The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Brief set by The Fox is Black as part of their re-covered competitions

http://thefoxisblack.com/

This brief provided me with an outlet to produce some of this ‘more, more, more’ work. Initially, I was worried that I wouldn’t get the time to produce something to standard having got my final major project to be working on alongside, which obviously has to be my main focus. But then of course in this catch twenty-two situation I also need more work in my portfolio, so I decided to give it a stab.

It turns out that giving it a stab was a good idea because that in itself has given me a mini break from my final major project work meaning that I can now return to it fresh looking at it from a new perspective etc.

I started the work on Wednesday 8^th February meaning I only had four days until the deadline and for me four days is short. Usually, to produce a front cover, back cover and spine design it would take me a minimum of four weeks so the challenge it provided in itself was worth undertaking. I read the brief thoroughly before embarking on the task and the idea was to illustrate the book and not the film. I don’t know if I’ve ever even read the book so I started my research there. It was a good job I did too because little details have been neglected in the film version for example Dorothy’s shoes are silver and not red as they are in the film. After reading the story I decided to focus on key elements to parallel the technique I’m using in my final major project which were the Wizard’s granting of their wishes; a new silk heart for the Tin man, a new brain made of pins and needles for the scarecrow, a drop of courage for the lion and Dorothy’s silver shoes which took her home to Kansas. I made these elements out of mixed media again to parallel my FMP work by using origami paper and cardboard. I then scanned in these elements and polished them on Photoshop. As Paul J Bartlett commented, my polishing skills need to be worked on so this project gave me a fine opportunity to incorporate that too. I then went to photograph green glass bottle to use as a background to reference the Emerald City and put the elements into context. I struggled with typeface again so I picked out the font I like the best from the selection preset on Photoshop.

Overall, I’m happy with the final outcome. The standard could be slightly higher if I had had the time but due to the short deadline this wasn’t possible. It has provided me with a basis if nothing else on which to produce a piece of work that I could possibly add to my portfolio at a later stage when I get some feedback as to whether it needs more work or not. But for now, here you go …