Military - Propaganda!

[PopeTiberii]

Evenin', fine folks.

Well, it's been forever since I've posted to any art forums. Used to post way back on the LWG boards under MyUserName and Vastator. At any rate, I've not done a whole lot of 3D work in a while (been busy with work, getting married and... well, y'know; life has a way of getting in the way).

On the plus side, I've been doing tons of Illustrator work, and this is a big project I've been working on for a few months. The idea was to do some cold war-style propaganda pieces for various powers in differing states of world domination, followed by a piece promoting world government and peace.

The first in the series to be worked on was the Soviet Russia piece. I think I've got the illustration of it done now, but I'm thinking about making it look aged-- like a poster that's been hanging on a brick wall for too many years.


The next in the series that I worked on was Nazi Germany. This one was an interesting one to work on. I'd always get odd looks from family whenever I had it up and they were at my place.. I think I may be done with illustration on this one as well, though I'm not sure, really.


The third was the American Empire piece... Frankly, this was the hardest of the three. So much imagery to use, so little space. And, really, I think I cluttered it way too much. Thoughts on improving this one would be very much appreciated.


The fourth was the Japanese piece, still a heavy WIP. Frankly, I don't know what to do with it. Suggestions?


The fifth, World Peace... Not started yet. Again, hard time thinking of good ideas.

Well, that's it for me... Suggestions would be great!

[Oscaron]

Nice work

I don't know why, but the outer glow in the Nazi Germany one doesn't seem to fit the rest of the style.

Perhaps with the Japanese one, you can put something in that reflects centuries of tradition...there is plenty of symbolism available (architecture, statues, etc).

For some amusement, check this page out:

http://2bangkok.com/wwiipropaganda.shtml

[PopeTiberii]

Originally Posted by Oscaron

I don't know why, but the outer glow in the Nazi Germany one doesn't seem to fit the rest of the style.

Perhaps with the Japanese one, you can put something in that reflects centuries of tradition...there is plenty of symbolism available (architecture, statues, etc).

Yeah, I was noticing the glow a bit, too. Wondering if maybe a stroke line is the way to go on that, or just outright change the colour of the eagle. I'll have to dink with it a bit when I get home tonight.

I tried to work with some Pagodas and such for the Japanese one, but man... They never look right in silhouette... At least, not when I do them. I had thought about profiling a WWII-era Japanese battleship, but couldn't find really detailed shots.

Originally Posted by Mook

Yay! A map with New Zealand on it! :P Hehe just about every map you see has Australia, but no NZ...
These posters are brilliant mate, I can't put my finger on it but there's just something about them that really makes me laugh. I have to admit to being a big fan of the Motherland one... (The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!)

No New Zealand!? Blasphemy! Well, if anything were to be missing, it'd be the fault of the geography map I used to make the map.

Thanks for the compliments.

Originally Posted by BillS

Interesting pieces. The nazi and American one seem a little to busy to me though. I think its to much black on black that does it. The shapes and images seem to run into each other. I don't know how to correct it but thats the first thing I noticed

I'll look to see what I can do about the black on black. I certainly see what you're talking about with that. Thanks.

Originally Posted by TheWharGoul

I like the Japanese one as it is.. Im pretty minimalistic though haha.

I will agree with Bill that the Nazi and US ones are far to busy. Just throwing an Idea out there but does the world map always have to be the same? You could eleminate some of the blackness on the nazi one especially by say placing a globe inside the white of the flag with a swastika placed over it. I think that would be a little bit more visualy interesting then a black map placed over a background. Just a thought.

Also, Lenins nose doesnt seem right to me.. Seems to pointy!

Well, honestly I liked the idea of keeping the world map for all the pieces... It was that way on the original Japan one as well. But now that I changed that for Japan, I suppose something like that could be done with Nazi Germany.

And yeah, Lenin's nose and right eye seem odd to me as well, but everything I've tried just made him look worse. I'll keep on tweakin'.

Originally Posted by DELTA

I like them, but with Propaganda! less is more right? Let the viewer think on it and believe it was there idea to join your cause...

Sometimes more is more, y'know.

[Mook]

Yay! A map with New Zealand on it! :P Hehe just about every map you see has Australia, but no NZ... (New Zealand? Aren't they part of Australia anyway??)
These posters are brilliant mate, I can't put my finger on it but there's just something about them that really makes me laugh. I have to admit to being a big fan of the Motherland one... (The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!)

[BillS]

Interesting pieces. The nazi and American one seem a little to busy to me though. I think its to much black on black that does it. The shapes and images seem to run into each other. I don't know how to correct it but thats the first thing I noticed

[TheWharGoul]

I like the Japanese one as it is.. Im pretty minimalistic though haha.

I will agree with Bill that the Nazi and US ones are far to busy. Just throwing an Idea out there but does the world map always have to be the same? You could eleminate some of the blackness on the nazi one especially by say placing a globe inside the white of the flag with a swastika placed over it. I think that would be a little bit more visualy interesting then a black map placed over a background. Just a thought.

Also, Lenins nose doesnt seem right to me.. Seems to pointy!

[DELTA]

I like them, but with Propaganda! less is more right? Let the viewer think on it and believe it was there idea to join your cause...

[Gorgonzola_Happiness]

Originally Posted by PopeTiberii

The fourth was the Japanese piece, still a heavy WIP. Frankly, I don't know what to do with it. Suggestions?
Attachment 2957

The fifth, World Peace... Not started yet. Again, hard time thinking of good ideas.

Well, that's it for me... Suggestions would be great!

I don't know about world peace but classically virile, warlike imagery in Japan often contains a Katana somewhere along the line, eh ?

[PopeTiberii]

Originally Posted by Gorgonzola_Happiness

I don't know about world peace but classically virile, warlike imagery in Japan often contains a Katana somewhere along the line, eh ?

Oh, that's a good idea. Was thinking about maybe adding some long grass at the bottom of the japanese one, too... I'll get workin' on a katana.

As promised, I tweaked the Nazi one a bit, but now I feel it looks a bit empty. Perhaps I went too far. Thoughts?

[Meurig]

Oh I really like these! The Soviet one especially, very stylish.

As someone else said I too quite like the more minimalist look of the Japanese one and think it fits quite nicely. The latest Nazi one is a bit too empty I think, but definitely an improvement over the first which had too much black - on - black. Overall very nice work.

[PopeTiberii]

Updated the Nazi one again...
I added the iron cross (can't believe I forgot it in the first place; it was always meant to be there. ) and a squadron of fighter silhouettes. I've got a couple versions of this one, with the map large and small, the planes larger in other places, and a different slogan, but I wasn't sure if I should upload them... Thoughts?

Update--

[TheWharGoul]

I like it better but now the two different reds are fighting each other.. Mayber a stronger stroke and the same colour red through out?

Also, Maybe get some 109's for the fighters.. The ones you have now dont seem to jive with me..

[BillS]

They look like F100 super sabres

[PopeTiberii]

I don't remember what I used, but I think they're an old MiG of some sort. I'll poke through my reference materials and some old meshes I have on hand and see if I find something a bit more... I dunno.. German? Or at least something I can work with at any rate.

[Cougar12dk]

Originally Posted by PopeTiberii

I don't remember what I used, but I think they're an old MiG of some sort. I'll poke through my reference materials and some old meshes I have on hand and see if I find something a bit more... I dunno.. German? Or at least something I can work with at any rate.

That's right. They're MiG-21 Fishbeds.

[November Zulu]

Originally Posted by Cougar12dk

That's right. They're MiG-21 Fishbeds.

What a name...

[Tovette]

Neat stuff there. I see the Soviets still haven't been able to take Afghanistan

[PopeTiberii]

Okay, update again. Modified the gear colour and replaced the MiGs with some Tomcats, I think they were. Thoughts?

[TheWharGoul]

Thats much better! PM Bob, See if he can send you some blacked out renders of his 109 model.. That should do the trick.

Or, have you thought of using tanks 'Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink'

[PopeTiberii]

Have I thought about tanks? Yep, of course. Do I have any decent models that at least look like german tanks to use for a basis of illustrator drawings? Nope!

[November Zulu]

Wow, these are really incredible (in a creepy sort of way...) I have to say though, I like the second rendition of the Nazi poster much better than the third. I thought the different reds made the center of the poster (the world in Nazi control) stand out more and focus the image.

[PopeTiberii]

Originally Posted by November Zulu

Wow, these are really incredible (in a creepy sort of way...) I have to say though, I like the second rendition of the Nazi poster much better than the third. I thought the different reds made the center of the poster (the world in Nazi control) stand out more and focus the image.

Thanks! Yeah, I can see what you mean, I rather liked the colour contrast myself. But I also like the new one. I've kept both in my layers so I can flip back and forth any time I add something new.

No updates yet, I'm trying to create some 109 squadrons from some GIS results in illustrator. It's slow going, but I'll post an update when I get there.

[Cougar12dk]

Hehe, yes, I don't recall what the russians call it, but Fishbed is the NATO name for it.

Anything that starts with an F is a fighter plane, B is a bomber (funny huh?? :P)

Examples:
Mikoyan Guerevich Mig-21 Fishbed, MiG-23/27 Flogger, MiG-29 Fulcrum, MiG-31 Foxbat, MiG-33 Foxhound, Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker, Su-31 Flanker, Su-33 (because they're derived from the Su-27)

Tupolev Tu-95 Bear (don't recall any other bombers really)

[November Zulu]

TU-160 Blackjack.

I never thought about that, that's awesome!

[Cougar12dk]

Yea, that's one

It makes it easier for dimwits to call it when/if they spot one (if they can identify it correctly that is).

[ryulikia]

Love 'em! you should do one for Red China!

[Sokar]

The German isnt so god, beacouse the German Symbols are Nordic, not a wheel

[Quetzal]

with did u put south america in the american empire?

[BolianAdmiral]

I love military propaganda artwork, and thusly, I love this... great work.

[Nail]

Very nicely done from an artist point of view that is.

The soviet one looks very similar to what I have seen when I lived in ussr 20+ years ago. I remember they used to have these HUGE posters pretty much everywhere. Specially on the side of movie theaters and parks. To make sure you get max exposures.