Kristopher Battles is an artist and illustrator working in a variety of media, creating beautiful contemporary images which honor the highest traditions of representational art.

Battles graduated with a BFA from Northeast Missouri State University in 1991, and has pursued his love of art ever since. Drawing or painting what he sees has always been a thrill and a challenge, and he brings this love to each creation, whether illustration, traditional painting, or portraiture.

Currently, he is proudly serving our country as a Marine combat artist. Staff Sergeant Battles has deployed several times in the Global War on Terror to create art for the for the United States Marine Corps, and his work has been featured in publications and art venues across the country.

Battles’ work is currently on display in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. as a part of the art show “Fly Marines! The Centennial of Marine Corps Aviation 1912-2012” from January 2012 through January 2013.

Battles’ work was featured on the cover of Leatherneck magazine, March 2008 and December 2009, and his illustrations for the “Sharing the Courage” series were featured in Marines magazine, Oct/Nov/Dec 2009, and in a Marine Corps Times article “Heroics illustrated, comic-book style” by James K Sanborn, March 22nd, 2010.

Battles was featured in the New York Times Arts & Leisure section on July 18th, 2010, in an article by Carol Kino entitled, “With Sketchpads and Guns, Semper Fi”.

Battles was invited to be guest speaker for the graduation of the Multi-Media Illustrator Course at the Defense Information School in Ft. Meade, MD, September 2008. He was featured artist and guest speaker at the USS Constitution Museum, Boston, MA during Marine Week in May, 2010, and his work was also on display May 5th in the John F. Kennedy School of Government for Harvard University. Battles was also guest speaker at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, January 28th 2011, and was forum speaker at The Army and The Navy Club in Washington, DC March 2nd, 2011.

Battles was included in ABC ‘s “Person of the Week: Combat Artists” with Charlie Gibson, September 2007.

Battles is a 2008 and 2010 recipient of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation’s John W. Thomason Award for excellence in combat art, and the 2010 and 2011 recipient of the Marine Corps Combat Correspondence Association’s Merit Award for Combat Art.

Battles is currently pursuing his Masters of Fine Arts in Illustration through The University of Hartford's Low Residency MFA in Illustration program.

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