Kevenn T. Smith 2/19/23 Kevenn T. Smith 2/19/23

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

Kevenn T. Smith 4/10/22 Kevenn T. Smith 4/10/22

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

Kevenn T. Smith 2/10/20 Kevenn T. Smith 2/10/20

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.

Kevenn T. Smith 11/16/10 Kevenn T. Smith 11/16/10

Oz Artwork Merchandise by Kevenn T. Smith

Kevenn T. Smith 7/27/09 Kevenn T. Smith 7/27/09

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.

Scarecrow and Tin Woodman by Kevenn T. Smith ©Kevenn T. Smith 2009

Pencils, Ink, Prismacolor Color Pencils, and Photoshop.
©Kevenn T. Smith 2011

Now available on a t-shirt at RedBubble.com!