set in the Korean war. Howeever, it relates to society today, still, with the ongoing conflict in the East, showing how hard it is in those situations. My mum introduced it to me in about January, and I have become hooked. Every night between 7 and 8, I watch the next two episodes.

I choose Radar, a) because he's one of the funniest characters there, but also b) because it shows the brutality that the draft took them to. Radar was drafted when he was 19, and is much younger at heart than everyone else in the show. He still sleeps with his teddy bear.

Also, it was an interesting picture.

I love drawing creases in clothes, as I find them very characterful. For example, here, Radar is smaller than everybody else, so his clothes (standard army issue) are too large for him.

Would it surprise you if I said that his corporal stripes were one of the hardest things to draw? That and his smile, the latter of which still hasn't worked.... If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

This was also my first encounter with a scanner... I think it turned out ok...

Now, I will leave you with a very short clip from the TV series. Enjoy!