I was once the benefactor of nepotism.

The country was entering into a recession when I graduated college and no one was hiring.  My father in law was working at Caterpillar in Purchasing, Castings if you must know, and he got me a cushy job as a storage handler. I was originally slated to work on the line assembling tractors and breaking my back, but he arranged a last minute change that switched my assignment with someone else’s;  I got the cushy job and someone else got the opportunity to develop a lot more character.

It was essentially a desk job out on the factory floor with occasional runs finding parts to ship out.  I got to drive a little yellow scooter while looking for those parts; on slow days I’d meander through the factory and buildings, taking new and inventive paths to avoid being seen too often doing nothing.

It was a great thing that my father in law had gotten me this easy and unsatisfying job versus one that required hard work and pride in accomplishment. Had I built some tractors I may have actually enjoyed it there and never left, but I became discontent, and amidst all that freetime I did a lot of drawing that kept me aware of what I really wanted to do.  I determined that I would find any other job, so long as it had something to do with creating artwork and improving my skills.   My job at Caterpillar lasted about a year until I found that job working for a mural company.

Here are some sketches I found a few weeks ago.  I did them on Caterpillars dime.

The first one is a sketch of my favorite co worker, Doug. His goal was to amass 1 million dollars before he would allow himself to retire.  He was at $750,000.00 when I left.  He read books and financial magazines all day, considered every task “an opportunity”, and taught me what nepotism meant.

A drawing of Doug colored in Photoshop

One day I found this dead dragonfly blown in from the dock doors.

Dragonfly sketch done from actual specimen

I drew this 6 by 7 inch caricature of George Bush off of a postage stamp sized photo in a newspaper.

A George Bush Drawing

About Eulojio Ortega

Eulojio Ortega has painted hundreds of murals and commissioned artwork since 2003 and is available for travel anywhere. Connect with him on Google+

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