This bomb tosser was a character, a fifth member of the Squad, in the first version of Oz Squad number one. I don’t remember his name at the moment.
Author Archives: skook
Oz Squad – The Lion
The fourth member of the first Oz Squad was the Lion. This squad was an unofficial creation and their mission was for personal growth rather than national defense. Still, they managed to kill two witches and overthrow the Wizard. Not bad for a little girl, a walking doll, a tin man and a neurotic predator.
Oz Squad – Nick
First Dorothy met the Scarecrow. Then she and he found a tin man standing rusted in the woods. That was Nick Chopper.
Oz Squad – Dot
2010 seems to be a year for completing projects. I just got word that an old Black Seal project has lurched back to life and I need to find and complete some artwork for it. That’s going to require going through a number of still packed boxes to find the art but that’s good thing. I need to get unpacked.
One of the other things I’d like to do this year is finish sorting the books and magazines I own to decide what I want to keep and what needs to find a new home. That’s not going to happen while they’re in boxes.
And of course, the big ongoing project is getting the new Oz Squad number 1 finished. I get a little bit done on the art every day. Some days it’s so little it’s really frustrating. Other days I can actually look at a page and decide I’m done with it. I can’t predict when I’ll actually have the art done. I’ve made so many predictions in the past and failed to make them come true that I’ve (mostly) learned to stop making them.
This sketch of Dorothy is from 2004 and was part of the design of the cover of an ashcan preview of another, earlier Oz Squad number one.
Gut Serpents – Final
And so we come to the end of our tour through my Mandate of Heaven sketches and illustrations. If any publishers out there think they’d be interested in an kung fu / spy / horror RPG give me a holler. Or better yet give Derek Fetters a holler. It’s his game and I wouldn’t do it without him.
Gut Serpents – Predigital Version
The Mandate of Heaven RPG was inspired by Hong Kong action movies – heroic bloodshed movies, kung fu movies, wuxia movies and horror movies. The inclusion of the horror angle is part of what sold me on working on the project. Asian horror movies can be just plain insane. Maybe if you grew up in Chinese culture it all seems matter-of-course but to my fairly ignorant eyes some of those movies (and some of those monsters) were mind boggling. I really had to kick my imagination to have it go down some of the unfamiliar paths that would necessary to design things as strange as some of the creatures I saw in those movies.
And that’s a good thing. One should never let one’s imagination stick too close to the same paths.
High Kick – Final
The final version of this illustration intended for the (unfinished) RPG Mandate of Heaven.
High Kick – Pencils (and Inks)
A sketch for another Mandate of Heaven illustration. The final illustration will be posted tomorrow.
Behind the Back – Finished
Yesterday I posted the pencils of this illustration. Here’s the finished version. A lot of the inspiration for Mandate of Heaven came from Hong Kong action movies, in particular the films of John Woo. Those movies feature a lot – a LOT – of gun play.
Behind the Back – Pencils
These are the pencils for one of the illustrations I did in 2004 for the unfinished RPG Mandate of Heaven. I didn’t do that many. Or rather, I did quite a few illustrations for the kung fu dictionary but not a lot of scene setting illustrations.
