Contest judging for July - "representative of the story"

baileyvidler

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/w-w-denslow-illustrations-wonderful-wizard-of-oz-1900

This is a selection of images by illustrator W.W. Denslow from the original publication in 1900.

The way I read the prompt is that it can be any version of the story. So it might make sense for those that are doing something like a graphic novel version to leave out Baum as the author, find a different author of a graphic novel with a similar character, or even put themselves as the author if they want to reimagine Dorothy as a new character.

I also think that the presentation for an entry is digital, not like what we would send to the printers. So you plan your drawing within the book cover size mentioned, then draw a little extra to fill up the bleed, then crop it back down to the original and submit. And if the image can't be cropped because important stuff is in the bleed area, then if the guides are taken out, it would look fine. I am willing to help people with that if needed! Just want all of them to look uniform so that it's fair.

Nyrryl Cadiz

@Kevin-Longueil i personally think this doesn’t matter. My gut feel says that it will all boil down to which piece looks the most appealing to the judges. I doubt they will really be consulting the book or the movie for any inaccuracies.

Kevin Longueil

@Nyrryl-Cadiz @carolinebautista I'm sure you're both right... i have this fear that folks will put a ton of work into a piece and be left out of the final 16 because they did not keep to the story..but i worry a lot so there's that

Nyrryl Cadiz

@Kevin-Longueil lol! no probs. We all get worried sometimes.

cszoltan

Thank you for sharing all of this information. I think in many peoples minds the Wizard of OZ is the 1939 movie rather then the original book, but yes when you do a cover for the Book then I think it should represent more the book.
@baileymvidler thanks for the original illustrations, I dont know why but 100 year ago cartoons and illustrations that were made for children were so creepy lol.

Nyrryl Cadiz

@cszoltan If it was stated in the prompt to stick with the novel, then I guess it's vital but it doesn't. Remember they said we have creative freedom to do the cover as we please. So I guess it's not really a great deal.

cszoltan

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Yup, I think you can go all the way with this one, it is an incredibly rich universe and there is a lot of fun to be had! I m just trying to see it from a client`s point of view, and also as a portfolio peace, if a potential art director sees my cover illustration, I dont want them to immediately think, that I have illustrated the Movie not the book.

Nyrryl Cadiz

@cszoltan Is it really that bad if you illustrated the movie tho? Art Directors are not that nit-picky. At least I think they're not. Unless you deliberately state it, they'll never know this project was supposed to be based on the book and not the movie (which Jake did not specifically made clear btw). Art directors probably won't even ask you if you followed this illustration's prompt to a tee or if there was any specific prompt involved.

Anyway, lot of movies are getting illustrated as children's books nowadays. Kim Smith did this and her books are best sellers. Art Directors might actually like it more to see you referencing the movie. Besides who among the young generation these days have read the book? They'll probably connect with the movie more.

I guess my main point is that it's okay to reference the movie just as much as it's alright to reference the novel. As long as you have a new piece in your portfolio to show to your potential clients that's all that matters.

carriecopadraws

I think the judges for this contest will be selecting the most pleasing compositions for the critique, but I predict a discussion will come up about using iconic movie elements on the book cover. Will be curious to hear the their thoughts.

Heather Boyd

@Nyrryl-Cadiz thanks for sharing Kim Smith's work -I especially like the karate kid.

As for the topic in question, I support illustrating the book from it's text and being clear what version it is (there's more than one?) in good conscious. Because it's a book cover I would not draw from the movie, if the text says one eye but the cover shows two -for the witch I would have that nagging visual in my head for whole book. I would feel I would not do it justice (to the original author) if I chose to edit their original work. I remember this concern came up for me when we did the last book cover and someone chose to put characters on the cover that were not in the first book but in the second. I had reread the book and was puzzled I couldn't find the characters, but they were in the movie adaption.

Anyways I am not taking part in this contest and read the write up for it -so there's some flexibility but since it's still a book cover, I'd keep to the book. If the text was the movie then by all means have the cover with the move additions. Yeah, good topic to get us thinking @Kevin-Longueil

Nyrryl Cadiz

@Heather-Boyd yeah, giving it much thought now, I think it should really just fall on the individual illustrators and what they want the prompt to be for themselves.

cszoltan

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Wow these are some frickin` awesome covers! I totally agree on the fact the "kids now a days" do connect more with the movies, it is easier to consume. I need to look in to who made these illustrations, thank you for sharing!

Nyrryl Cadiz

@cszoltan Her name is Kim Smith. She's a Canadian illustrator. Here's her portfolio https://kimillustration.com/

carrieannebrown

Jake did specify the book by putting Frank Baum on the template. He also said an edition, rather than version so I think he means the same story but with say a new foreword or something.

My understanding is that he was trying to give us a prompt that was similar to what a real commission would be like, so sticking to the book means you've actually read it and are able to follow a brief. If I was commissioned to create a book cover, the first thing I'd do is read at least the first few chapters.

He's also chosen Wizard of Oz because the original story is out of copyright. The film isn't. It shows an art director that you can follow a brief but still be creative within those confines.

Having said that, if the aim is to create a great portfolio piece and it doesn't align with your aims, there's no reason you can't change the prompt slightly to create something that appeals to your market.

sigross

@Kevin-Longueil It could be the cover for a yet to be released edition of the book. I bet transforming Wizard of Oz into a boss robot world would get Jake to put it into top 16.

cszoltan

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Already did some digging, also found her books, thank you for sharing Nyrryl

Nyrryl Cadiz

@cszoltan awesome! I’m glad you like her.

Coley

@Kevin-Longueil does Dorothy have a blue dress in the book? Asking for a friend . I was thinking of using a different color than blue but wasn't sure.... I suppose artistic licence could prevail but I haven't read the book either

carriecopadraws

@Coley Here's a description of Dorothy's outfit from Chapter 3 of the book (she changes into these clothes once she gets to Oz):

Dorothy had only one other dress, but that happened to be clean and was hanging on a peg beside her bed. It was gingham, with checks of white and blue; and although the blue was somewhat faded with many washings, it was still a pretty frock. The girl washed herself carefully, dressed herself in the clean gingham, and tied her pink sunbonnet on her head. She took a little basket and filled it with bread from the cupboard, laying a white cloth over the top. Then she looked down at her feet and noticed how old and worn her shoes were.

“They surely will never do for a long journey, Toto,” she said. And Toto looked up into her face with his little black eyes and wagged his tail to show he knew what she meant.

At that moment Dorothy saw lying on the table the silver shoes that had belonged to the Witch of the East.

“I wonder if they will fit me,” she said to Toto. “They would be just the thing to take a long walk in, for they could not wear out.”

She took off her old leather shoes and tried on the silver ones, which fitted her as well as if they had been made for her.

Finally she picked up her basket.

“Come along, Toto,” she said. “We will go to the Emerald City and ask the Great Oz how to get back to Kansas again.”