 |
| Tree Branches Used as Camouflage during WWI |
“Ever do any camouflage work?” was asked him [Harry Barton, Canadian scenic designer who served in the Canadian Flying Corps during World War I, and as a scenery painter for the Luttringer Stock Company in Lewiston).
“Once,” said he, and again that wide smile flitted over his face. He dabbled a bit of brown onto the sketch he was making, and added a bit of high light here and there. “Only once. An officer called me over one day. ‘You have been a scenic artist, haven’t you, Barton?” he asked me. “Yes sir,” I said. “Then take that canvas and let’s see what you can do to cover that gun over there.” He got his little folding camp chair and sat down to watch me camouflage the gun. I arranged the canvas and the scaffold to work from. I didn’t care for the job. I had about all the work I wanted flying. He followed me about with his little chair. Finally I was working right over his head, and some way a can of ultramarine blue got overturned right on top of him. He was the bluest officer you ever saw, he was blue for days. It is a hard color to get rid of. Strangely enough, I was never called upon again for camouflage work.
RELATED LINKS
Dazzle Camouflage: What is it and how did it work? / Nature, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Women's Rights, and Camouflage / Embedded Figures, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Gestalt, and Camouflage / Optical science meets visual art / Disruption versus dazzle / Chicanery and conspicuousness / Under the big top at Sims' circus