Lethal Landscapes: Canvases of the Combat Artist

One of the most unique but least-known branches of the art world is that of combat art - a field where artistically-inclined soldiers realistically draw and paint harrowing moments of combat and the banal vicissitudes of military life. Much of the formal education for this field occurs at DINFOS, the Defense INformation School at Fort Meade, Maryland. This biographical documentary from Maryland Public Television profiles several such artists, who open up on their experiences in such conflicts as Iraq, Somalia and Vietnam. One of the subjects, a female marine, discusses her immersion in the Iraq War - and an incident that forced her to temporarily abandon her canvas, pick up a gun, and return fire.