S.P. Maldonado's Oz art

Dreaming of Oz

2012-02-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

I woke up with this vision in my head.

Let's play a game

2012-02-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

Anyone have an idea what's on the screen?

The Laughing Dragon of Oz

2012-01-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

The Laughing Dragon of Oz was a book written by L. Frank Baum's son Frank Joslyn Baum. With this book came some controversy. Frank J. felt that his was the natural successor to the Oz books. He tried to get "Oz" trademarked in his name and get Reilly & Lee to stop publishing the Oz books. It was his mother, who made the deal with the publishers, who had to sue him for the trademark. When The Laughing Dragon was published by Witman, Reilly & Lee sued them and the book quickly went out of print.

Ozma Comic Book Style

2012-01-09T19:01:00.000-08:00

I consider my style as being more cartoony than comic book. Here is my attempt at doing a comic book style.

The Gump

2012-01-06T21:43:00.000-08:00

This shows you just how much Ted Geisel is an influence on me.

Pencils

2011-12-28T21:39:00.000-08:00

Last time I showed a page from my sketchbook. Here is the next step in how I create an illustration. This is the pencils for a picture I'm doing for Outsiders.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

Sketchbook page

2011-12-22T19:21:00.000-08:00

Here is a page from my sketchbook. These are some of my ideas for illustrations for Outsiders.

Mr. Tinker

2011-12-15T17:15:00.000-08:00

Here is my version of Mr. Tinker of the famous Smith & Tinker, who created Tik-Tok.

Tribute to Dick Martin

2011-11-25T13:05:00.000-08:00

Dick Martin is one of my biggest influences when it come to Oz. When I decided to figure out what I wanted to do for the cover to a project I am doing, this picture from the Autumn 1976 issue of the Baum Bugle came to mind. This is one of my favorite pieces of his work and thought it would be fun to do something similar.

Meeting Tik Tok

2011-11-18T13:39:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest attempt at coloring in Photoshop. The more I do the better I'll get.

Ozma head from Zazzle.com

2011-11-16T22:20:00.000-08:00

Continuing with working with Photoshop, I colored this picture and put it on a shirt in Zazzle .

Ozma head from Zazzle.com

The Wanderer of Oz

2011-11-11T19:34:00.000-08:00

I have been working on a banner for my comic book.

Dorothy

2011-11-10T23:43:00.000-08:00

Here is another picture I colored as I learn how to use Photoshop.

Cover of Outsiders from Oz(in color)

2011-11-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

Here is the cover for the upcoming book by Jared Davis, Outsiders from Oz. Marcus Mebes did a wonderful job of coloring it.

Dorothy and Ozma (in color)

2011-11-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

I'm still new on coloring in Photoshop. Here is a picture I used for practice.

King Rinkitink

2011-11-01T19:17:00.001-07:00

When Monarchs meet

2011-10-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

Betsy, Percy, Jinnicky, and Eureka

2011-10-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

Picture for upcoming story.

The Umbrellaphant in Oz cover

2011-10-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

Not quite finished, but here is the cover for The Umbrellaphant in Oz.

Ozma (in color)

2011-10-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture I did to practice Adobe Illustrator.

20 years ago

2011-09-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Marcus Mebes, who sent me a copy of the 1992 Oziana, is the first picture I ever had published. It shows you how much I have improved in the last 20 years and yet my style hasn't really changed very much.

Fess and the Flittermouse

2011-09-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

If you follow me on Facebook then you know that I've been thinking of writing a story for Oziana based on these two characters, Fess and the Flittermouse. They were two of the characters from the last official Oz book Merry Go Round in Oz. Fess is now a knight for the Kingdom of Toth and I decided to make him a little older than his first apperance.

For Marcus

2011-09-09T13:54:00.003-07:00

Here is a couple of characters created from Marcus. Can anyone guess who they are?

H. M. Wogglebug T. E.

2011-09-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a look at the Wogglebug as if he was more insect like. I think it would be pretty scary to come across something like that.

Scarecrow brushwork

2011-09-04T03:18:00.000-07:00

Still working on working with my brush. Here is the Scarecrow inked in brush and ink.

Dorothy brushwork

2011-09-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here is brush and ink work of Dorothy.

Tin Woodman brushwork

2011-09-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Nick Chopper I did inking with only a Winsor & Newton series 7 #2 brush.

Dorothy sketch

2011-08-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I like to draw Dorothy in a more modern outfit. I know some Oz fans don't like but John R. Neill and Eric Shanower both did it.

Wake up Eureka

2011-08-19T03:26:00.000-07:00

Another Ozma

2011-08-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

I do seem to enjoy drawing Ozma. I do like to give her a different look for different projects.

Jinnicky and the Three-headed Dragon

2011-08-08T07:52:00.000-07:00

Even though I been trying not to take anymore projects, I knew this was coming and wasn't going to say no. This is a picture for a special project. If you know what it's for keep it hush hush for now.

Princess Langwidere

2011-07-20T00:50:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be interesting to do a picture of Princess Langwidere. I took some artistic liberties by putting the heads on columns instead of cupboards .

Disney Princess Ozma

2011-07-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Ozma I did as if she was a Disney princess.

Another Ork

2011-07-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here is another picture of the Ork.

Inspiration for Ozma

2011-06-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

Jared Davis asked me if I wanted to do a dedication for our upcoming book Outsiders from Oz. I had to think about who I wanted to dedicate the book to because there are so many to choose. I finally decided to choose Georginna Trujillo, who is the inspiration on how I want my version of Ozma to look like. She is my childhood best friend, the girl next door, and one of the few people in this world I can truly say that I love.

Outsiders from Oz cover

2011-06-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

Here is the cover i have been working on for Jared Davis' upcoming book Outsiders from Oz.

Jack has lost his head

2011-06-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

Outsiders from Oz illustration

2011-06-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a project with Jared Davis and this is an illustration he wanted me to do. There is an inside joke with the paintings and the initials N.H from the first book I illustrated.

Zoop

2011-06-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a character from L. Frank Baum's silent movies.

Girls of Oz model sheet

2011-06-11T16:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a model sheet of the girls of Oz I did to show the difference in height and overall look.

Unused Oz Illustrations

2011-06-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm asked to work on a project for someone that ultimately gets shelved. Here are some pictures I did for a story that got cut from the project. If you have an idea what these pictures were for, please keep it quiet for right now.

Guardian of the Magic Muffin Tree

2011-06-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

So I'm cleaning out my cabinet and I came across some pictures that I never finished or were not used for some reason. I thought it would be nice to put up some of the pictures. Here is a picture from "The Hidden Valley of Oz" I did of the Guardian of the Magic Muffin Tree. For some reason I never finished it. I thought it would be interesting just to show the pencils.

The Magical Monarch of Mo

2011-06-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

From the book of the same name, here is the Magical Monarch of Mo.

Jack

2011-05-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

The great thing about drawing Oz is that I have plenty of pictures I could use for books. Say one of my writers mentions Jack Pumpkinhead. I could find an unused picture of him like this one and put it in the book.

Ozma and the Wizard

2011-05-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

Right now I am working on illustrating three books. Here is an illustration for one of them.

Oz Project

2011-05-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture I'm doing for an upcoming Oz project. I thought I'd show the difference between the sketch and the final product.

New Characters Designs

2011-05-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

Here is some new characters I'm working on for a upcoming Oz project. Some might recognize where they are from, but I'm going to keep quiet about it for now.

Happy Birthday L. Frank Baum

2011-05-14T23:49:00.000-07:00

Today is L. Frank Baum's birthday, the creator of Oz. Here is a portrait I did of him.

Meet the Woozy

2011-05-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

When I asked which picture people would like to see, nobody picked this one. This one is one of my personal favorites because I enjoy drawing Scraps, even though she takes a long time to draw.

When Pigs Fly

2011-05-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

A scene from The Wishing Horse of Oz. Pigasus is one of my favorite characters created by Ruth Plumly Thompson. You might notice that I even put him in two of the books I illustrated.

Bunbury

2011-05-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

A scene from The Emerald City of Oz.

A Gift for Ozma

2011-05-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a scene from Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz in which the Wizard presents Ozma with one of the nine piglets as a gift.

Dorothy

2011-05-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

If you are an artist who is a fan of Oz, you are probably influenced by John R. Neill. Even though I love the Oz stories, I think I was more interested in Neill's artwork than Baum's writing. My style is no where near the kind of art that Neill did. I do prefer drawing in my own style, but I thought I'd try and draw a little more like him. Right now I think it's still a pale imitation of his work.

Lion

2011-05-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a look at the Cowardly Lion using a different style than my own. I thought it would be interesting to try and illustrate a book some what like John R Neill.

Ice skating with the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman

2011-05-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

Recently I was contacted about using some of my pictures for a figure skating program. Later they decided not to use them, but it did inspire me to do this picture.

Forest Monster of Oz

2011-04-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz the forest animals were terrorized by a giant spider. It was the Lion who was sent to destroy it and become king of the forest.

Talking City

2011-04-22T01:23:00.000-07:00

A preview for upcoming book "The Talking City of Oz" by Ron Baxley JR.

Tik Tok

2011-04-09T21:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of one of my favorite characters, Tik-Tok.

Conflagra

2011-04-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

Here is another character I designed for Bucketheads in Oz. I believe Melody Grandy created this character for the book. This was one of the few characters that was very detailed on how she was suppose to look like.

Tempus the Parrot-ox

2011-04-03T22:59:00.000-07:00

Oz has many great characters. When new writers make new Oz stories, they try to create interesting characters to join the pantheon of Oz characters. I thought I'd show some of my favorite from some of the non-canonical books out there.
I want to start with Tempus the Parrot-Ox from Edward Einhorn's "Paradox in Oz". The Parrot-Ox is a wonderful character who is "capable of doing nothing at all, unless it is impossible." I believe he belongs as one of the great Oz characters out there.

Party in Oz

2011-03-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

Just a cute little picture for no reason.

Character Designs: Tekrouri the Troll

2011-03-17T23:10:00.000-07:00

Continuing with new character designs, here is Tekrouri the Troll. Bucketheads in Oz had a large cast of characters. Tekrouri was the first character I started working on. When I began designing him I did a lot of referencing on how other trolls looked like. I wanted to give him a Nordic troll look. I also took a little bit from Popeye character Alice the Goon.

Character designs: Thelma and Louise

2011-03-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about illustrating new Oz stories is helping create new characters. I thought it would be fun to show some of the characters I've worked on. I thought I'd start with two characters I designed from "The Ransom of Button-Bright" by J.L. Bell. Here are the would be kidnappers Thelma and Louise (unofficial names). When I was designing them, I decided to base them on a great comedy duo from the past. Can anyone guess which comedy team I based them on?

Images of Oz

2011-03-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

Here is the cover for my upcoming art book "Images of Oz". Once again colored wonderfully by Marcus Mebes. Now I have the task of choosing which of hundreds of pictures I've done in the past few years are going in the book. Many of my drawings are based on books that are still under copyright, so I'm not sure I could use them. What I will do is have at least one picture from every book in public domain. I will also get as many character designs, model sheets, sketches,doodles,illustrations from books I worked on, and maybe some pictures from stuff that got cancelled in it. If there is anything you want to see in it, please tell me.

Polychrome: back cover for Images of Oz

2011-02-25T22:21:00.000-08:00

As you might know, I have been working on a book of my Oz art. Jared Davis did a wonderful introduction for the book, and Marcus Mebes has agreed to help me put it all together and color the cover for me. Here is the back cover that Marcus has so beautifully colored for me.

King Gugu meets the Li-Mon-Eags

2011-02-23T21:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture I did from The Magic of Oz.

John Dough sketch

2011-02-20T13:53:00.000-08:00

A sketch I did of John Dough from L. Frank Baum's "John Dough and the Cherub".

Li-Mon-Eag sketch

2011-02-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

Another sketch book picture.

Ozma sketch

2011-02-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

Another picture from my sketchbook.

Nomes

2011-02-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

I am working on an art book. I decided to add some pages from my sketchbooks. Here is a page of different versions of nomes.

O.Z. Diggs

2011-01-27T17:05:00.000-08:00

He's the Wiz and he lives in Oz.

Dorothy and Ozma

2011-01-08T13:12:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture for a project I'm working on.

Jack Pumpkinhead from sketch to colors

2010-12-15T17:31:00.000-08:00

The Frogman

2010-12-13T00:12:00.000-08:00

A picture of the Frogman from The Lost Princess of Oz.

The Rainbow King

2010-11-27T13:25:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the Rainbow King. Polycrome is the daughter of the Rainbow and this is how I thought he might look like.

Another look at Ozma

2010-11-20T00:15:00.000-08:00

Since I did some of Kabumpo in Oz characters in a more cartoony style, I thought I would do some other characters in the same style. Here is a version of Princess Ozma I did using my regular drawing style.

Kabumpo in Oz

2010-11-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

I have been working on some character designs for Kabumpo in Oz. With these designs I decided to go with my natural drawing style, which is why I signed them "Ruff!". Here is Kabumpo, Prince Pompadore, Peg Amy, Wag, and Ruggedo.

Bucketheads in Oz cover

2010-11-15T11:18:00.000-08:00

This is the cover for the upcoming book Bucketheads in Oz.

Queen of the Field Mice

2010-11-13T22:13:00.000-08:00

James C Wallace II wanted to see my take on the Queen of the Field Mice. Here she is straight from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Marvelous Land of Oz.

Ojo

2010-11-10T09:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of Ojo, the main character from The Patchwork Girl of Oz.

The Cowardly Lion

2010-11-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

I've done pictures of Dorothy, The Scarecrow, and The Tin Woodman, so I thought it was about time I put up a picture of the Cowardly Lion.

Queen Ann and Private Files

2010-10-31T00:06:00.000-07:00

Keeping with characters from Tik-Tok of Oz, here is Queen Ann and Private Files of Oogaboo.

Quox

2010-10-30T00:35:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I last posted. I've been meaning to put this up for some time. Here is a picture of the young dragon Quox from Tik-Tok of Oz.

The many looks of the Scarecrow

2010-09-02T20:38:00.001-07:00

Here is my interpretation of how different artists drew the Scarecrow over the years. Can you name all the artists I used for this drawing?

Bewilderness

2010-08-23T22:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of a scene from Ruth Plumly Thompson's The Gnome King of Oz. This is the scene when Scraps, Grumpy and Peter Brown get caught in the bewilderness.

Winkie Covention 2011

2010-07-30T14:57:00.001-07:00

Last week was the 2010 Winkie convention. Regretfully, I was not able to go. I decided that I am going to try my best to make next years con. Hopefully I will be able to meet with any of you going. The theme for next year is The Sea Fairies, so I thought I would put up a picture of Trot as a mermaid from that book.

Princess Ozma

2010-07-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

In an effort to improve my skills inking with a brush, I did this picture of Princess Ozma.

The Old Man of the Jungle

2010-07-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on The Umbrellaphant in Oz. For this one I decided to use a different inking technique. Most of this picture was done by brush with a little bit of nib and tech pen for some of the little details.

Scarecrow head model sheet

2010-07-23T03:37:00.000-07:00

As I improve as an artist, one of the characters that pretty much stayed the same over the years is the Scarecrow. Just like the model sheets I did for the Tin Woodman and Dorothy, I wanted to show different views and expressions of his face.

Project updates

2010-06-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I would put an update on all the projects I'm currently working on.

The Ransom of Button-Bright: I am trying to get this finished as soon as possible. Most of the penciling is done and I'm trying to get it lettered and inked.
Marcus Mebes' projects: Marcus gave me 2 books to work on. He wants them to be secret for now, but they will be very interesting once they are completed.
The Umbrellaphant in Oz: Now that I'm done with Bucketheads in Oz, Chris Dulabone sent me a new book to illustrate. Umbrellaphant is written by Carlos P. Silva and Marin Elizabeth Xiques. Chris knows how much I love Captain Salt in Oz and thought this would be perfect for me.
The Talking City of Oz: Ron Baxley Jr's story is currently being edited by Chris and Marin right now. Once that's done it's off to me to illustrate. Ron is hoping to have it done by the fall, but I'm doubtful that I'll complete it that soon.
Images of Oz(working title): This is the art book I'm trying to put together. I have plenty of art I can put in the book. I just have to figure out what I want the book to look like.

Hopefully I can get some of these projects done soon.

25 years of Oz

2010-06-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

This week marks the 25th anniversary of when I discovered the Oz series. Like most people, my first encounter with Oz was with the 1939 movie. It wasn't until I saw "Return to Oz" that I wanted to learn more about Oz. Luckily my neighborhood library had all 14 of the white editions of the Oz books. So what does this picture of "The Road to Oz" have to do with it? I'm sure you can guess which book I read first.

The Three Girls of Oz

2010-06-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

In Oz, Three mortal girls came to live from the great outside world. Sometimes when he drew the girls, John R. Neill didn't show the distinction between the three. Here is a picture of Betsy Bobbin, Dorothy, and Trot, to show the differences of each girl.

Boglodore and Umbo

2010-06-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

Chris Dulabone suggested I do a picture of the Old Man of the Jungle and the Umbrellaphant. So here is Boglodore and Umbo from Captain Salt in Oz. I always take suggestions, if you want to see something just tell me.

The Wiz

2010-06-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

These are some character designs I did for The Wiz. If I was able to do an animated version of something, this would be it. I think it would be more interesting to do it based on the original stage version then the movie.

Handy Mandy

2010-06-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

Marcus Mebes had asked to see me do Handy Mandy from the book "Handy Mandy in Oz". Here is the seven armed goat herder. Hopefully the arms in the right place. As always, if you want to see me draw something, tell me. I'm happy to give it a try.

Megamoose in Oz

2010-05-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am known for my work illustrating Oz. I originally started drawing funny animal cartoons. My love for "Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew" and Scott Shaw!, the artist of that book, made me want to create my own superhero funny animal comics. Megamoose and his sidekick Chum the Wonder Squirrel are characters I created almost 20 years ago. Here is a picture I did bringing my two loves together. You may notice that I signed it as Ruff!, which is the name I use for my funny animal art.

The Ransom of Button-Bright

2010-05-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

Now that I am done with Bucketheads in Oz, Iam busy working on some other projects. One of these projects is a comic story for Oziana. Here is the first page for The Ransom of Button-Bright written by J.L. Bell. To be continued in Oziana some time in the future.

Abatha

2010-05-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here is the last witch I'm going to do for a while. Abatha, the Good Witch of the East from Eric Shanower"s The Blue Witch of Oz.

Wicked Witch of the East

2010-05-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

There are not many pictures of the Wicked Witch of the East without her being crushed underneath a house. I found one in The Tinwoodman of Oz and one on the cover of the 1992 Oziana done by Eric Shanower (I did the back cover BTW). Here is my take on her. Next I will be doing the Good Witch of the East.