"The Sad Scared Shy Dragon" by Kevenn T. Smith

The COVID-19 Corona Virus Pandemic has come to our planet, and I felt that this character was the perfect character to work on at this time while I was feeling all sorts of emotions about this situation. The character is a dragon named Sorrowful. He appeared in three episodes of the classic Filmation She-Ra: Princess of Power series: "The Laughing Dragon," "The Prisoners of Beast Island," and "The Locket." Sorrowful was kind of the "Cowardly Lion" character of the show. He was a huge dragon with the ability to breathe fire, but he was quite easily frightened, and really wanted to be gentle and kind and enjoy the company of his friends. But because of his friendships and how deeply he cared about others, he was able to summon courage in harrowing situations.

This illustration of Sorrowful is available at my Redbubble store on a multitude of products including: prints, cards, posters, bags, phone & ipad skins and cases, pillows, t-shirts, hoodies, baby & kids clothes, dresses, scarves, socks, journals, clocks, stickers, bath mats, and many more, including face masks. Click on the picture to go to this piece at my store.

"The Sad Scared Shy Dragon" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2020
Sorrowful character ©Dreamworks 2020

Sleigh Ride in Oz by Kevenn T. Smith

It's been a while since I've done artwork involving any of the Oz characters, and this was the perfect time to get back to them. I wanted to create a winter scene with Oz characters because I send out postcards every winter to people on my mailing list - because I can never get it together to send out cards at Christmas time. This way, my cards are a nice bonus at the beginning of the year, and they don't get lost amongst all the other cards people are receiving around the Holidays.

This piece depicts the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and Scraps the Patchwork Girl in a royal sled racing through a snowy section of the northern Gilliken Country of Oz. You don't see him, but I imagine that the sled is pulled by the Sawhorse. You can see his hoofprints in the snow, however.

I'm currently working on my own Oz book, and I wanted to begin to find the way that I am going to portray these characters visually in it. I also wanted the art to convey how I envision them not only visually, but something about each of the characters' personalities and essences. My goal is for the book to be the kind of Oz book that I would have loved to read as a boy, that respects the world of Oz as crafted by L. Frank Baum and Ruth Plumly Thompson, whose Oz books I grew up reading, but also has a modern feel and interpretation. I want the book to feel like a balance of utmost respect for the past, but also a pulse on the present. It has been my dream since I was a young boy to make an Oz book. I used to draw up covers for new titles of books that I'd like to see. However, I'd never really had a whole story inside me that I felt that I needed to tell. Until now. Writing a GOOD Oz book is very hard. Writing the kind of Oz book that I like to see, one that mostly takes place in the actual Land of Oz, and making that book GOOD is even harder. Especially if you're trying to honor what has come before, yet also tell a story that has conflict and discovery. I hope readers will feel that my story is a GOOD Oz story, and enjoy the tale as well as the illustrations that I plan on accompanying that story. This will obviously be a labor or love and time, but hopefully the book will be ready to be sent off into the world in the next two years or so. #LoftyGoals

In the meantime, please enjoy this latest illustration. It is available at my Red Bubble store as prints, posters, pillows, ipad cases & skins, laptop cases & skins, mug, tote bags, drawstring bags, zipper pouches, journals and notebooks. Just click on the picture to go there.
"Sleigh Ride in Oz" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2020

This piece is also available in a trimmed format as postcards and greetings cards at my Red Bubble store.

Year's End Rebels

This year brought many projects that weren't traditional illustration projects for me. We also had some health issues in our family, hence the lack of updates this year. I did, however, get some illustration pieces done. A set of "cameos" and a new Rebel to add to the Great Rebellion series.

To start is our Rebel, King Ahgo of the Trolls of Spikeheart. Ahgo appeared in three episodes of the classic She-Ra: Princess of Power Filmation series - The Crystal Castle, Troll's Dream, and The Rock People. While his design implies that he is a skilled warrior, he also shows that he his capable of feats of magic. They include, prophetic dreams, magical imprisoning spells, and teleportation.

You can purchase this illustration of King Ahgo on a variety of formats at my Red Bubble store, including prints, cards, stickers, mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, kids & babies clothes, clock, tote bags, pillows, phone & ipad cases & skins, and many more! Click on the picture to go to its link at the store.
"The Kindly Magical Troll King" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2019
King Ahgo character ©Dreamworks 2019

I also did some "cameo" illustrations of He-Man, She-Ra, the new She-Ra as seen in the Sh-Ra and the Princesses of Power cartoon on Netflix, and He-Man from the New Adventures of He-Man (who, in that show, formed his own "Great Rebellion" when the Evil Mutants took over the planet Primus for a time). These are also available in various formats at my Red Bubble Store. Click on each individual picture to go to its listing at the store.

"Barbarian Brother of the Valkyerie Cameo" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil & Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2019
He-Man ©Mattel 2019

"Valkyrie Cameo" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil & Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2019
She-Ra ©Mattel 2019

"New Valkyrie Design Cameo" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil & Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2019
She-Ra ©Mattel 2019

"Barbarian Brother in Space Cameo" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil & Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2019
He-Man ©Mattel 2019

Winter Wonderland by Kevenn T. Smith

I'm always terrible about getting my Holiday cards out on time. They usually go out in January as New Year's cards, but this time, they were so late, they went out in February as "Winter" cards. This piece was used on those cards. It's called "Winter Wonderland." I did two versions of it, one a "Solstice Blue" version and the other a "Christmas Crimson" version, each having a different color of the cape that Wonder Woman wears in the piece. This illustration is available as prints, cards, and posters, and for other items like t-shirts, hoodies, journal covers, pillows, drawstring bags, phone caces and skins, etc., there is a version just of Wonder Woman and the reindeer. If you're interesting in owning an item with this illustration or a print, please use the Contact Me form at the left side of the page to let me know what you're interested in.

"Winter Wonderland" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2019
Wonder Woman ©DC Comics 2019

The Archer's Affable Sidekick by Kevenn T. Smith

I have one last Rebel to post for 2018. It's been a busy year for me - doing the My Husband is Not a Rainbow book, singing with a band called Bullseye Womprats, working with a local high school's theater department, and working on illustrations for a 6-book series. I hope to do more Rebels to come next year, especially since there's a great new She-Ra and the Princesses of Power show on Netflix now.

This Rebel illustration features Josh. It's time to go in Deep-Fan Mode.  Josh was created to be a protege of Bow and only appeared in two mini comics that came with the vintage figures, "Across the Crystal Light Barrier," where he was named and seen having a picnic with Adora, Glimmer & Bow, and "Don't Rain On My Parade," where a character wearing "Josh colors" appeared playing a flute. If he was Bow's protege, and Bow played a musical instrument, the harp, then it's seems likely that Josh would have played an instrument too - the flute hanging from his side by ribbons. So yes, I maintain that *was* Josh in that panel of that comic.

I gave him a headband as an homage to the vintage Bow action figure, and I used the hat band from his appearance in "Don't Rain On My Parade" for it.

The mini crossbow recalls Bow's archery, and the clover bolts also hearken to Bow's heart tipped arrows. I gave him blue clovers because picnics can happen in fields of clover, and the trees in Whispering Woods are predominantly blue, so I thought that there could be a blue clover in the Woods. I also imagined that perhaps he had been in a Horde Youth Group, and would have had training with a crossbow, as many of the Horde characters have crossbows. I gave him shoulder epaulets like Adora's, but in blue, to tie that in.

His bracelets are the same as the vintage Bow action figure's, to further visually tie them together. The boot design, I took off the Dekker action figure from the Masters of th eUniverse Classics line, because I liked the element of stitching it had that was like the stitching that Josh's tunic had at the chest. Also, the boots were a turned-down style, and male characters on Etheria favored a turned-down style of boot - like Seahawk and Snout Spout. I also thought the gems on the boots were a nice echo of the circles on Bow's boots at the top and the ornamental flare many of the female characters have at the top of their boots.

And then, there's the bowl of potato salad - started as a joke by someone on He-Man.org, that Josh brought potato salad to the picnic in "Across the Crystal Light Barrier." The potato salad grew to have a life of its own, and is now synonymous with Josh. I used colors from his design and tried to give it an Etherian feel.

This illustration of Josh is available as cards, prints, postcards, t-shirts, hoodies, skirts, dresses, scarves, bags, pillows, phone cases, clocks, duvet covers, and more at my Redbubble store! Click the picture to go there.
"The Archer's Affable Sidekick" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2018
Josh character ©Mattel 2018