REAL LIVE COVER ART!

My brilliant editor Joe Bongiorno is busy doing the layout for our Oz book -- and to prove it, here's the work he's doing with the fabulous Gabhor Utomo's cover art.  This is the first time I'm publishing an actual piece of art from the book and I'm totally tickled.  From left to right, the characters are:  Ojo the Munchkin boy, Princess Ozma, Grandma Natch, and Button-Bright.  Enjoy!

INTRODUCING TERESA JENELLEN DAVIES

INTRODUCING TERESA JENELLEN DAVIES

 

It’s been a while since my last post, but I’m back with news about the wonderful Teresa Jenellen Davies.  She’s the third illustrator for my upcoming Oz book, The Law of Oz, and other stories.  We found Teresa at the same website where we found Gabhor Utomo, http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/tjenellen/id=1435/

If you visit her portfolio – and I strongly recommend it – you’ll see exactly what we fell in love with.  She has a magical way of seeing right into the hearts of her subjects, which is the very thing we wanted for the second story, The Lost Boy of Oz.  There’s an intimacy about her work that pulls the viewer right into her world.  She usually paints in full color, but she’s doing soulful black and white work for this project.  By the way, her portfolio includes a terrific portrait of our old friend Dorothy Gale, complete with Toto.

 

If you know anything about Welsh names, you won’t be surprised to learn that Teresa herself is Welsh.  Moreover, she speaks Welsh fluently – a rare thing these days, even in Wales.  In addition to her illustration, she has produced fantastic poster art and has designed for the theater.  Her most recent theatrical credit is Aberystwyth Art Centre’s The Dreaming Beauty.  Teresa studied art at Aberystwyth University, where she received her BA in 2008 and her MA in 2012.

 

Teresa’s work for us is not quite done yet, but the end is in sight – both for her and for us.  What a long road it’s been since we set out!  We’ve got to get it done, though, because finished copies of the book are due this June at the next convention of the International Wizard of Oz Club, where I’ll have my first ever Display and Trade Table.  My editor Joe Bongiorno is doing the layout for the book as we speak.  Am I nervous?  Oh, brother!

SAY HELLO TO OJO!!!

Last week you met Button-Bright, one of the two heroes of my Oz stories.  Today I’ll introduce you to Button-Bright’s best friend and fellow protagonist, Ojo the Munchkin boy.

 

Of all Baum’s recurring Oz kid characters, Ojo (pronounced Oh Joe, not Oh ho) appears to be the only Oz native.  He makes his debut in the seventh book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, where he is first seen living deep in the Munchkin forest with his beloved Unk Nunkie.  There’s not enough food to keep them from hunger, so the two set out in search of a better life.  This proves tough to come by.  Things go wrong right off the bat, in fact, for on the second day of their journey Unk Nunkie is accidentally transformed into a marble statue.

 

The story is transformed as well, from a seek-your-fortune adventure into a classic quest. Ojo must find the rare and difficult objects that are required to break the spell, proving himself as brave and indomitable as any hero you could name.  He will take any risk to save his uncle, even going so far as to flout the law of Oz and land himself in the Emerald City’s seldom-used (but very comfortable) jail!  His tireless devotion wins him the respect and affection of Princess Ozma herself, and it is this that saves Unk Nunkie and secures them both a permanent home in the palace.

 

Ojo makes only minor appearances in Baum’s subsequent Oz books – both times in the company of Button-Bright.  Baum presents their friendship as a done deal and then goes on to do very little with it.  I’ve taken this as a license to send the duo on a series of new adventures all their own.

 

On the surface, the two boys might appear to be a mismatched pair.  Ojo is intense, focused, and single-minded in his devotion to those he loves.  He wears his heart on his sleeve and lacks the mysteries and ambiguities that are so much a part of his best friend.  Not that Button-Bright flaunts his boy-of-mystery status.  On the contrary, he seems entirely unaware of it and is probably the most laid-back and easy-going character in all Oz – so much so that he often loses track of his own whereabouts.  You might almost say he’s in need of constant supervision – and perhaps this is what wins the heart of the loyal Ojo.  Or perhaps they just have fun together.  Whatever the reason, they are best friends forever, in spite of the astonishing changes that come their way in my stories.  And that, in a nutshell, is what keeps me writing.  I always want to find out what my boys will do next!

MEET THE BOYS!!!

MEET  THE  BOYS!!!

 

The Boys, as I call them, are Button-Bright and Ojo, the two heroes of my Oz stories.  Readers who never got past The Wizard of Oz probably haven’t heard of them, because the series was well underway before Baum introduced them.  But Oz fans know them and love them, and I hope you will too.

 Today I’ll tell you about Button-Bright, an American boy who made his debut in the fifth book in the series, The Road to Oz.  There are several mysteries associated with Button-Bright.  The first of these is obvious right off the bat:  he is first discovered, a barely verbal tyke of five at the most, lost and alone in the magic lands surrounding Oz.  How did he get there?  He doesn’t know and we never find out.  At the end of the book he is sent home to . . . somewhere.  It’s all strangely nebulous.

 His next appearance occurs in a Baum book called Sky Island.  Sky Island is not, strictly speaking, Oz canon, but it features several once and future Oz characters – including fellow Americans Trot and Cap’n Bill – and it is the essential source for biographical information on our hero.  An older (nine-ish?) and savvier Button-Bright explains that he’s the son of a well-to-do Philadelphia family and that he is now on a jaunt with a family heirloom that unexpectedly turned out to be magical – an umbrella that will take him anywhere he tells it to go (this is long before Mary Poppins, in case you’re wondering).  He and his Magic Umbrella are, in fact, the catalysts for the magical adventure that follows, and over the course of this adventure he proves himself much braver and more resourceful than he or anyone else might have imagined.  At the end of it, a week or so after he’s told the Magic Umbrella to take him back to Philadelphia, his friend Trot gets a post card from him.  He got home fine, he says, but the Magic Umbrella has been confiscated and locked up.

 Now we come to the second big Button-Bright mystery, which is worth a few quotations.  He is next found, again by his old friends Trot and Cap’n Bill, aimlessly wandering the magic lands in The Scarecrow of Oz.  Trot says, “His home used to be in Philadelphia; but I’m quite sure Button-Bright doesn’t belong anywhere.”  Button-Bright agrees, adding, “I’m halfway round the world from Philadelphia, and I’ve lost my Magic Umbrella, that used to carry me anywhere.  Stands to reason that if I can’t get back home I haven’t any home.  But I don’t care much.  This is a pretty good country, Trot.  I’ve had lots of fun here.”

 And that is the last we hear about Button-Bright’s erstwhile home.  At the end of the book he comes to live in the Emerald City, abandoning his old life forever.  What has made this possible?  What is it in Philadelphia that he has let go of so easily?  Why does he seem so completely comfortable with his apparent homelessness?  Again, we never find out the answers.

 For Baum the storyteller, I suspect that it was a purely practical matter.  He’d already brought one American child to live in Oz; and since that famous girl’s Aunt Em and Uncle Henry were too well-known to be left behind, they were brought along as well.  But that was a one-shot deal.  Future American imports would leave their families behind, and if this couldn’t be done sensibly, it would be done in as few words as possible.  “I haven’t any home,” says Button-Bright, summarily disposing of an inconvenient biography.  End of discussion – as far as Baum was concerned.

 

Button-Bright continues to live a happy life in Oz, one in which he becomes famous for one thing:  getting lost.  But some of us can’t seem to leave it at that.  The mystery of Button-Bright is irresistible.  What was the story with his family?  And why does he still get lost?  If you read my stories, you’ll find my own answers to these questions – and others that Baum never thought to ask.

Introducing My Next Oz Illustrator!!!

You’ve already met Patricio Carbajal, the illustrator of the first story in my Oz book.  As 2012 winds to a close, two other incredible artists are working on the remaining stories.  To say that it barely seems real is an understatement!  But it must be real after all, because a few days ago I was thrilled to receive a set of preliminary sketches from the great Gabhor Utomo.

 Sadly, I can’t share any of those sketches with you – you’ll have to wait till the book comes out to see Gabhor’s vision of Oz – but I can point you to the website where my editor and I first found his work:

http://www.childrensillustrators.com/illustrator-details/GUtomo/id=2006/portfolio

 

Did you know you can go hunting for illustrators on the Internet?  Perhaps it isn’t so surprising, since you can scour the Internet for almost anything else known to humankind.  In fact there are sites for amateur artists and up-and-comers, and there are sites for established pros.  It was among the pros that we found Gabhor.  We immediately loved his compassionate, humane, child’s-eye-view of the world, as well as the sheer aliveness of his characters.  And it didn’t hurt that he bothered to post some of his line drawings as well as his paintings – a surprisingly uncommon thing these days, when kids’ novels mostly don’t have the beautiful and plentiful line drawings that were common in L. Frank Baum’s time.  Check out some of the other artists at http://www.childrensillustrator.com and you’ll see what I mean.

The sketches that Gabhor sent us are entrancing, and I know you’re going to love his Oz.  Of our three artists, his vision is closest to the traditional vision of Baum’s chief illustrator, John R. Neill.  But the pictures also have a look and a spark that’s all their own, as well as a clear and direct understanding of the feeling behind each scene.  The story that Gabhor is working on – The Law of Oz – is the longest in the book, so you’ll see a lot of his pictures inside.  And you'll see more of his work on the outside cover, since this is the title story.  I couldn’t be more excited!

You can see Gabhor’s other work at his own website:

http://gabhorutomo.com/

 And here is his bio:

 Gabhor Utomo was born in Indonesia.  He moved to California to pursue his passion in art.  He received his degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in spring 2003.  Since his graduation he has worked as a freelance illustrator and has illustrated a number of children’s books.  His first children’s book, “Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain,” is a story about a young Chinese immigrant on Angel Island.

 Gabhor’s works have won numerous awards from local and national art organizations.  His painting of Senator Milton Marks is in a permanent collection at the California State Building in downtown San Francisco.

 Gabhor lives with his wife Dina and his twin girls in Portland, Oregon.

MY ILLUSTRATORS:  MEET PATRICIO CARBAJAL

I promised you posts about the three illustrators of my own Oz book.  Here comes Number One!

It was my amazing friend and editor Joe Bongiorno who persuaded me that self-publishing is do-able, and that we could hire illustrators to make the thing look like a real Oz book.  It seemed to me at the time – and still does seem – incredible that artists would actually go to the trouble of producing pictures to go with my stories.  That kind of thing is for real authors, not for the likes of me.  But Joe found our first candidate, the Argentinian artist Patricio Carbajal, and sent me links to some of his work. http://patart-pat.blogspot.com/   If you’re like me, you will not look at Pat’s work and immediately think Oz!  It’s very grown-up, often sexy, and photographically precise.  You’ll find more of the same in his bio, at the end of this post.  But I believe in Joe, and Joe believed in Pat, and we struck a deal.

Almost immediately, Pat starting sending us character studies – and that was the end of my doubts.  He got the right idea at once.  In his enthusiasm, he even sketched some well-loved characters who barely show up in my stories!  Here are two of those:  Ozma and Dorothy.

 

I loved them right off the bat!  One of the cool things about Pat is that he respects the classic images while still putting a lot of himself into the characters.  For instance, Ozma appears with her usual poppies and the famous OZ insignia on her circlet – just as John R. Neill drew her – but she’s also looking very comfortable in sandals, which is a new idea.  Her outfit is distinctly different and lovely too, and so is her graceful, dancer-like pose.  Dorothy is very much in the Neill mode – shoulder-length blond hair rather than Garland-esque pigtails – but with an energy all her own.  Though these particular sketches will not appear in the book,  some of Pat’s character sketches will – including the ones for my two heroes, Button-Bright and Ojo, as well as several brand-new new characters who are making their debuts in this story.  In addition, there will be nine wonderful full-page illustrations.  I hope you’ll like them as much as I do!

The story that Pat illustrated is called Time Travelers of Oz – an adventure in ancient Oz history.  His work is complete now, but it was a joy and a pleasure to work with him and I’ll be proud to see his art in the pages of my book.  Now, as promised, here’s his bio:

Artist Pat Carbajal started as a political cartoonist at various national newspapers in Argentina.  He then changed directions and started working on realistic portraits for the financial newspaper Ambito Financiero, a local version of The Wall Street Journal.

He started producing art for the American market in 2007 with illustrated covers for Adamant Entertainment’s Tales of Fu Manchu and Foe Factory:  Modern.

Timeline of The Planet of the Apes, by Rich Handley, marked his first collaboration with Hasslein books.

In 2009 he painted the cover for Bluewater Productions’ Female Force:  Sarah Palin, a biography series based on the lives of influential American women. The controversial comic book sold out and it’s currently in its third printing.

Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon were all subjects of biographical comics in the Political Power series, with covers painted by Pat. Other politicians portrayed in Political Power were Vice President Al Gore, Senator Ted Kennedy and General Colin Powell.

These biographical comics have gained international media attention.

Rock stars were the next subject for Pat.  Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix were the legends featured in Rock and Roll Comics:  The Sixties, followed by Ozzy Osborne, AC/DC and Guns n’ Roses in Rock and Roll Comics:  Rock Heroes.

The first graphic novel completely illustrated by Pat was Allen Quatermain, written by Clay and Susan Griffith, published by Bluewater, marking his first foray into the realm of sequential art. Quatermain was adapted as a radio drama by Colonial Radio.

Together with Clay and Susan Griffith he created the character of “The Raven” for Vincent Price Presents, a classic horror comic book starring Hollywood screen legend Vincent Price, published by Bluewater.

Pat debuted as a writer in the following issue of Vincent Price Presents.

The next biographical comics were dedicated to legendary comedians, in the series created by Jaymes Reed, Comics.  The first issue was dedicated to Lucille Ball, followed by Saturday Night Live, Eddie Murphy and WKRP in Cincinnati.

Back at Hasslein Books, Pat illustrated the covers and interior art for Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes and the newly published Back in Time:  The Back to the Future Lexicon.  Forthcoming is The James Bond Lexicon.

The Illustrious Illustrators of Oz

What does Oz look like?

For most people it probably looks like the MGM movie, perhaps with a dash of Broadway’s Wicked thrown in.  And in a few short months, if Hollywood dreams come true, the upcoming Sam Raimi movie might just redefine Oz for a whole new generation.  But those of us who grew up with Baum’s books have a whole different perspective.

Even if you’ve never picked up an edition of The Wizard of Oz, you’ve probably seen some of the original illustrations by William Wallace Denslow.  They’ve appeared on greeting cards, calendars, and stamps; on mugs, keychains, and t-shirts; and they pop up whenever a magazine does an Oz retrospective or analysis (a surprisingly frequent event).  Even though Denslow’s  short, stolid Dorothy is not as ubiquitous as Judy Garland’s, she’s still carved out a niche for herself in popular iconography.  Here’s a random sampling:  http://theworldofoz.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=10624283

In order to get the full Denslow experience, you really need a facsimile of the original edition.  Its highly wrought color scheme and beautiful color plates were something of a sensation in their time and are still impressive now.  Plain black and white editions don’t do them justice.  But even the most cursory Google search will turn up examples of Denslow’s template-setting Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Cowardly Lion, as well as his bizarrely pigtailed Wicked Witch of the West.

The fact remains, however, that Denslow illustrated only one Oz book – albeit the most famous.  He and Baum fell out and went their separate ways before anyone realized that Wizard marked the beginning of something big.

Would Denslow have been so quick to go solo if he’d known?  We can’t say.  Go solo he did, though, with the fateful result that a young man called John R. Neill was hired to illustrate the next title, The Marvelous Land of Oz.  http://www.johnrneill.net/intro.html  Neill seems to have had a taste for regular paychecks, because he went on to illustrate twelve more Baum Oz titles (plus several non-Oz Baums), all nineteen of Ruth Plumley Thompson’s, and three more that he wrote himself.  It was and is a genre-defining achievement, by far the greatest and most comprehensive visual exploration of Oz ever, and one that gave us indelible images of such beloved post-Wizard characters as Ozma, the Patchwork Girl, Shaggy Man, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Wogglebug, the Sawhorse, Polychrome, and countless others.  Neill is a rock star.

His style couldn’t have been more different from Denslow’s.  Where Denslow tended toward the short and stubby, Neill tended toward the long and flowing, with strong echoes from the aesthetic movement.  He was more versatile, too.  His non-human characters are endlessly inventive and delightful, and his renderings of Oz architecture are spectacular.  For many Oz book fans, Neill’s Oz is the ultimate Oz, the true Oz – and yet, because he did not illustrate Wizard, he is little known outside the Oz fan world.  It’s a sad irony.

I love my Neill.  There are areas in which I take issue with him, though, not least of which is his tendency to make boys look like chorus girls in drag.  He didn’t start out this way.  Boys figure prominently in Land of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, and Sky Island, and they’re perfectly fine.  But starting with Patchwork Girl of Oz, we get a sudden infusion of pretty that’s above and beyond the call of aesthetics.  Scroll down this page http://vovatia.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/everythings-coming-up-ojo/ for a particularly awful color plate of Ojo the Lucky with his friend Button-Bright – who just happen to be the boy heroes of MY stories.  It rankles me!  Nevertheless, Neill is our man and we owe him a huge debt of gratitude.  Where would Oz be without him?  Thanks for everything, John R.!