Tillian's War Journal: Faith In Darkness

The year was 1970. A child was born on the coast of Mississippi in the city of Pascagoula, Louis Thomas Cooley, Jr., reared in Moss Point, Mississippi until the tender age of four, Louis was scooped up and moved to Rockville, Maryland along with the rest of his military bound family, as his dad was stationed The Walter Reid Army Post in Washington, DC.
His parents exposed him, aswell as his sister and his brother to a life they never had as children. They experienced the rich cultural scenes of Washington DC which would make a significant imprint on their lives. Places like the Smithsonian exposed him to the history of space travel. Patriotic monuments, museums, and the military, would forever shape and mold him into that of a refined man, a thinker, an artist.
Through the course of his young life, he discovered the beauty of creation. Space ships and cartoon characters moved through his finger tips on to paper each morning before class at Glen Haven Elementary school in Rockville, Maryland. He particularly marveled on the issue of space travel. Amazed at the thought of space travel and the landing of the moon, he drew space ships, watched science fiction TV shows of the sixties and seventies and was later changed for ever through the science fiction and fantasy movie industry that blew the industry wide open in the late 1970's. Who said too much TV was bad you.
In West Germany, Louis attended Ludwig burg middle school along with many other military children. Many field trips and family outings through the German cities and old country fueled his young imagination that would heavily influence him in the years to come. Castles, Gothic cathedrals, history, food, martial arts, people, boy scouting, and the invaluable experience of growing up in a foreign country impacted him greatly.
In 1989 Louis graduated from high school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Though he loved art as a child and had often dreamed of growing up to be a working artist, he found himself facing other interest, other obstacles. He was no longer confident as an artist for the mere fact that he did not have intentions of becoming an artist. It took him one miserable semester of mind twisting data processing at Cameron University, in Oklahoma, to figure out that he was no computer wiz. After dropping out of the university, his mother advised him to meet some one. His mother and father knew that since Louis was a child, he liked to create art, so they encouraged him to follow it. His younger brother, whom had the gift as well, walked around the house as a reminder of his past. His brother's art work renewed his interest.
His mother took him to an army dental clinic to meet a young soldier who worked as a dental assistant. The soldier had been an art student before the army and had some words of encouragement for Louis as he exposed him to the world of Fantasy art and art education. From there, Louis put one step forward to reclaim his young past time, art. "My artist spirit was reborn," quoted Louis.
Having taken one art class in the seventh grade at Ludwigsburg Middle School, in West Germany, He decided to take on a college level art career.
"My first year as a college art student was a humbling one. I was surrounded by students that had studied art all through high school. I only had one eighth grade art class under my belt and an old dream." quoted the artist.
He was surrounded by seasoned art students. He could only rely on his instincts. His fine art professor, showed no mercy. He was barely passing and started to lose motivation, until realizing through one particular exercise that he had something towards the end of the year. This was a ray of hope for an otherwise brutal year.
"We were doing the grid technique on black and white photographs, a series of lines drawn over a photo in grid format. The technique was to teach us to see line and shadow as they are, according to their proportion." quoted Louis.
Up on turning in his work, one of Louis' fellow students remarked that his style was very close to his, which meant a lot coming from the most talented student Louis had ever known.
"He showed me a few pointers as we were the last two left in the class room to turn in our work. He told me that my work was good and that I was just as good as he was, I just needed to be shown a few things, and so he did. The rest is history." quoted Louis.
That following summer, he was in a feverish rush to make up for the training he had missed in middle school and high school; He was determined to prove his self worth the coming year. It seemed day and night consumed him with drawing, drawing, and more drawing as he spent the summer at home with his parents.
"I trained as an athlete would train. I gave my self a regiment every day to follow. I drew with pens and pencils until my fingers hurt. If there was something in me, I was trying to get it out.
"I remember studying the old history of the great artists such as Davenchi, Angelo, Rembrant, and every other master's work I could get my hands on in the public and school libraries. I focused on the human form by copying models in old sales catalogs and magazines, over and over again, until I got it right. When I ran out of paper, I drew on news paper, etc. This was my awakening, my beginning, my renaissance." quoted Louis. From the fruits of his amazing history, Louis now has a vehicle for his artwork through the series of books about an amazing story, about a boy who grows up to be an amazing hero.