WW II

Begginning

As I have already expressed my fascination towards the World Wars this obviously will be my first point of research. How did the wars begin and why? What was the outcome and how long did it last?


The Second World War was a global war that began in 1939 and ended in 1945. It involved a large number of the world's nations, which eventually formed two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million people serving in military units. Marked by significant events involving the mass death of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it resulted in 50 million to over 70 million fatalities. These deaths make the war the deadliest conflict in human history.

The world war is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany, and subsequent declarations of war on Germany and Italy by France and most of the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth. Germany set out to establish a large empire in Europe. From late 1939 to early 1941, Germany conquered much of Europe. Britain and the Commonwealth remained the only major force continuing the fight against the Axis, with battles taking place in North Africa as well as the long-running Battle of the Atlantic.


In June 1941, the European Axis launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, giving a start to the largest land theatre of war in history, which tied down the major part of the Axis' military forces.
In December 1941, Japan, who aimed to dominate Asia and joined the Axis, attacked the United States in the Pacific Ocean, quickly conquering much of the West Pacific.
The Axis advance was stopped in 1942, after Japan lost a series of naval battles and European Axis troops were defeated in North Africa and at Stalingrad.


In 1943, with a series of German defeats in Eastern Europe, the Allied invasion of Fascist Italy, and American victories in the Pacific, the Axis lost the initiative and undertook strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. The war in Europe ended with the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops and the subsequent German unconditional surrender on the 8th May 1945. During 1944 and 1945 the United States defeated the Japanese Navy and captured key West Pacific islands, dropping atomic bombs on the country as the invasion of the Japanese Archipelago became imminent. The war in Asia ended on 15 August 1945 when Japan agreed to surrender.


The total victory of the Allies over the Axis in 1945 ended the conflict. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world. The United Nations (UN) was established to foster international cooperation and prevent future conflicts. The great powers that were the victors of the war—the United States, Soviet Union, China, Britain, and France—became the permanent members of the UN's Security Council. The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers started to decline, while the decolonisation of Asia and Africa began. Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to stabilise postwar relations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II

Specialism

Proposal

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to be a 2D concept artist and learn about how to become a successful artist. I would like to enhance my skills by drawing vehicles, weapons and environments, as these are my main interests.

During this project I aim to achieve successful final detailed work. I would like to be able to produce a respectable amount of work and vastly improve my digital drawing skills on Photoshop. In the past projects most of my work has been more of a cartoon art style, with this project I want to try something different and go down a more realism feel with my art work.

I have a huge fascination with our worlds past history, especially the wars. I would like to learn more about how weapons and vehicles where designed for the sole purpose to end another human beings life. I will look at how they were designed and what different makes of weapons where invented during the World Wars. I want my work to reflect that although weapons and tanks look cool they are weapons designed to kill. I also would like to draw environments but I have to be careful not to just show how horrific wars are so I will avoid just having blood, death and limps flying on a battlefield. Most of my work will be designed on exisitng things as I want to keep the realistic feel and this will help me get an eye on perspective.

Assessment work

My work plan is to be able to produce the following;

·         Thumbnail designs for weapons and vehicles (minimum of 12)

·         Final designs for vehicles (minimum of 3)

·         Final designs for each weapon type ( example 2 pistol, 2 rifle and 2 sub machine gun)

·         Environment designs (minimum of 4)

Because I know I have been chosen for the Archant project for the first few weeks most of my time will be aimed towards that, due to the fact I had no clue on my idea or that it would have been chosen. Therefore I believe this is an achievable goal in the time I will have left.