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