The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
To create a book cover for such a classic tale is no easy feat and I knew that if I wanted to create something unique and worthy of this iconic story, I was going to have to push myself. I dove headfirst outside of my comfort zone and explored subjects of illustration that I often left alone. This project tested my patience, my attention to detail, and even my skills in Adobe Illustrator, but it was all worth it because the outcome really knocked my expectations out of the park.
The Sketches
At the beginning, I knew that I wanted a custom type to be a focal point of the project. The story and setting of The Wizard of Oz sets a tone of whimsical decadence that I really wanted to capture. And I felt what better art style to portray such an aesthetic than art nouveau? I researched vintage art nouveau style bookplates for layout ideas and turned to Jessica Hische for typesetting inspiration. My next step, was to find a subject to accompany the text.
The Rough Draft
When it comes to decadence, it's go big or go home and you couldn't get any bigger than the iconic Emerald City itself. In the land of Oz, that was the place you wanted to be. There was no way I could put anything else on the cover. Again, I pulled inspiration from art nouveau architecture and was also deeply inspired by Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia. The border pulled from those vintage art nouveau book plates and I included the red poppies to bring a touch of contrast.
The Final Piece
The Emerald City called for a jewel toned palette, and, just like in the book, nearly everything is green. The red of the poppies pop beautifully against the emerald tones and the gold embossed text and ornaments add just a touch of luxury. This wonderful labor of love really tested my boundaries as an artist and I could not be happier with what I delivered. To quote Glinda the Good Witch, "You’ve always had the power my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself."
