Friday, May 14, 2010

Magical Book of Records

Speaking of Glinda's Magical Book of Records, I just came across this study that I painted back in the 90s of Glinda. I was commissioned for a mural celebrating Baum's Land of Oz and its denizens, and was asked to keep the designs faithful to the book series' illustrations by John R. Neill. For various reasons, the project fell apart, but I got paid for and had fun doing the prep studies.

© Thomas Buchanan

13 comments:

John Matthew Stater said...

I like the style of the image very much. It has a whimsical, quaint, pretty element that is missing from so much fantasy art these days. That element is one of the things that has made me a fan of guys like Tony DiTerlizzi and Larry MacDougal.

Thomas Haller Buchanan said...

Thanks Matt. At this point I just dabble in this kind of illustration, but I'm looking forward to dedicating more effort in that direction. I like Tony's work, but I gotta tell ya that Larry's work is REALLY inspirational to me. All good illustration usually starts with good drawing and Larry's fantasy work is A number 1 in my book.

RahneFan said...

Great composition! Love it.

M. D. Jackson said...

I love that piece, Thom. It looks very delicate and light.

Daniel [oeconomist.com] said...

Had you been doing such works a hundred years ago, various people would be 'blogging about you now, and I'd have one or more Haller Buchanan volumes on my shelves.

Thomas Haller Buchanan said...

Daniel, I like the way you think. Thanks! If I would just buckle down to it now, maybe a hundred years from now . . .

Eric said...

Very nice, the piece evokes Neill without copying him. Do you have more Oz pieces you've done? I would love to see them.

Anonymous said...

If as a child I had ever imagined Glinda quite like that, I might not have ended up a Wicked Witch fan. Still my favorite part of your illustration is the bespectacled peacock.

Thomas Haller Buchanan said...

Thanks guys! As per client instructions, I did stick really close to Neill's vision of Oz, so I certainly can't claim originality with this work. But it does give hint to the kind of work I plan to pick up again when I come back to fantasy painting.

Eric, yes I have more Oz studies. It may be some time, but once I find them in my jumbled files I will post them. I've got other stuff of mine that I'll be posting before that.

Larry MacDougall said...

A terrific bit of watercolour work there Thom. Beautiful !

The fierce miss D said...

Oh goodness! I love Your Glinda! would you ever consider making it a print?

Thomas Haller Buchanan said...

I would love to make a print of it. No time or money for that at this point, but somewhere somehow.

John Matthew Stater said...

I think they do prints at DeviantArt, but I don't know what the process is.