Thomason

I could not help but think of the World War II drawings by Bill Mauldin as the counterpart to those of Thomason. In Mauldin’s own words, “My business is drawing, not writing,” but in their drawings the two men have captured the action and reaction of the infantry soldier under combat conditions. The different backgrounds and military orientation of each artist undoubtedly shaded their styles. Thomason’s gung-ho attitude as compared with Mauldin’s more cynical one is well illustrated in their comparable drawings of an American soldier guarding a line of defeated German soldiers. I would hope someone could do a more detailed comparison of these two unique individuals who had such an uncanny ability to show in line so much of how it was.