Jack Pumpkinhead from sketch to colors

The Frogman

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

The Rainbow King

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

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

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

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

Queen of the Field Mice

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

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

The Cowardly Lion

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

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

Quox

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

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

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

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

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

The Old Man of the Jungle

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

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

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Wicked Witches of the South

There are many witches who could claim to be the Wicked Witch of the South. On the left we have Eric Shanower's Wicked Witch of the South from "The Enchanted Apples of Oz". On the right we have Singra from Rachel Cosgrove Payes' "The Wicked Witch of Oz". In the middle is Blinkie from L. Frank Baum's "The Scarecrow of Oz". Each can lay claim to the title. Since I've already did a post on Glinda, I will do the Wicked Witch of the East next.

Gloma

Officially there was no Good Witch of the West in canon. When Eric Shanower did the graphic novel The Blue Witch of Oz, he suggested that Gloma, the witch of the Black Forest from the book The Wishing Horse of Oz, was the Good Witch of the West. I'll go with that. Next the many faces of the Wicked Witches of the South.

The Wicked Witch of the West

When it comes down to it, the most famous of the Oz witches is the Wicked Witch of the West. Most fans of the movie would not know this version,but anyone who is a fan of the book should recognize her. Once again I based her on how Denslow drew her in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Next the Good Witch of the West and who she might be.

Mombi

Continuing with my look at the witches of Oz, I bring you Mombi, the Wicked Witch of the North. I've been wanting to write a story about her and how she became the wickedest witch in all of Oz. My next post will be about the most well known of the witches.

Good Witch of the North

From a suggestion from Jared Davis, I give you The Good Witch of the North. Depending on who you ask, her name is either Locasta from the stage musical or Tattypoo, the name given to her by Ruth Plumly Thompson for the book "The Giant Horse of Oz". I kept her looking the same way W.W. Denslow drew her. Next I will do a picture of the Wicked Witch of the North.

the Royal Family of the Munchkins

Finishing my posts on the rulers of the countries of Oz, I give you King Cheeriobed, Queen Orin, and Prince Philador. Next I will be looking at some of the witches of Oz.

Glinda

Since the last two posts were of the rulers of the Gillikins and the Winkies, I thought I would continue the theme. Here is a picture of Glinda the Good, ruler of the Quadlings. Looks like my next post will be of King Cheeriobed , Queen Orin, and Prince Philador, the royal family of the Munchkins.

Tin Woodman model sheets

If you follow me on twitter or facebook, you know I don't like the steampunk robot version of the Tin Woodman that many artists are doing lately. I thought since I was complaining I should put up my version of Nick Chopper. I know it's not very original since I based it on how John R Neill and Dick Martin drew him.Still I think I put a little of my own style into him.

Joe King and Queen Hyacinth

From a suggestion from Nathan DeHoff is a picture of the royal family of Gillikin Country. Joe King and Queen Hyacinth were once rulers of the Uplanders of Up Town, now they rule all of Gillikin.

Winged monkey

Since there has been a lot of discussion on the flying monkeys from "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" on the Oz club forum, I thought I'd do my own version.

Highboy

From The Giant Horse of Oz is Highboy, the title character. He is one of the characters for an upcoming story I am working on.

Dorothy heads model sheet

As an artist, I like to make model sheets of characters to see different views of how they might look. This is one I did for Dorothy Gale.