A how-to-draw booklet of modern US troops returning fire at the enemy. They are drawn in stages of simple lines much like the Lee Ames "Draw 50" series of books from the 50's and 60's. You will probably find a few copies of the series in the children's section of your local library. I did them for The Wounded Artist Project, the non-profit I started to support wounded veterans, but the org is no longer operational.

1. 1

2. 2
In Contact!
Drawing US Troops Returning Fire
by Ramon Bakerjian

3. 3
Copyright © 2014 Ramon Bakerjian
All Rights Reserved

4. 4
Dedicated to anyone who has worn the uniform
…and, to mom, my favorite artist

5. 5
In Contact!
Drawing US Troops Returning Fire
Table of Contents
Why This Book Was Created ............................................................................................. 4
About Line Colors Used in these Drawings ..................................................................... 12
M4..................................................................................................................................... 13
M203................................................................................................................................. 13
M240................................................................................................................................. 39
M249 “Ironman”............................................................................................................... 47
A Detailed M4 Drawing Lesson ....................................................................................... 60
Why General Pencil ........................................................................................................ 114
Andy, Jack and Lee......................................................................................................... 116
“Wow, you really drew that?” ........................................................................................ 117
Hogan Comes Home....................................................................................................... 120
Our mission will be successful with your donation. Please visit our website or mail us
directly at:
The Wounded Artist Project
28384 Greenmeadow
Farmington Hills, MI 48334

6. 6
Why This Book Was Created
Thank you for purchasing this book. I encourage you to go online and view
images of the weapons and equipment used by our troops to detail, modify and/or change
them.
I am the Executive Director and founder of The Wounded Artist Project, a
Michigan-based 501(c)(3) that sends art kits free-of-charge to war wounded recovering in
military hospitals and medical facilities. We have been doing this since 2009. These art
kits are meant for the wounded to use during their downtime between therapies to
develop art skills that may help them consider a college major or career path if they are
medically discharged due to their wounds. More details and links about us are below. (I
started this org with $750 of my own money for the IRS application fee and $100 for the
checking account.)
In February 2014 I was thinking about how we could expand our mission and
remain relevant since the war in Afghanistan was winding down and we would not be
seeing as many wounded coming home.
I started contacting the VA PTSD clinics around the country to see if we could
supply a short list of art supplies to them for their therapy sessions. I wanted to create a
standard list to keep our own logistics to a minimum. While meeting with a group of
PTSD staff at the John Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit, one of them asked me if I
had considered supplying the in-patient vets on-site with arts and crafts supplies. I
replied no as I thought another org was already doing that. She replied no and that the
VA had not received anything from them over a year and a half. These arts and crafts
supplies range from drawing and painting materials to leather craft kits and model kits.

7. 7
Sometimes a doctor will actually prescribe a craft kit as part of a vet’s therapy.
I called the Voluntary Services office of the VA in Washington, DC. I was told
this was true. The previous supplier had been dismissed from working on-site. I offered
up our services and was asked to produce some plan for how to accomplish this. I did
this and also asked if the VA would send a survey to the 150+ medical centers we would
be supplying. They sent my survey on Wednesday, March 19 with a reply date of Friday,
March 21. I got the responses on Wednesday, March 26. Normally, a good return rate for
a questionnaire or survey is about 2-3%, which would have meant about five to seven
would have replied, maybe less with the quick turnaround.
I was stunned when I read that 95 medical centers had replied. The email from
my contact at the VA also included this note,
“The program managers were all very excited for this opportunity as they all
recognize this as a great need and though what I have attached is what they estimate they
could use, they are all grateful for anything the organization can supply and the Veterans
are eager to see this service return.”
These supplies are used by hundreds of thousands of inpatient veterans every
year. The VA medical center in Tucson noted that they have to budget $120,000 a year
to supply kits to their vets, the center in Tampa said they received about $75,000 worth of
supplies from the previous supplier. These numbers are probably typical of the needs of
all of the medical centers.

8. 8
That leads us to why this book was created. It is my hope that it would generate a
short term source of funds to help us get started (it is also a mobile app). We will also be
looking for major corporate support as well as applying for grants. I spent the last
weekend in March 2014 sending out 700 emails to some 500 foundations and giving
organizations requesting their support. I had created this mail list from research I did
over a couple of weeks going through resources published by the Foundation Center. I
sent these emails one-at-a-time to make sure they wouldn’t end up in spam folders.
We will of course accept donations from private individuals and social and civic
groups. These donations can be by check payable to “The Wounded Artist Project” and
to us at 28384 Greenmeadow, Farmington Hills, MI 48334, or made directly via PayPal
on our website.
Our model will be to have VA counselors and therapists contact us with requests
for supplies from a set list of art and craft supplies and then have our suppliers ship them
from their own warehouses so we will not have to receive them, store, repackage and
then reship them (adding time and money to the system).
We will have some small warehouse need and we plan to hire several people to
work in and run it. I am hoping that unemployed, decorated, combat-wounded veterans
will apply. If they have had a bit of trouble with the law, we can talk about that too. I
learned from a veteran who volunteers as a mentor/friend of the veterans court in
Redford, MI, that they think that two of the vets who were in court were there because
they were going the “SBC” route, that is, suicide by cop.

9. 9
At the end of this book is a flyer for my first e-book, Hogan Comes Home. I will
be donating proceeds from this book as well.
My best regards,
Ray Bakerjian
Executive Director
The Wounded Artist Project
C: 248-417-4266
ray@thewoundedartistproject.org
Links:
The Wounded Artist Project
www.thewoundedartistrproject.org
YouTube channel with introductory art lessons and interviews with professionals about
how they got into their careers because of their love of drawing
http://www.youtube.com/user/WoundedArtistProject#p/u
Intro video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFqnSMCXV1o
Our current Beginner kits include:

10. 10
1. Drawing for the Absolute Beginner by Mark and Mary Willenbrink. This
book is indeed a book for the beginner artist, not like most of the other “beginner” books
I have seen.
2. Draw 50 + 28. This is a compilation book of my own creation with the OK
of Random House, publisher of the Draw 50 series from the 1960’s and 70’s done by Lee
Ames (look in the children’s section of your local library, titles include “Draw 50 Dogs”,
“Draw 50 Athletes”, etc.). They are letting us print 2,000 before we have to pay them
royalties. Our book takes 5-6 pages from books on drawing athletes, dogs, cats, horses,
dinosaurs, sea creatures, buildings, vehicles, etc. Our title page shows Lee’s finished
drawing of a boxer.. which I personally thought appropriate for our wounded who know
they face a big fight in their recovery.
3. A great pencil set donated by General Pencil. Lists for $14.95, but they
ship what they can when I ask. Please make sure the next time you visit your local art
supply store or Michaels that you support this fine US company by buying their products.
4. A 9” x 12” sketchpad (purchased for about $2 per sketchpad).
We also offer free-to-download language flashcards made for troops serving
in Afghanistan and East Africa (created from materials from my military alma mater, the
Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA). There are 13 sets from DLI, each with
about 2,000 words and phrases. I created the sets using Excel after copying these words
and phrases from the DLI website.

11. 11
My brief bio:
I am an honorably-discharged, Vietnam-era Army veteran, 1974-1977. I studied
the Czech language at the Defense Language Institute (I received a letter grade of A- for
the 47 week course and max’ed out the proficiency exam for a non-native speaker). I
then served in Augsburg, Germany with the 326th Army Security Agency Company. I
held a Top Secret clearance. I am an artist by avocation and have worked as a volunteer
artist at the John Dingell VA Hospital in Detroit as well as the Piquette Square Home for
Vets and Jewish Vocational Services in Detroit.
Proud dad..
I have to add that my son, Andy, did his Eagle Scout project for the Michigan
chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America located at 40550 Grand River in Novi, MI.
His project involved widening the sidewalk behind the building so it would be
wheelchair-accessible. Andy secured the concrete and other materials needed for the job.
Thanks to Bill Helwig for all of his heavy-lift prep work, too. It’s one of those Eagle
projects you can see on Google Maps!

12. 12
About Line Colors Used in these Drawings
Gray is temporary and will be erased later, don’t draw them in too dark or heavy.
The human body will remain gray throughout this demo. Use a General Pencil #2H or
just lightly sketch with a General Pencil #2B or #4B throughout your drawing
Red is a new line for this page. Use a General Pencil #2B lightly.
Blue is a permanent line on a page that was Red on the page before it. You are
still using that General Pencil #2B as with the Red lines.
Black is the finish color for the drawing. Keep using the General Pencil #2B or
finish with a General Pencil Layout #555.

13. 13
M4

14. 14

15. 15

16. 16

17. 17

18. 18

19. 19

20. 20

21. 21

22. 22

23. 23

24. 24

25. 25

26. 26

27. 27

28. 28

29. 29
M203

30. 30

31. 31

32. 32

33. 33

34. 34

35. 35

36. 36

37. 37

38. 38

39. 39

40. 40
M240

41. 41

42. 42

43. 43

44. 44

45. 45

46. 46

47. 47

48. 48
M249 “Ironman”

49. 49

50. 50

51. 51

52. 52

53. 53

54. 54

55. 55

56. 56

57. 57

58. 58

59. 59

60. 60

61. 61
A Detailed M4 Drawing Lesson

62. 62

63. 63

64. 64

65. 65

66. 66

67. 67

68. 68

69. 69

70. 70

71. 71

72. 72

73. 73

74. 74

75. 75

76. 76

77. 77

78. 78

79. 79

80. 80

81. 81

82. 82

83. 83

84. 84

85. 85

86. 86

87. 87

88. 88

89. 89

90. 90

91. 91

92. 92

93. 93

94. 94

95. 95

96. 96

97. 97

98. 98

99. 99

100. 100

101. 101

102. 102

103. 103

104. 104

105. 105

106. 106

107. 107

108. 108

109. 109

110. 110

111. 111

112. 112

113. 113

114. 114

115. 115
Why General Pencil
General Pencil has been a supporter of The Wounded Artist Project from the very
start. They sent us their No. 1 pencil set free-of-charge to include in our art kits. All we
had to do was ask for a re-supply and we got them. They’ve sent us hundreds.
Next, they are Made-in-USA.
For over 125 years
Finally, in December 2012 a group of us where I was working at the time decided
to play Santa for an Iraqi widow newly arrived in the US with her three children. They
had witnessed the execution of her husband/their father in Iraq right in front of them.
He was beheaded.
I would be willing to bet General Pencil sent us two or three of everything they
produce, again, free-of-charge.
Look for them wherever you buy art supplies.

116. 116
Andy, Jack and Lee
As you continue to pick up your pencil and draw, I would like to recommend a
couple of books for you to work with.
I have several art books that belonged to my mom, (Hi, Olga) when she was a
young artist. They are by an artist named Andrew Loomis. He was one of the best
known artists in the 1940’s. You can find some of his books as free-to-download PDFs
at bit.ly/1nuUn7n
You might also look at “Drawing the Head and Figure” by Jack Hamm. This is
an inexpensive book (mine was $6.95), and packed full of how to draw humans, our
bones and muscles, even the shoes and clothes we wear. A great book for the money.
Finally, go into the childrens’ section of any public library and they are sure to
have a number of titles by Lee Ames, who produced about two dozen “Draw 50” books
in the 1970-80’s. They cover just about every category you can think of: athletes, dogs,
cats, buildings, sharks and whales, famous faces, etc. Many of them are still available
online.
His quick style is what was used for the main drawings in this app.
Thanks to Random House and Broadway Books for allowing The Wounded Artist
Project to create our own collection of Lee’s books for our art kits. We pulled 78 of his
drawings for our own book, “Draw 50+28”

117. 117
“Wow, you really drew that?”
Welcome, GI, to the art kits of The Wounded Artist Project
The Wounded Artist Project is a Michigan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that
has created a series of art kits for you as you recover from your wounds or other setbacks.
They are all free to you. This is our Beginner kit. You will find materials to get you
started drawing. We assume you have no art training and haven’t really drawn that much
in the past. There are also Intermediate and Advanced kits. Let us know if a caretaker,
like a family member, would also like a sketchbook and pencils to work along side of
you.
Art is known to be good therapy to deal with trauma. Please use our kits to help
you develop art skills during your downtime between therapies.
Doing a lot of perspective drawing may make you want to be an architect or urban
planner. Drawing the human body and looking at your charts and talking with your
doctors and nurses may make you want to become a medical or scientific illustrator.
Drawing cars and other mechanical stuff may make you want to be a product designer or
engineer. These kits are meant to make you think of a future career path or college major
that has opened up to you because of your interest in drawing. And keep in mind these
kits alone won’t make you an architect or illustrator; you will have a lot of studying and

118. 118
work ahead of you. We just want to get you thinking in that direction. Keep drawing and
do not get discouraged.
Our Beginner kit will get you started. After you fill up your sketchbook, please
send five (5) good pieces of your work to us (ray@thewoundedartistproject.org or regular
mail) and we will send you the Intermediate kit which will have a higher level art
instruction book for one of the three tracts to keep you going. Feel free to suggest an idea
for another tract for us to develop.
We are working with colleges and universities to fill our Advanced kits with
things you would see as college freshmen. For example, students from Lawrence
Technological University’s Transportation Design department in Southfield, MI,
produced A Guide to Careers in Industrial Design for us. It’s a quick study of the various
drawing-based careers out there in a number of industries.
We are posting introductory art instructional videos to our own YouTube channel
for you to bring up and follow along. See how to draw the human face and body, simple
perspective, some landscape tips and even the modern M-4 Carbine. We have also
interviewed a number of professionals who talk about how they got started in their fields
because of a love of drawing (Bonnie Miljour, one or our scientific illustrators, actually
adopted a bat and spent years studying it… she also has a T-Rex fossil on her drawing
table!). We encourage you to send us scans of your drawings to post on our website (for
your family and battle buds to see) at www.thewoundedartistproject.org and send us your
own art videos for our YouTube channel.

119. 119
We believe that someday, someone will look over your shoulder when you are
using one our kits and ask, “Wow, you really drew that?” We think you’ll find it’s very
encouraging.
Good luck with our kits, GI, and heal quickly!

120. 120
Hogan Comes Home
This book is about the return, identification and interment at Arlington of Staff
Sergeant John Hogan, a 20-year old, US Army Air Force B-17 radio operator/gunner who
went missing in action along with most of his crew on the September 13, 1944 mission to
Merseburg, Germany. I spent over a year researching, working with surviving relatives,
crewmen on the mission, etc.
The US military could not locate his remains after the war and finally in 1953 sent
a letter to his family, and those of other crewmen on the same plane, that his remains

121. 121
were unrecoverable. The crash site was just barely on the wrong side of the West-East
German border.
In 1991 someone digging a grave in the cemetery of the village next to where the plane
crashed found three of the crewmen’s dog tags, including Hogan’s.
The book contains what I found out about him, his fellow crewmembers and this
mission during my internet search (the e-book has over 170 Bitly links embedded in the
text so a reader can immediately go to what I found). I have been able to interview
surviving pilots from this mission and worked with relatives of the crew (some of whom
have told me that my research helped answer some questions for them or filled in some
gaps of the story). One of them supplied Western Union telegrams declaring their relative
was missing in action and then killed in action.
I believe I found the Luftwaffe pilot who shot down his aircraft, "Mag the Hag II"
(this pilot and others that may have engaged her that day are subject of decal sheets and
featured in air combat computer games).
I found that one of our most famous fighter pilots shot down an Me-109 in the
vicinity that Hogan's aircraft crashed at almost the same time
One crew that was lost that day is actually in the Keith Ferris mural at the
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (from a different mission on an earlier mission).
I have found mission reports that gave me new insight as to how formations of
bombers actually flew their missions (they crossed the European coast at what
altitude??), translations of German reports of the crash, and been fortunate to see the
reports from the US team that went to Germany in 2008 to recover the remains. A

122. 122
memorial pond today marks the spot created by one of the engines from 'Mag the Hag II,'
and to this day oil still comes to the surface.
I will donate half of the sales proceeds of this book as well to The Wounded Artist
Project.
Google “Hogan Bakerjian” to find it on Amazon.