Sad Sack

My dad, a veteran of World War II (and Korea), would occasionally call somebody a "sad sack." I always thought he just meant that was a depressed person, maybe somebody down on his luck. Today, however, I was curious enough to look up the expression.

The earliest instance of "sad sack" is from an article on "Soldier Slang" in the Bergen Evening Record (Hackensack, New Jersey) of 17th August 1942:

SAD SACK, n.—A sloppy soldier; the possessor of an important hangover; a born basic (q.v.); a Benny (q.v.). Civilian equivalent: a drip, a jerk.
BORN BASIC, n.—A soldier whose inherited mental equipment dooms him to a career of menial duty, forbids promotion.
BENNY, n.—A lout; a stupid, generally loudmouthed, slovenly born basic. It is an epithet applied to soldiers who talk too much.

The expression was then apparently popularized by a cartoon series by George Baker, and was shortened from "sad sack of shit," a common military term. Under the auspices of the cartoonist, it became more of a reference to an inept, blundering person (or soldier). Baker started drawing "The Sad Sack" series in June of 1942, depicting the misfortunes of a private in the U.S. Army.

I say all of this because I was about to call today's post "Sad Sack" without really knowing to what it referred; I decided, after my last drawing of the goofy, giddy, happy guy, that I needed a sad one to match, sort of like the drama and comedy masks, so I did an online search for "sad man" looking for a model, and went to work.

I greatly admire the paintings of my friend, Phoebe, who uses watercolor with a mastery I hope someday to achieve, so I tried with this painting to do it a la Phoebe, with the cooler tones of watercolor rather than the brighter Daler Rowney inks I've been using, working at subtle shadings that melt into others without sign of a line. Not knowing how or in what order she applies her colors did stymie me a bit, but I feel like I was somewhat effective in finding her style.

Here's my Sad Sack. I'm not sure he's done; maybe the background needs to change color so as not to look so much like his face? I'ma ponder it.

Gel pen, pencil, watercolor, Uniball Vision pen, Signo white gel pen, on 140-lb. Fluid watercolor paper, 9x12 inches.