Kristopher Battles

Sgt. Kristopher J. Battles, sketching while on active duty in Iraq. Kristopher J. Battles is an American artist, known as one of a few remaining USMC combat artist in 2010.

Military career Battles joined the Corps in 1986. He served as a computer operator, combat correspondent and chaplain's assistant. He had to reenlist for active duty as a combat artist.

War artist The United States Marine Corps supported more than 70 war artists in World War II; and the number of combat artists has declined since the end of the Vietnam War. In July 2010, the Corps supported only one combat artist. Today the program has grown, with other military and civilian war artists serving under Battles' leadership and experience.

Artists like SSgt Elize Mckelvey, Captain Charles J. Baumann III and Captain Michael L. Reynolds are under the charge of Battles where they document Marine Corps operations via illustration for historical documentation Combat Artists Illustrate Marine Raiders

Since World War I, a long line of American servicemen-artists have produced artwork based on their experiences in combat. The USMC artists have documented the life of Marines in the field. Like his predecessors, Sgt. Battles' artwork develops during a process of "balancing a tactical eye as a Marine" with the "artist's visual eye" and also noticing the way the light is bouncing off the body armor.