Military Surplus and The Artists Influencing Military Camouflage

Have you ever thought about the history of military surplus camouflage? Every country has a fascinating history of the development of military uniforms. Let's take a little deeper look.

Abbott Thayer was a very famous American zoologist and artist, who wrote about hiding colorations. He was known as the father of camouflage in some circles. Military leaders from across the globe read this with great interest and implemented his ideas into the design of their camouflage gear. In terms of  surplus military items, you could always ask about what Thayer's influence in that specific item has been. Interestingly enough, Thayer also wrote about countershading, which is how to hide shadows, but this was not as successful as the rest of his teachings. One very important part of the development of camouflage, and particularly that of the Germans, is the Gestalt psychology. This is one of the most complicated parts of psychology and asks existential questions such as "how come we are able to see things". This was heavily used in the development of German army camouflage. Some of the world's most famous artists also had a strong influence on camouflage. Such things as vorticism, cubism and impressionism significantly influenced the development of camouflage, as this was aimed at disrupting outlines. It also used color theory and abstraction.

The French were the first to have a section dedicated specifically at army camouflage. Those who worked there were called camoufleurs and they were almost all artists. It is through these specialists that painted canvas netting was developed, which has been used by all the great armies and is still used today. Many countries followed in the footsteps of the French, with the United States developing the New York Camouflage Society in 1917, for example. This was soon followed by the Women's Reserve Counflage Corps. Germany had similar developments, including what is now widely accepted to be the first printed camouflage. This was the lozenge camouflage and was used to cover military aircraft's.

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