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Rogue Community College graduate Kenny Farmer is pursuing a career in graphic design. He spent many time in the Marines as a combat illustrator.Jim Craven

June 13, 2008

By Anita Burke

Mail Tribune

Kenny Farmer always had a passion for drawing.

His talent has taken him from being a kid who dreamed of being an artist, through a tour of duty as a Marine combat illustrator in Iraq, to earning a degree in computer science and digital graphics, which he will receive Saturday from Rogue Community College.

"I don't remember a time I was not drawing," said Farmer, who grew up in Grants Pass. "As a child, I would tell my mom I wanted to be an artist, but as I got older, it seemed like a difficult thing to obtain."

He took every art class Grants Pass High School offered, but upon graduating in 1997, college seemed out of reach and he expected to put his study of art on hold.

Encouraged by his father, a Vietnam veteran, Farmer enlisted in the Marine Corps. He spent four years as an engineer and bulk fuel specialist, but kept sketching, designing a range flag, T-shirts and more for his unit. He was serving in Korea, where he had painted a giant logo on base, and getting his discharge papers in order when his supervisor suggested he apply for a graphic design assignment.

The application to become a combat illustrator required him to submit a portfolio, but he didn't have completed art projects with him in Korea. So he broke out his sketchbook to create a whole collection of new works from scratch. He was accepted to the program, re-enlisted, and was sent to Defense Information School at Fort George G. Meade, Md., where students from all branches of the military study public affairs and communications.

He was the only Marine in his three-month course focusing on art, digital graphics and interactive media. After completing the course, he was assigned to Quantico, Va., where he designed logos for battalions, created brochures for events, painted signs, and made drawings of historic buildings. Although he was looking forward to creating art, he was quickly promoted to sergeant and spent much of his time running the shop and overseeing other artists. He and his fellow artists were trained for combat, but still considered themselves "desk jockeys," he said.

Then came Sept. 11, 2001, and the ensuing war on terror. The possibility of seeing combat, which once seemed remote, became a reality.

Farmer shipped out to spend nearly five months as a combat illustrator with a Marine Combat Assessment Team, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, in Al Anbar Province during 2004.

Joining a military artist tradition that stretches back through time, he worked to capture everyday life in a combat zone. He said he was issued a $5,000 Canon digital camera and given a 30 minute lesson in how to use it. With camera and sketchbook, he swooped in with helicopter crews to capture images in the field. Later, he turned his initial images into refined line drawings and paintings.

"I focused on the troops," Farmer said. "People are angry at the government, but they forget the guys in the sand there."

Some of his paintings are in military archives in Washington, D.C., while he has kept others.

"It's a big deal for me to take my passion there and serve my country with it," Farmer said, noting that his older brother served in the Navy and two younger brothers are in the Marines, having each served two seven-month combat tours.

Since leaving the Corps in November 2006, he also has painted several series featuring his experiences in Iraq.

Farmer took painting classes from RCC art department head Tommi Drake and she displayed his work in May in the college's FireHouse Gallery in Grants Pass.

"They are very expressive and timely," she said of the paintings based on his experiences and his response to news that one of his brothers was injured.

"He has weathered his time in Iraq and back here very well," Drake continued. "He's hungry for knowledge and very talented."

He won outstanding student honors in both the art and computer science departments, said Drake, who nominated him as a commencement speaker.

"He's a young man on a mission," she said.

In his speech, Farmer plans to thank those who helped him and other graduates reach their goals. He said his thoughts will be on his father, who always encouraged him to excel, but died recently.

"I hoped he'd get to see me (graduate)," Farmer said.

After graduation, Farmer, who lives in Central Point with his girlfriend and her two children, will continue to work as a graphic designer for a company in Grants Pass and operate his own business, War Machine Graphics. He designs and sells T-shirts, creates logos, brochures and other graphics for a variety of clients. His Web site, www.warmachinegraphics.com, showcases his military illustrations, comic-style drawings and paintings, tattoo designs, T-shirts and fine art.

Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail aburke@mailtribune.com.

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