Post square 020513 ~ It's Not Working

The photo on the front page of the Post is of a group of Malian women and children walking past a wall. On the wall are paintings of flags of African countries that have joined France in an anti-Islamist military effort.

But the article is not about France's efforts, it's about those of the U.S., which have done little to prevent the Islamist extremists from establishing themselves in North and West Africa.

It all started when the U.S. failed to take advantage of an opportunity to capture the Algerian jihadist, Mokhtar Belmokhtar (the one-eyed bandit), in 2003. It's been downhill from there. One possible reason for this is the U.S. government's split over just how aggressive to be. The Defense Department being for military action and the State Department being, perhaps, according to some, too tolerant of al-Qaeda's presence.

I did this drawing quickly. It's small. I just found out I will be doing the American Craft Council show in two weeks. I've been creeping up the waiting list, and have been planning to do it, but now I really have to get serious. I want to keep doing these daily drawings, but they will have to be spontaneous and not time-consuming. It will be interesting to see how that effects them!

One thing that I did differently with this one was that I didn't draw it out in pencil first. I just went at it with color. Scratched into the surface with an X-acto blade.