"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 Sad Scared Shy Dragon" by Kevenn T. Smith

The COVID-19 Corona Virus Pandemic has come to our planet, and I felt that this character was the perfect character to work on at this time while I was feeling all sorts of emotions about this situation. The character is a dragon named Sorrowful. He appeared in three episodes of the classic Filmation She-Ra: Princess of Power series: "The Laughing Dragon," "The Prisoners of Beast Island," and "The Locket." Sorrowful was kind of the "Cowardly Lion" character of the show. He was a huge dragon with the ability to breathe fire, but he was quite easily frightened, and really wanted to be gentle and kind and enjoy the company of his friends. But because of his friendships and how deeply he cared about others, he was able to summon courage in harrowing situations.

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

"The Sad Scared Shy Dragon" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2020
Sorrowful character ©Dreamworks 2020

Year's End Rebels

This year brought many projects that weren't traditional illustration projects for me. We also had some health issues in our family, hence the lack of updates this year. I did, however, get some illustration pieces done. A set of "cameos" and a new Rebel to add to the Great Rebellion series.

To start is our Rebel, King Ahgo of the Trolls of Spikeheart. Ahgo appeared in three episodes of the classic She-Ra: Princess of Power Filmation series - The Crystal Castle, Troll's Dream, and The Rock People. While his design implies that he is a skilled warrior, he also shows that he his capable of feats of magic. They include, prophetic dreams, magical imprisoning spells, and teleportation.

You can purchase this illustration of King Ahgo on a variety of formats at my Red Bubble store, including prints, cards, stickers, mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, kids & babies clothes, clock, tote bags, pillows, phone & ipad cases & skins, and many more! Click on the picture to go to its link at the store.
"The Kindly Magical Troll King" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2019
King Ahgo character ©Dreamworks 2019

I also did some "cameo" illustrations of He-Man, She-Ra, the new She-Ra as seen in the Sh-Ra and the Princesses of Power cartoon on Netflix, and He-Man from the New Adventures of He-Man (who, in that show, formed his own "Great Rebellion" when the Evil Mutants took over the planet Primus for a time). These are also available in various formats at my Red Bubble Store. Click on each individual picture to go to its listing at the store.

"Barbarian Brother of the Valkyerie Cameo" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil & Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2019
He-Man ©Mattel 2019

"Valkyrie Cameo" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil & Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2019
She-Ra ©Mattel 2019

"New Valkyrie Design Cameo" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil & Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2019
She-Ra ©Mattel 2019

"Barbarian Brother in Space Cameo" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil & Photoshop
©Kevenn T. Smith 2019
He-Man ©Mattel 2019

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