Super Friends in Oz by Kevenn T. Smith

I participated in my comic book shop's annual auction to raise money for the Cleveland Food Bank. One person won an exclusive edition of my Super Friends in Oz piece that I created for the auction. The illustration is an homage to the Super Friends episode "The Planet of Oz," where Mr. Mxyzsptlk sends a tornado to transport Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman inside of the Hall of Justice to the planet of Oz. Upon arrival, he transforms them into versions of characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book. The three of them have to find their way through many encounters on the planet until they reach "The Wizard" and of course manage to trick Mr. Mxyzsptlk into saying his name backwards, thus forcing him to set everything right.

As an homage, I didn't want to try to create something that looked like an animation cell from the episode. I wanted to inject my own style into it, three-dimensionalize the visuals, and offer more nods to the 1939 MGM musical of The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland. That meant adding a "Dorothy" to the piece, and while Jayna of the Wonder Twins actually did appear in the original episode, I decided to use Wendy Harris, a character who regularly appeared in only the first season of the Super Friends show. I thought that Wendy's color scheme and design would better meld with Dorothy's and look better alongside the other characters in the piece. And while I'm a HUGE fan of the Oz books, the makers of the movie musical were not wrong when they decided that ruby slippers would "pop" more against the Yellow Brick Road compared to silver slippers that were in the book.

Prints of this piece are available directly from me. Fill out the "Contact Me" form at the left of this page to contact me regarding a print and inquire about pricing. 
"Super Friends in Oz" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil & Photoshop
©2022 Kevenn T. Smith 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Lois Lane

This is the 16th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

In the past few years in the United States, certain superheroes have come to mean more to me because of the particular ideals and values that they stand for. For instance, while the President of the country had an enormous history of spouting misogynist speech, Wonder Woman, a hero who stands for the empowerment of women especially, became even more important to me. Likewise, as that same President continued to spew a mountain of provable lies and call members of the free press enemies of the people, the character Lois Lane meteorically rose in importance to me. Reporters like Julie K. Brown, who did most of the leg work on the Jeffrey Epstein story, and Victoria Brownworth, an independent reporter whose work advocates for truth and justice are real treasures to our society. I see in Lois Lane the same spirit that these women have, and that is a relentless search for the truth and commitment to exposing the powerful who prey, exploit, and harm those with less power. That's what superheroes do, and that's why Lois Lane deserves to stand alongside the other heroines of the DC Universe.

A lot of thought went into creating this look for Lois Lane, which is, I believe, the first time that I've ever really drawn her. It's ridiculous that it's takine me this long to do that. The color purple has become associated with Lois Lane in the last few years, and since purple is my favorite color, of course I was going to use it. Ever since Superman: The Animated Series, Lois Lane has frequently been depicted having violet eyes. I did not want to deviate from that detail that provides more purple to the experience. Details were important, so she has a wedding ring on her finger to visually show her marriage to Clark Kent/Superman. She has lovely "S" symbol earrings to also nod to her status as a member of the "Superman Family." And her mask has a Logo for the Daily Planet on it. For the dress, I imagined that it would be a dress that could be worn to the office in the day along with a jacket or sweater, and then by itself for a fancier red carpet look. I love the pairing of the light lilac purple with rose gold, and gave her a matching phone, which I see so many reporters use nowadays as their recording devices. Her hair is a fresh long bob with a little wave to it. It's nice, but you know she doesn't have a lot of time to spend on her hair - not even for special occasions. I wanted to show that this is a woman who doesn't have the advantage of having super speed to help her manage her busy schedule. It's also a call back to one of my favorite portrayals of Lois Lane, Terri Hatcher on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Lois Lane" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Lois Lane ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Power Girl

This is the 14th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Power Girl is not a household name superhero, but when I tell you about her, you'll feel like you already know her. Power Girl is Kara Zor-L, the "Supergirl" of Earth-2. Remember how Supergirl's rocket arrived later than Superman's by mistake? Well Power Girl's arrived even later, and I guess something didn't go 100% with the suspended animation, because she arrived pretty grown and also *gasp* had ideas of her own. She refused to be defined by Superman, so instead of calling herself Supergirl and wearing his symbol, she called herself Power Girl and left her chest devoid of the S-shield. In her civilian identity as Karen Starr (Yes, a white woman named Karen with short hair - she was created in the 70's. It's not her fault.), she owns her own tech company. As Power Girl, she basically has all of the same powers as Superman. Operating on Earth-2, she was a member of the Justice Society of America (JSA), and was a close friend of the daughter of Batman & Catwoman, the Huntress. Whether on Earth-2 or Earth-1, Power Girl is always a force to be reckoned with.

I really enjoyed working on this design. Originally, I was going to give her a sleevelesss look with a turtle-neck, but I had also been wanting to do a asymmetrical shoulder look for this series, and when I realized that would mimick the line of the rope that her cape is attached to that cuts across her chest on her superhero costume, it seemed like the perfect choice. I also was inspired by the loincloth style skirt that she wore in her appearance as Power Woman in the Kingdom Come series by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. I also really like her haircut, because I think it's sexy and youthful while being much shorter than how I've depicted Power Girl in my artwork in the past. I think it suits her perfectly. The charms on her bracelet also contain some "Easter Eggs," like an Earth-2 Superman symbol, and Aquaman symbol alluding to her Post-Crisis origin as the grand-daughter of ancient Atlantian sorceror, Arion, and a Harley Quinn diamond because Amanda Connor & Jimmy Palmiotti wrote & drew a wonderful Power Girl series and they also have had her interact with Harley Quinn as a friend during their handling of Harley's stories. Also, since working on my Supergirl design and realizing during that work that the color pink is almost NEVER used on DC Heroines, I couldn't pass up the chance to turn what is traditionally red on her costume into a magenta and bring in the pink to a really fun eye makeup look.

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Power Girl" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Power Girl ©DC Comics 

A Boy And His Dog: Superboy & Krypto the Superdog

This is a commission piece that I did of Superboy, Conner (Kon-El) Kent, and Krypto the Superdog.  Superboy is a clone using DNA of both Superman and Lex Luthor.  The current DC Comics stories have Conner living with Martha Kent on the Kent Farm and going to school in Smallville, much like Clark Kent did when he was growing up.

For me, this piece was also an opportunity to go back to the rural small towns and farm areas that were nearby where I went to college.  I had the opportunity to go back there earlier this year for a wedding, and I think it really helped me in depicting the small town/rural setting.

This illustration is available as prints. Please use the "Contact Me" form at the top-left of this page to request one and inquire further about pricing and sizes.

8" x 10.5" on Bristol Board
Prismacolor Color Pencils

Superboy & Krypto © DC Comics 2011

Art For Mid-Ohio-Con Part 2

Here are more of the artcards that I will be selling at Mid-Ohio-Con this weekend, along with prints of some of the work in my Illustration Gallery:

Superman:


Wonder Woman:

Donna Troy as Wonder Girl:

Supergirl (I wanted to capture the feeling of the aerial ballet in the Supergirl movie starring Helen Slater.):

Green Lantern:

Batgirl:

Nightwing:

Flamebird (based on International Supermodel and D-Listed.com's Hot Slut of the Year 2007, Phoebe Price):