Compass EP Cover
My first musical release, an EP called Compass, is going to be released soon. I wanted to showcase the cover for it here, and I hope you order it when it becomes available!
©Triple Triad LLC 2024
Nothing Wrong With Singing Silly Songs by Kevenn T. Smith
This illustration is another piece that will be featured in my forthcoming Oz book. This is Scraps, the Patchwork Girl of Oz, who debuted in the seventh Oz book by L. Frank Baum, The Patchwork Girl of Oz. Scraps was created by the wife of the wizard, Dr. Pipt, who created the Powder of Life, a magical powder that would bring inanimate objects to life and imbue them with a personality. The Patchwork Girl was intended to be a servant to Margolotte, the wizard's wife, and she had intended to give her brains with only qualities like obedience, amiability, truth, and only a little amount of cleverness.
However, at the time, Dr. Pipt and Margolotte had visitors, a Munchkin boy named Ojo and his uncle. While most of the adults were distracted, Ojo felt sorry for the Patchwork Girl about to be brought to a life of servitude, so he added more cleverness and other qualities from Margolotte's cabinet like judgment, courage, ingenuity, posey, and self reliance. Upon being brought to life, the Patchwork Girl, who came to be named Scraps, said a big NOPE to a life of servitude and joined Ojo on an adventure and eventually settled in the royal palace of the Emerald City as one of its unique celebrities, continuing to be a free spirit who often broke into, song, verse, dance and play.
A refusal to be what those who created her intended. Can't imagine why I would relate to that. She was always my favorite Oz character, and I hope to do her justice in my own book.
Her figural illustration is now available on several products at my Redbubble Store, like t-shirts, sweatshirts, stickers, face masks, kids clothes, hoodies, dresses, socks, tote bags, etc.
It's also available on several black products, if you're like me and like to wear black a lot. In the meantime, please enjoy this illustration here:
“Nothing Wrong With Singing Silly Songs” by Kevenn T. Smith, an illustration of the Patchwork Girl of Oz
Close-up shot of the Patchwork Girl of Oz, Scraps, by Kevenn T. Smith "Nothing Wrong With Singing Silly Songs" by Kevenn T. Smith
Digital Illustration - Photoshop
©2024 Kevenn T. Smith
You've Found Me by Kevenn T. Smith
To celebrate the Holidays, I've posted a video of a live performance of a bare-bones version of my song, You've Found Me, which will appear on my forthcoming EP, Compass. This song also ties into the Oz book that I'm working on. Click on the link below to watch the video on my YouTube channel and thanks for watching!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOum2-HbzxE
©Kevenn T. Smith 2023
Compass by Kevenn T. Smith
In my previous blog entry here, I talked about how I am currently working on writing and illustrating an original Oz book. What I didn't mention was that I'm also working on an album of songs from and inspired by the book alongside it.
I've been writing songs since I was about 13. Much like the book, it's been a long-time dream of mine to create an album of my songs (with one planned cover song so far). Putting together the songs, writing, and setting them to actual music has been such a deeply enriching creative process for me. It's also a lot of learning and new ground treading for myself, but it becomes really rewarding when I can hear a song start to sound like what I've had playing in my head.
The first song that I'm "releasing out into the wild" is called Compass. Below is a link to a live performance of a stripped-down version of the song that I've put up on my YouTube channel. I hope you like it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jv1-nMrUw0
©Kevenn T. Smith 2023
The Heart & Mind of Oz by Kevenn T. Smith
One of my dreams since I was a kid was to write and illustrate an Oz book. Back in the day, I ended up imagining more book titles of stories that I wanted to see that took place in the Land of Oz and the magical lands around it, and I even drew up cover illustrations for these made-up Oz books. That's about as far as it went back then. Just ideas and situations and characters that I wanted to see. I hadn't even read all of the Oz books back then, because they were pretty hard to track down in those days with no internet and only a meager allowance.
The older that I got, I didn't really know if I had an Oz story inside of me to tell. I had offers to work on other people's Oz books and stories here and there, but most of them never seemed to be the right fit for me and the story that I was also interested in telling. I did eventually have an idea about a story that I wanted to tell that took place in a land like Oz, and when I was relaying my idea to someone, they asked, "Why don't you just write it taking place in Oz?" Could I even dare? Would my story idea even work? Years later, I'm still working on it, but I think I've found a way to make this story work.
So yes, I'm writing and illustrating my own Oz book! I found that I actually DO have an Oz story inside of me to tell. It's taking me a while to get it all written, and it's going to take me more time to do that and fully illustrate it, but I feel that it's a good story, and I hope to do it justice. I'm not ready to let you know the title of the book just yet (I have a title, and I think it's PERFECT), but I'll be sure to announce it here when I'm ready.
In the meantime, I'd love for you to enjoy the first fully produced illustration that I've made for the upcoming book. It depicts our beloved and well-known Oz celebrities, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. They're enjoying couch time on a lovely afternoon day with a book. Eagle-eyed viewers should be able to easily figure out where this scene is taking place in Oz, and I think this piece does a good job of showing the relationship between these two characters that I'll be showcasing in my forthcoming book.
But for now, the characters, the book, and the couch of this illustration are available on various products like t-shirts, hoodies, kids' clothes, tote bags, and face masks at my Redbubble store. Just click the linked text here!
Also available in "Winkie Edition," where some of the items have yellow backgrounds instead of black backgrounds at my Redbubble store by clicking this text.
"The Heart & Mind of Oz" by Kevenn T. Smith
Digital Illustration - Photoshop
©2023 Kevenn T. Smith
Super Friends in Oz by Kevenn T. Smith
I participated in my comic book shop's annual auction to raise money for the Cleveland Food Bank. One person won an exclusive edition of my Super Friends in Oz piece that I created for the auction. The illustration is an homage to the Super Friends episode "The Planet of Oz," where Mr. Mxyzsptlk sends a tornado to transport Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman inside of the Hall of Justice to the planet of Oz. Upon arrival, he transforms them into versions of characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book. The three of them have to find their way through many encounters on the planet until they reach "The Wizard" and of course manage to trick Mr. Mxyzsptlk into saying his name backwards, thus forcing him to set everything right.
As an homage, I didn't want to try to create something that looked like an animation cell from the episode. I wanted to inject my own style into it, three-dimensionalize the visuals, and offer more nods to the 1939 MGM musical of The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland. That meant adding a "Dorothy" to the piece, and while Jayna of the Wonder Twins actually did appear in the original episode, I decided to use Wendy Harris, a character who regularly appeared in only the first season of the Super Friends show. I thought that Wendy's color scheme and design would better meld with Dorothy's and look better alongside the other characters in the piece. And while I'm a HUGE fan of the Oz books, the makers of the movie musical were not wrong when they decided that ruby slippers would "pop" more against the Yellow Brick Road compared to silver slippers that were in the book.
Prints of this piece are available directly from me. Fill out the "Contact Me" form at the left of this page to contact me regarding a print and inquire about pricing. 
"Super Friends in Oz" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil & Photoshop
©2022 Kevenn T. Smith
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.
Holiday Cards by Kevenn T. Smith
Looking for festive Holiday greeting cards? I have two!
The first one, Humphrey & Lucy's Happy Holiday, features precocious pups, Humphrey & Lucy breaking into their presents a little early. It's available on RedBubble.com!
Pencil, ink, Prismacolor color pencils, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2013
The other Holiday card I offer is called Shh! Santa Scraps is Sneaking, and features Scraps, the Patchwork Girl of Oz, also available at RedBubble.com!
Pencil, Ink, Prismacolor color pencils
©Kevenn T. Smith 2013
The Ascension of Polychrome - Prints, Clothing & More!
This week sees the release of the movie "Oz, the Great and Powerful" on Blu Ray & DVD. Also, June is PRIDE month, so what better way to celebrate both than the release of my piece "The Ascension of Polychrome" now available as prints, t-shirts, hoodies, stickers, cards, post cards, and kids' clothes on Redbubble.com? While Polychrome isn't featured specifically in "Oz, the Great and Powerful," the rainbow does make an appearance, and Polychrome is the Daughter of the Rainbow... You can read more about this piece from my previous entry on it when I first debuted it on this site here.
As usual, the clothing comes in assorted sizes, colors, and styles - simply choose your favorite! Click on either of the images below to go directly to the listing on my Redbubble.com store.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2013
The Ascension of Polychrome by Kevenn T. Smith
This illustration, The Ascension of Polychrome, was made for the 2012 Winkie Convention Program Book. This year, the Winkie Convention is celebrating the 100th year anniversary of L. Frank Baum's 1912 book, Sky Island, the follow-up to his 1911 book, The Sea Fairies.
In the book, the young heroine, Trot, and her companion, Cap'n Bill, meet a young boy named Button Bright (who first appeared in Baum's 5th Oz book, The Road to Oz), and the three end up flying with a magical umbrella to an island high in the sky known as "Sky Island." They first land in the Blue country, where everything is blue and the people are none too friendly. They manage to escape through the fog bank separating the blue country from the neighboring Pink Country, where the people are more pleasant, but they're still not welcome to stay. The law leads them the Pinkies to believe that Trot and her companions must be thrown over the edge of the island to their deaths. Fortunately, Polychrome, the Rainbow's daughter, (who also appeared with Button Bright in Baum's 5th Oz book, The Road to Oz)arrives and stops the execution, and finds a loophole in the Pinkies' Book of Laws to not only save Trot, Capn' Bill, and Button Bright, but to declare Trot their leader. The Rainbow returns, and Polychrome ascends into it to return to her sisters and her father, which is the scene I wanted to depict here.
When creating this piece, I one of my goals was to capture the feeling of the many paintings depicting Christ's ascension into Heaven. I felt that in the book, Polychrome was a kind of divine savior figure, descending from on high and reversing the fortunes of Trot and her companions, as well as bringing an abundance of color into a monochromatic world. Like the Greek Goddess of the rainbow, Iris, she brings color and knowledge with her, which in turn brings growth and change.
The Ascension of Polychrome by Kevenn T. Smith ©Kevenn T. Smith 2012
Polychrome Detail ©Kevenn T. Smith 2012
Violet Sister Detail ©Kevenn T. Smith 2012
Red Sister Detail ©Kevenn T. Smith 2012Pencil, ink, Photoshop
@Kevenn T. Smith 2012
This piece also gave me the opportunity to use a live model for my Polychrome. The last time I depicted Polychrome, a friend of mine said that she looked like the actress, Elizabeth Mitchell, who appeared in the movie Gia, with Angellina Jolie, and the ABC television shows LOST and V. I thought about trying to search for pictures of Elizabeth Mitchell at the angles I wanted to draw the figures for the piece in as reference material, but that would have taken too much time and may not have yielded the results I was hoping for.
Then, I remembered that my friend, the superbly talented and beautiful Cleveland actress, Emily Pucell, often reminded me of Elizabeth Mitchell. Luckily, Emily was kind enough to pose for me to use not only as Polychrome, but as her two sisters as well. This was the first time Emily has ever modelled for a drawing or painting, but she said she would definitely consider doing it again. Emily graduated in 2005 with B.A. degrees in Theater and History from Miami University. She performed in her first play at the age of 12, but has been working professionally as an actor since her graduation in 2005. Emily will next be seen onstage in the forth-coming show by Cleveland's Theater Ninjas this fall.
Tik-Tok: Robot Army of Oz
My latest piece of artwork is one I've been wanting to do for a while, and I finally made time in my schedule to transfer the image I had for so long in my head to a more physical form. Tik-Tok is actually literature's first robot. A clockwork machine man, Tik-Tok first appears in the book Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum. He is rescued by Dorothy Gale from being run-down and locked away in a hidden room and proceeds to have several adventures with her. Eventually, Tik-Tok takes up residence in Oz as one of the many unique inhabitants of the royal palace in the Emerald City. Tik-Tok was also a featured character in the movie, Return to Oz, starring Fairuza Balk as Dorothy.
I drew Tik-Tok once before on a cover for Oziana Magazine in 2005, but I wanted to think more about the reality of his joints. I also wanted to use aspects of his design by John R. Neill and how he appeared in Return to Oz, for instance giving him emerald green glassy eyes and making his hat more resemble and army helmet from World War I. The text is also an homage to pop singer, Simon Curtis, who refers to his fans as the "Robot Army."
This piece is available as greeting cards, post cards, prints and posters at RedBubble.com!
Pencil, ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011
The Tik-Tok illustration is also available as t-shirts, hoodies, kids' clothes, and stickers in assorted sizes, colors, and styles at RedBubble.com!
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011
The Sea Fairies Illustration by Kevenn T. Smith
This is an illustration that depicts a moment in L. Frank Baum's 1911 book, The Sea Fairies. At this point, Baum had written six Oz books and wanted to write other stories. He wrote The Sea Fairies about a young girl named Trot and her friend, an old peg-legged sailor named Cap'n Bill, visiting the mermaids and exploring the ocean. Yes, it was decades before Finding Nemo and Disney's Ariel. The book is mostly travelogue in nature until the last third, when the plot about an underwater villain really kicks into gear. This image features the mermaid, Merla, swimming with Trot and Cap'n Bill, who have been transformed into merfolk themselves, by the magic of the mermaid sea fairies.
Baum followed The Sea Fairies with Trot and Cap'n Bill's further adventures in Sky Island, which is one of my favorite books by him. Oz characters Button Bright and Polychrome appear in the book. However, Baum's readers wanted more Oz, and so he resumed the series. Trot and Cap'n Bill traveled to Oz in the ninth book of the series, The Scarecrow of Oz, and joined the cast of Oz characters for the following books. I consider these two "spin-off" books to be essential to Oz reading.
A grayscale edition of this illustration will be featured in the program for 2011's Winkie Convention. Programs are available for purchase here. The original colored art piece is debuting framed and matted today (Friday June 3rd) in the Lakewood, Ohio Beck Center for the Arts Student Art Show. The piece will be on display in the lobby until the end of July. It is also available for sale. Contact me for pricing information. This image is also available as cards, postcards, prints, and posters on RedBubble.com!
8 x 11 inches bristol board.
Pencil, ink, Prismacolor color pencil.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011
Oz Artwork Merchandise by Kevenn T. Smith
Now you can own prints, cards, t-shirts, hoodies, and other apparel of many of the Oz character illustrations seen on this website. They're available for purchase at RedBubble.com. Also, from now until December 25th, all white apparel is 20% off! All of my t-shirts (women's, men's, children's, and infants) and hoodies are available in white.
Scraps the Patchwork Girl of Oz by Kevenn T. Smith
The Scarecrow and Tin Woodman T-Shirt by Kevenn T. Smith
Dorothy and Ozma T-shirt by Kevenn T. Smith
Polychrome T-shirt by Kevenn T. Smith
The Cowardly Lion and The Hungry Tiger T-shirt by Kevenn T. Smith
Yurgod the Gryphon T-shirt by Kevenn T. Smith
Ozma of Oz T-shirt by Kevenn T. Smith
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz T-shirt by Kevenn T. Smith
Emerald City Landscape by Kevenn T. Smith available in cards and prints
All artwork and images ©Kevenn T. Smith 2010
Singular Sensation: Yurgod the Gryphon
This Singular Sensation entry showcases my illustration of Yurgod the Gryphon that I did for the wrap-around cover of issue #37 of Oziana Magazine. Yurgod the Gryphon is a character from the Russian Oz series of books. When The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was translated into Russian, it seems that it took on a life of its own, and several follow-up books were written in Russian, completely separate from the Oz books that L. Frank Baum continued to write.
I was completely unfamiliar with Yurgod, but the challenge for the cover was to showcase characters that appeared in stories inside the issue. Some characters I knew, but others, like Yurgod, I only had was a couple of images of him provided by my editor. However, he was a visually appealing character, and I was eager to try my own take on him. How could I resist the chance to draw a fantastical creature like this? The drawings I had were very stylized, and I wanted to inject a sense of realism in anatomy to my version. In order to depict him in a way that he would fit in even better with other Oz characters more firmly established in the canon, I wanted to add the bow to the end of his tail to echo the bows on the ends of the tails of the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger. I think the bow makes him look decidedly "Ozzy."
Pencils, Ink, Prismacolor Color Pencils, and Photoshop.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011
Now available on a t-shirt at RedBubble.com!
Singular Sensation: Dorothy & Ozma - Princesses of Oz
You knew it was coming - the Singular Sensation entry that features the last part of the website header illustration. If you know The Wizard of Oz, you know who Dorothy is, however most people aren't used to seeing her portrayed as a blond. They expect to see a brunette with braided pigtails, ala Judy Garland. While Dorothy did look like that in the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with Dorothy's return in the third book of the Oz series, Ozma of Oz, Dorothy was portrayed as a blond with a fashionable haircut by John R. Neill. Neill continued to portray Dorothy with this look throughout the books that he illustrated, which equaled to many more appearances than brunette portrayal in the first book.
Princess Ozma of Oz came on the scene in the second book of the series, The Marvelous Land of Oz. Ozma, who was a fairy and the rightful ruler of Oz, was restored to the throne. When Ozma and Dorothy met, the two got along famously and became best friends. Ozma ended up making Dorothy a Princess of Oz. In the sixth book of the series (which Baum intended to be the last, but was besieged with requests of "More Oz, Mr. Baum!"), The Emerald City of Oz, Dorothy, along with Toto, Uncle Henry, and Aunt Em (and Eureka the kitten whom we met in the fourth book, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz) all moved to Oz permanently.
In portraying Dorothy, I like to stick to Neill's blond take on her. I also draw her with visual cues like silver shoes and in modernizing her, I give her a gingham-like print on her t-shirt. In Oz, you never grow older unless you want to, and Oz creators like Eric Shanower have Dorothy changing with the time, while remaining a child. Even Neill drew Dorothy's hair cut changing trhough the years that he illustrated the Oz books, through the early 1900's to the 30's.
I like that approach. Ozma is usually depicted as being a little bit older than Dorothy. Her pendant is a representation of the different areas of Oz: Green in the middle for the Emerald City, yellow Winkie Country to the west, the purple Quadling Country to the north, the blue Munchkin Country to the east, and the red Quadling Country in the south. Ozma was usually drawn wearing two large poppies on either side of her tiara, which I followed, but I left off some of the ornamental ribbons that were usually included on there as a way of showing that in some ways, Ozma is keeping up with the times too. Who wears ribbons in their hair any more? Like Dorothy, Ozma was also drawn differently as the Oz series progressed, even getting a little older. I also thought it'd be nice to break the background tradition for the Singular Sensation entries and include a more detailed background. It better contrasts with the rainbow magic and sparkles.
Pencils, Ink, Prismacolor Color Pencils, Watercolor, and Photoshop.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011
Now available on a t-shirt at RedBubble.com!
Singular Sensation: The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman
This Singular Sensation entry spotlights the illustration of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman that I did for the header for this site. These are two of my favorite Oz characters to do, and I especially enjoy drawing them together and showing the tremendous bond that these two characters have for one another. In most of Baum's books, they both have castles in the Winkie country to the West that are very close to one another.
For the Scarecrow, I do go back to Baum's text with details like one eye being bigger than the other. However, I'm also greatly influenced by the depictions that John R. Neill and Michael Herring did of him as well. I wanted to convey a sense of him being a little off balance, like Ray Bolger was in the MGM musical.
Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, presents a special challenge when looking at how Neill and Herring depicted him. Their renditions, quite frankly, defy the laws of physics. They draw the Tin Woodman with nearly two dimensional limbs that are hinged basically with pins onto the sides of his torso. This leaves him incapable of a wide range of movement, but didn't stop them from somehow depicting him holding his ax with two hands. I wanted to base my version a little more in reality, so there was no real way that he would be able to reach across his own body to point toward the Scarecrow if his arm was simply pinned at the shoulder to his torso. For me, the solution was to basically treat him like he was a human-sized action figure and give him ball joints that not only hinged, but swiveled and allowed for rotation.
Neill and Herring depicted him basically wearing a suit of tin with the collar, the side pockets, and the buttons down his torso, so I did as well. They'd also draw him wearing spats on his feet, a bow tie around his neck, and a flower "pinned" on. One thing that I added that's usually forgotten, is when the Tin Woodman gets his heart from the Wizard of Oz in the first book, he is patched up on his chest, and a gold star is placed over where his heart is. This gold star is usually omitted by many artists, but I like to add it, because I think it's a nice detail that adds more character and visual interest to him.
Pencils, Ink, Prismacolor Color Pencils, and Photoshop.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011
Now available on a t-shirt at RedBubble.com!
Singular Sensation: The Hungry Tiger of Oz
This Singular Sensation entry features my illustration of The Hungry Tiger of Oz that appeared smaller and partially obscured on the original "Contact Me" page of this site. The Hungry Tiger was officially introduced in L. Frank Baum's third Oz book, Ozma of Oz. However, many people believe (and I'm one of them) that he was also the same tiger that appeared in a chapter near the end of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy and her friends are on their way to the Quadling Country in the south of Oz to see Glinda about getting Dorothy home. In the chapter, the Cowardly Lion defeats a giant spider-like monster who is terrorizing animals in a forest, and he ends up becoming their king.
In Ozma of Oz, we meet the tiger, who is the Cowardly Lion's trusty companion by this time, and we learn why he's called the Hungry Tiger. Apprently, he has an insatiable appetite for fat babies. The thought of a corpulent little infant makes his mouth water, but he's never able to devour one because his conscious always prevents him. Throughout the Oz series, the Hungry Tiger is a member of Ozma's court, and also serves alongside the Cowardly Lion as an imposing figure reclining near Princess Ozma's throne.
For this illustration, the Hungry Tiger has often been depicted wearing a pink bow around his tail, but I thought that a teal green bow would pop better against the orange fur of the tiger. Baum also wrote that the Hungry Tiger had purple stripes in his first appearance, but I'm not a fan of purple stripes on a tiger, and he's usually not depicted having them either - by John O'Neill the most prolific Oz illustrator, or Michael Herring, who illustrated the covers for the Del Rey paperback editions that I grew up on. For his face, I used some elements of my dogs Lucy and Humphrey for inspiration, especially when it comes to the tip of his tongue sticking out.
Pencils, Ink, Prismacolor Color Pencils, and Photoshop.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011
Now available along with The Cowardly Lion on a t-shirt at RedBubble.com!
Singular Sensation: The Cowardly Lion
This Singular Sensation entry focuses on the Cowardly Lion illustration that I did for the original "contact Me: page of this site. I wanted to present him bigger here than he appears on that page. Everyone knows the Cowardly Lion, but most people are used to thinking of the Cowardly Lion in terms of a person dressed up in a costume, like Burt Lahr in the MGM movie. However, in the books, the Cowardly Lion is a real lion who talks, like all of the animals in Oz do.
I think that when the lion is presented as an actual large lion who acts cowardly, as opposed to a person in a costume, the visuals get to be more interesting and contradictory to the behavior. For this interpretation of the Cowardly Lion, I wanted to make him more personal. I made his eyes bigger than an actual lion's eyes, while keeping the rest of the lion's anatomical proportions intact. Another thing about the eyes, were that I based them on my dog, Humphrey. He's like my own personal Cowardly Lion, who is all bark, but when someone actually stands up to him (like a cat), he runs away crying.
The bows are things that John R. Neill drew on the Cowardly Lion when he originally illustrated the Oz books. I think they're great touches that serve to visually reinforce the contrasts going on with the cowardliness and the powerful frame of a lion. Michael Herring usually painted the bows light blue in the covers that he did for the Del Rey paperback editions of the Oz books, and those were the printings of the books that I grew up with, so I tend to try to give little nods to him and Neill when I illustrate Oz characters.
Pencils, Ink, Prismacolor Color Pencils, and Photoshop.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011
Now available along with The Hungry Tiger on a t-shirt at RedBubble.com!
Singular Sensation: Polychrome
The third entry in my Singular Sensation series is of another character that I drew for the wrap-around cover of Oziana #37, Polychrome. This was the third time I had drawn Polychrome, and only the second time I had colored a drawing of her. She is a fairy and the daughter of the rainbow, and coloring her can be quite a complicated process. In the books, she is always described and depicted as wearing a dress in rainbow colors. I didn't want the colors to just be plain vertical stripes. That would be boring. It was a fun challenge to have them blend all together in a diagonal direction. In the books, she's usually always dancing about, so it was very important that there be a sense of energy going on.
Polychrome is a visually fascinating character to me, like Scraps the Patchwork Girl, because of all the colors involved. The great thing about the two characters is seeing how two characters full of different colors can also look so differently. Scraps is a loud and boisterous character in the books, so her colors need to be intense. Polychrome is usually written as a sweet and passive character, so I use tones that are, in comparison, more subdued on her.
Pencils, Ink, Prismacolor Color Pencils, Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011
Now available as a t-shirt on RedBubble.com!
Singular Sensation: Pig Guard
This second entry in my Singular Sensation series is of a character drawn for the cover of Oziana #37. I simply call him "Pig Guard." I got a request to draw characters that appeared in stories in the issue, but I didn't always have access to the actual stories. In some cases, all I got was copies of artwork being used to illustrate the stories. In this case, all I had was an illustration to go on, but one that really captured my imagination. I am a big fan of the work that The Four Horsemen studio did on updating Mattel's Masters of the Universe property for the 2002 line. The amount of detail they put into each of the character re-designs continues to impress me. When I saw the illustration of this "Pig Guard" character, I thought it would be a really fun idea to give him that same kind of approach. I wanted to put more detail into his look and to introduce a more aggressive and physical element to the entire wrap-around cover piece.
In the cover piece, the Pig Guard was going to be fighting on the same side as Bastinda, the Russian version of the Wicked Witch of the West. I thought it would be a nice homage to the Winkie Soldiers in the MGM musical movie version of The Wizard of Oz if I made the Pig Guard's skin green. However, when I thought about that, I worried that some people would think that I was trying to rip off the Gammorean Guards in the palace of Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi. So that idea was nixed. I still wanted to make the Pig Guard look more otherwordly, instead of a pink, tan, or brown skin tones that one usually found on a pig. That's when I hit upon the idea to make the skin tone a nice "decayed blue." It really worked too! I thought I was being so original, until a friend pointed out that Gannon, the Big Boss in The Legend of Zelda game for Nintendo, was a big blue pig. It's true, there really is nothing entirely new! I haven't played that game in years, but from what I remember of the character, I think I made this Pig Guard look significantly different.
Pencils, Ink, Prismacolor Color Pencils, Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011