"The Wizardess' Unknown Voice" by Kevenn T. Smith

I love a deep cut. This new illustration is a pretty deep cut. Honestly, at this point in the Great Rebellion series that I've been working on, nearly everyone left is a deep cut. This illustration features my depiction of "The Wise Old Wizardess."

There were two mini comics that came with some of the vintage She-Ra figures, "Journey to Mizar" and "The Hidden Symbols Mystery." Both of them featured a part where She-Ra needed help from a mysterious and magical woman in the woods. In both stories, the woman was depicted wearing a robe, having no hair, and a halo of light shining from the back of her head. While one was colored all in golden tones and referred to herself as a Seer or the Voice of the Unknown, the other was called The Wise Old Wizardess. She had a purple robe and a double halo of yellow and green light. Neither was depicted as particularly old.

To me, it seemed obvious that these were meant to be the same character. There were enough visual similarities in design and situation, while still accounting for the production situation of the minicomics, which I suspect were farmed out to different illustrators, probably done under a time crunch, then farmed out to different colorists with no time allowing to make sure the depiction of a minor character not included in the style guide was consistent. I would not be surprised if research showed that this character was a progenitor of both Madame Razz and Light Hope. Both were mentor characters to Adora and She-Ra that gave mystical knowledge as well, like this character did. Madame Razz was an ancient female magic user who lived in the woods and wore purple, like the Wise Old Wizardess. Light Hope, in the toy line, was at one point also concieved as a magical woman who lived in the woods (though much younger looking), and in the cartoon was depicted as a halo of colorful lights, much like the halo of colorful lights the Wizardess has. It seems to me to be a distinct possibility.

In wanting to depict this charater, I decided to combine visual elements from both depictions into one and get the greatest amount of "Visual Variety." I combined the design of the belted gown from "The Hidden Symbols Mystery" with the predominant coloring scheme of the design in "Journey to Mizar." I incorporated magical items that were given to She-Ra in the costume(the golden net worn around the waist, which she does in the comic and removes when she gies it to She-Ra) and the staff, where the piece at the end is the enchanted mirror used in one of the stories. In combination, we get the best of both worlds and exciting new story possibilities.

This illustration is available on a plethora of different products at my Red Bubble store, including prints, cards, posters, bags, phone & ipad skins & cases, pillows, t-shirts, hoodies, baby & kids clothes, dresses, scarves, socks, journals, clocks, stickers, bath mats, and many, many more. Click on the picture to go to this piece at my store.


"The Wizardess' Unknown Voice" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2020
Character ©Mattel 2020

The Archer's Affable Sidekick by Kevenn T. Smith

I have one last Rebel to post for 2018. It's been a busy year for me - doing the My Husband is Not a Rainbow book, singing with a band called Bullseye Womprats, working with a local high school's theater department, and working on illustrations for a 6-book series. I hope to do more Rebels to come next year, especially since there's a great new She-Ra and the Princesses of Power show on Netflix now.

This Rebel illustration features Josh. It's time to go in Deep-Fan Mode.  Josh was created to be a protege of Bow and only appeared in two mini comics that came with the vintage figures, "Across the Crystal Light Barrier," where he was named and seen having a picnic with Adora, Glimmer & Bow, and "Don't Rain On My Parade," where a character wearing "Josh colors" appeared playing a flute. If he was Bow's protege, and Bow played a musical instrument, the harp, then it's seems likely that Josh would have played an instrument too - the flute hanging from his side by ribbons. So yes, I maintain that *was* Josh in that panel of that comic.

I gave him a headband as an homage to the vintage Bow action figure, and I used the hat band from his appearance in "Don't Rain On My Parade" for it.

The mini crossbow recalls Bow's archery, and the clover bolts also hearken to Bow's heart tipped arrows. I gave him blue clovers because picnics can happen in fields of clover, and the trees in Whispering Woods are predominantly blue, so I thought that there could be a blue clover in the Woods. I also imagined that perhaps he had been in a Horde Youth Group, and would have had training with a crossbow, as many of the Horde characters have crossbows. I gave him shoulder epaulets like Adora's, but in blue, to tie that in.

His bracelets are the same as the vintage Bow action figure's, to further visually tie them together. The boot design, I took off the Dekker action figure from the Masters of th eUniverse Classics line, because I liked the element of stitching it had that was like the stitching that Josh's tunic had at the chest. Also, the boots were a turned-down style, and male characters on Etheria favored a turned-down style of boot - like Seahawk and Snout Spout. I also thought the gems on the boots were a nice echo of the circles on Bow's boots at the top and the ornamental flare many of the female characters have at the top of their boots.

And then, there's the bowl of potato salad - started as a joke by someone on He-Man.org, that Josh brought potato salad to the picnic in "Across the Crystal Light Barrier." The potato salad grew to have a life of its own, and is now synonymous with Josh. I used colors from his design and tried to give it an Etherian feel.

This illustration of Josh is available as cards, prints, postcards, t-shirts, hoodies, skirts, dresses, scarves, bags, pillows, phone cases, clocks, duvet covers, and more at my Redbubble store! Click the picture to go there.
"The Archer's Affable Sidekick" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2018
Josh character ©Mattel 2018

Unicorns and a Bounty Hunter

Here are a couple more illustrations for the Great Rebellion series that I've been meaning to post. The first up is "Baby Wind." She-Ra's steed, Swift Wind, ended up revealing a secret life - a wife named Starr Wind with a baby on the way in the very last episode of the series. If the baby was born on Unicorn Island, he would be a unicorn like his parents. If not, he'd only be a regular horse. Due to Hordak's antcis, the baby was born off-island. Swift Wind and Starr Wind professed how much they loved their child, even though he wasn't a unicorn. She-Ra called upon the powers of Grayskull with her sword and changed the foal into a unicorn.

The baby was never named, but I like to think that if he was named, he'd be called Sun Wind - due to his golden color (and a sun is actually a star, so it's close to his mother's name), and it's also a pun (which the Masters of the Universe/Princess of Power characters liked to do with names), because he's Swift Wind's son.

This illustration is available at my Redbubble store as prints, posters, cards, postcards, stickers, t-shirts, hoodies, dresses, kids' & babies' clothes, phone cases & skins, laptop cases & sleeves & skins, pillows, skirts, leggings, mugs, tote bags, drawstring bags, studio pouches, scarves, duvet covers, journals, clocks, acryllic blocks, and more!

"Baby Wind" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2018
Character ©Classic Media 2018 

The next featured Rebel, is the bounty hunter, Huntara, who was designed to basically be Grace Jones (whim I am a huge fan of). Huntara was only in one episode, but she was slated to return in another episode, "The Silaxian Wars." The episode was storyboarded, but it was deemed too violent to be completed. The episode had Huntara returning to Etheria to enlist She-Ra's help to defend her planet, after Horde Prime targeted it for revenge for when Huntara refused to capture She-Ra in Huntara's first appearance. She-Ra and Huntara would have brought down a lot of damage on Horde Prime's forces, and it would have been an epic episode to end the series on.

This illustration is also available at my Redbubble store as prints, posters, cards, postcards, stickers, t-shirts, hoodies, dresses, kids' & babies' clothes, phone cases & skins, laptop cases & sleeves & skins, pillows, skirts, leggings, mugs, tote bags, drawstring bags, studio pouches, scarves, duvet covers, journals, clocks, acryllic blocks, and more!  
"The Honorable Alien Bounty Hunter" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2018
Character ©Classic Media 2018

Last, we have an illustration piece that depicts the entire Wind Family soaring through the verdant Etherian sky! This piece is also available at my Redbubble store as prints, posters, cards, postcards, acryllic blocks, laptop cases and skins, pillows, drawstring bags, tote bags, mugs, wall tapestries, stickers and more!
"Rebel Unicorn Family" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2018
Characters ©Classic Media and Mattel 2018 

Rebels That Rock - And Dance!

I've finished some more illustrations for my Great Rebellion Series, and offered a couple new group shots as well. First off, we have the Rock People, which also contain the two "Comet Warriors," which Stondar and Rokkon were also known in the vintage Masters of the Universe toyline. However, at the time that the toys came out, new episodes of the He-Man cartoon were no longer being produced, and so the characters ended up being featured on the She-Ra cartoon - along with Granita, a female Rock Person, who was planned to be produced in the vintage Masters of the Universe, only Mattel decided that boys couldn't handle *ANOTHER* "icky girl" in the line. I mean, those poor boys of the 80's did have their precious and frail masculinities threatened by the introduction of THREE other females in the line, Teela, Evil-Lyn, and Sorceress, so goodness knows what sort of villainy and ararchy would have resulted if a FOURTH female had been introduced, so Granita was cut.

But she showed up on the She-Ra cartoon - TWICE! Stondar showed up twice, and Rokkon only showed up once. Also, another member of the Rock People showed up in an episode, a young female named Facet. As far as I'm aware, there was no other appearance of Facet in any other media. Stondar, Rokkon, and Granita all showed up in the Masters of the Universe daily newspaper strips, where they were all depicted in their simplified Filmation designs, but we wee told that Stondar is the father to both Rokkon and Granita.

For these illustrations, I wanted to largely begin with the Filmation design as a base, but add in a lot of details that the two Comet Warriors had in their vintage action figure and Masters of the Universe Classics action figures had. And in that, to make them all cohesive, I added more details and elements to the designs of Granita and Facet to bring them closer to the two males. All illustrations in this post are available on a variety of products such as T-shirts, hoodies, dresses, kids/babies clothes, posters, prints, phone cases and skins, iPad cases and skins, mugs, tote bags, drawstring bags, pillows, studio pouches, scarves, duvet covers, skirts, journals, clocks, acryllic blocks, and more at my RedBubble store. You can click the text link there to go to my store, or you can click on each picture to go to that illustration's listing at my store directly.

"Rebels That Rock" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Granita, Stondar, Facet, and Rokkon
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2017
Characters ©Mattel and Classic Media 2017

"The Gracious Girl of Granite" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Granita
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
@Kevenn T. Smith 2017
Character ©Classic Media 2017

"The Reckless Young Warrior of Rock" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Rokkon
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
@Kevenn T. Smith 2017
Character ©Mattel 2017

"The Stoic Leader of Stone" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Stondar
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2017
Character ©Mattel 2017

"The Fearless Faceted Femme" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Facet
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2017
Character ©Classic Media 2017

Another character that I completed an illustration of is of one that I call "Bubblerina." This character was previously only seen in one illustration in a German catalgoue that featured the never-produced Bubble Carriage. The illustration depicted She-Ra riding inside the carriage along with this mysterious new character, and Spinerella riding on the back of the carriage. For years, fans speculated whether this was a new character or a mis-colored Mermista, but I was of the opinion that it was indeed, a different and distinct character, and that the bubble morif on her was similiar to the bubble motif of the carriage and Bubble Power She-Ra. I suspected that this character was a dancer (because of the ballerina tutu) and for some reason, the bubble motif was given to She-Ra to make the Bubble Power She-Ra variant in Wave 3, and the character was cut from the wave but her dancing elements were given to Spinerella, and the element of her being Spinerella's sister and the largely blue color motif were taken up my Netossa.

This was all confirmed at 2016's Power-Con convention, when the Sander Brothers ended up revealing a lot of research that they did into Mattel's archives on the She-Ra: Princess of Power line, and said that this "Bubble Carriage Maiden" was a character initially named Joya, and that her bubble gimmick was given to Bubble Power She-Ra, because the gimmick for the Wave 3 She-Ra variant was not working. However, I do not think that if Joya had gone to production, that she would have been released with the name "Joya." It doesn't have the descriptive and pun-filled nature of the other She-Ra characters' names. We leared from that Power-Con that Perfuma's original name was Terra (like the earth). I feel that if Joya would have been released, she would have been released under a name that describes her abilities and who she is, thus "Bubblerina," which combines "bubble" and "ballerina" together to give us an idea of what she's about. In my illustration, I did want to give her a couple more details to make her fit better with the other female Rebels in this series. I gave her a belt that's reminiscent of the belt worn by Bow or most of the male figures in the Masters of the Universe line. I also wanted to make sure there was a gem in her costume's bodice like nearly all of the vintage Princess of Power figures had. So without further ado, I give you Bubblerina!
"The Joyous Bouyant Bubblerina" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Bubblerina/Joya
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith
Character ©Mattel 2017

I also created a group shot featuring Bubblerina and the wave 2 vintage She-Ra characters and a few other characters from the cartoon. The Wave 2 characters were very much representative of the elements, and I felt Bubblerina worked with that as well. Mermista as water, Sweet Bee as fire (her sting), Perfuma earth, Flutterina wind, and Peekablue spirit with her psychic abilities. Bubblerina has elements of water and wind. Sprittina also represents Earth, while Kowl and Kowla are wind. Madame Razz is spirit and wind. Loo-Kee is  spirit.
"Wave 2+ Rebels" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2017
Characters ©Mattel and Classic Media 2017

The Great Rebel Round Out

It's time to round out the year with more new Great Rebellion illustrations - with a 2017 calendar to come soon! All of these illustrations are available on an assortment of items like t-shirts, hoodies, dresses, kids'/babies' clothes, stickers, scarves, skirts, iPhone cases & skins, Samsung Galaxy cases & skins, laptop skins & sleeves, throw pillows, duvet covers, mugs, tote bags, studio pouches and more at my RedBubble.com store. Starting us off is a new collection of all the completed Rebels so far:

"The Great Rebellion #2" by Kevenn T. Smith. Featuring: (Front Row) Spragg, Loo-Kee, Sprocker, Spritina, (Second Row) Double Trouble, Seahawk, Frosta, Bow, She-Ra, Princess Glimmer, Castaspella, Perfuma, (Third Row) Peekablue, Tallstar, Starla, Jewelstar, Netossa, Spinerella, Mermista, Snout Spout, (Fourth Row) Sweet Bee, Kowla, Kowl, Queen Angella, Madame Razz & Broom, Flutterina, (Fifth Row) Swift Wind, Star Wind, (Top) Light Hope. Click on the above image to buy products with this illustration.
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2016
All characters ©Mattel or Classic Media

"The Scrappy Wood Sprite" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Spragg of the Twiggets. Click on the above image to purchase products featuring this illustration.
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
@Kevenn T. Smith 2016
Character ©Classic Media 2016

"The Shy Wood Sprite" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Sprocker of the Twiggets. Click on the above image to purchase products featuring this illustration.
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2016Character ©Classic Media 2016

"The Three Main Wood Sprites" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Sprocker, Spritina, and Spragg, the three Twiggets who were featured the most in the She-Ra: Princess of Power cartoon. Click on the above image to purchase products featuring this illustration.
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2016
Characters ©Classic Media 2016

"The Spectacular Leader of the Stellar Sorority" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Starla of the Star Sisters. Her design is a combination fo the vintage prototype figure, the vintage Style Guide/Magazine design, the Filmation design, and the Masters of the Universe Classics action figure. Click on the above image to purchase products featuring this illustration.
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2016
Character ©Mattel 2016

"The Telescopic Lookout of the Stellar Sorority" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Tallstar of the Star Sisters. This expandable beauty takes design elements from the vintage prototype figure, the vintage Style Guide/Magazine, the Filmation design, and the Masters of the Universe Classics figure. Click on the above image to purchase products featuring this illustration.
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2016
Character ©Mattel 2016

"The Gentle Gem of the Stellar Sorority" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring Jewelstar of the Star Sisters. This shy gal who can transform herself into a gem incorporates design elements from the vintage prototype figure, the vintage Style Guide/Magazine, the Filmation design, and the Masters of the Universe Classics figure. Click on the above image to purchase products featuring this illustration.
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2016
Character ©Mattel 2016

"The Stellar Sorority" by Kevenn T. Smith featuring all three of the Star Sisters together. Had the She-Ra series and toyline continued, the Star sisters were planned on being a big focus. Click on the above image to purchase products featuring this illustration.
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2016
Characters ©Mattel 2016