“Tell me thy company, and I’ll tell thee what thou art.” ~ Don Quixote
The artistic tradition of Don Quixote is very rich. The above is an engraving of Don Quixote done by Gustave Dore. With disorderly, but grand notions of chivalry picked from books, you might go mad too. Probably not in a bad way.
You might know about Johnny Depp in Terry Gillian’s ill-fated production,
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote…..
This is the complete rendering of my previous concept sketch posted on 11/10/2008. It is also a continuation of the Wizard of Oz series.
Even though this will be my last Wizard of Oz post for a while this was actually the first piece I completed. The concept was that of a powered down robotic Tin Man hidden in the desert. He is suppossed to be a kind of battle droid which was left over from an ancient war that took place in one of the darker times in Oz’s history.
Dorthy and the Scarecrow are wandering the desert trying to find a discrete path to the Emerald City because the Wicked Witch has placed a bounty on both of their heads. Dorthy is disguised as a witch herself to complete the deception and the grateful Scarecrow who was once crucified is her guide. They are about to stumble upon the Tin Man who they will discover to be one of their greatest allies on their journey to find the Wizard of Oz.
This is a continuation of the Wizard of Oz project and these are concept sketches of the Tin Man. I wanted to make the Tin Man more like a robot instead of just a man made of tin parts. To reinforce the idea of a Tin Man without a heart I placed a hole in his chest.
In my reimagination of the Wizard of Oz, I envisioned a scenario under which the Scarecrow opposed the Wicked Witch in some kind of rebellion. My rendering of the story shows the Scarecrow’s harsh fate after being dragged forcefully through the fence and up the hill to the place where he now sits crucified on a cross.
Dorthy is on the beginning of her journey on the yellow brick road when she comes across the broken fence. Her eyes follow a barely detectable trail to the crucified Scarecrow in the distance with birds flying overhead. Dorthy is so shocked by the scene that she forgets all about her yo-yo. It is indeed sad to observe a Scarecrow which does not in fact scare any crows.
The Dorthy character was inspired by an illustration by Tatsuyuki Tanaka in his book Cannabis Works.
I often get asked where Toto is in scene to which I jokingly respond that Dorthy was performing the famous “walking the dog” trick with her yo-yo. Did I mention that Toto and yo-yo rhyme too?
As many of you may have noticed, I have released a series of digital paintings reimagining the Wizard of Oz. This piece is of the Wizard himself.
Personally, I am kind of partial to the title “God-head” and the reason for this is that if I ever saw a giant glowing head, the only thing I would think is that I must be seeing God or perhaps a combination of God and the Devil. If you have ever seen Terry Gilliam’s film Time Bandits you might know what I am talking about.
In the digital painting, we see the monstrosity of a giant head connected to all types of mechanical parts and wires almost like a giant snake Sentinel from the matrix. It is hovering a little bit above the ground and looking down upon Dorthy and her gang of misfits who include the Scarecrow, the Lion, and the Tin Man. Dorthy is bowing presenting the broom of the Wicked Witch who she has defeated.
Scarecrow without a brain stands there without fear, but the Tin Man and the Lion kneel in fear and supplication. The famous man behind the curtain or a mechanical pod in this case, is the actual Wizard, just a man, controlling this mechanized abomination. The number 23 signifies that this is just one of 23 machines which the Wizard has created to cultivate his epic persona.
As I will continue to try to do, I am providing the visual development of this piece. I start with abstract compositional thumbnails, then flesh out those thumbnails into a more complete thumbnail. When I come up with something I like and if I am doing widescreen, I blow it up to a little smaller than 11X17. I then design my relevant props for the composition and sketch my layout. This is a multi-stage process and here it is for your inspection.
This is a reimagination of classic Wizard of Oz. A protective Tin Man defends Dorthy from the cowardly king of Oz, the Lion. Meanwhile, the timid Scarecrow runs off only thinking of saving himself.
Given the title of this blog I thought it might also be of interest to you to witness my process of thumbnail and concept sketching which leads to such a piece.
I think the Scarecrow with his pumpkin head is very Halloween appropriate not to mention the fantastical realm of Oz itself.
Like bats out of hell the flying monkeys emerge from the peak of the Wicked Witch’s citadel on a single mission: kill Dorothy and bring back the ruby slippers. I’ll get you my pretty and your little dog too. Fly my pretties, fly.
I am illustrator in the entertainment arts focused on visual development, character design, layouts, concept art, and anything in the realm of visual storytelling. Around these parts though, I'm letting it loose Simian Style and devolving into a higher state of consciousness on the boundary of an infinite-dimensional manifold in quasi-time. There's plenty of room down this rabbit hole! Learn more About Me and check out the Portfolio.
