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The Art of Oz: Witches, Wizards, and Wonders Beyond the Yellow Brick Road
In this must-have book for all fans of Oz big and small, artist and visionary Gabriel Gale brings to vivid life all the creatures from L. Frank Baum’s beloved series, from the iconic characters in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to many others that are visualized here for the first time.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was the best-selling American children’s book of the twentieth century, and the classic 1939 movie of this quintessential American fairy tale left a permanent mark on the hearts and imaginations of devoted fans throughout the world. In THE ART OF WITCHES, WIZARDS, AND WONDERS BEYOND THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD artist and Oz archeologist Gabriel Gale brings to life all the creatures and inhabitants from L. Frank Baum’s beloved series, many illustrated here for the first wicked witches and their armies, mythical beasts, elemental fairies, robots, insects, one-legged and two-sided people, and many more sky, land, sea, and underground creatures. THE ART OF OZ also debuts the first-ever “Google Map” of the Land of Oz!
Gabriel Gale has mapped the country and animated all the creatures he found there. He has sketched Emerald City the buildings and habitats of the enchanted Land. Through spectacular illustrations, in original and precise style, Gale portrays each character in detail, often with attention to anatomy, structure, size and scale. Gale’s fantastical, vivid, and delightful renderings are also accompanied by excerpts and drawings from the fourteen books in Baum’s Oz series and the most famous inhabitants of Oz—Professor H.M. Woggle-Bug, T.E., Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Toto, Glinda the Good, and the Wizard—add context to this magical endeavor This is the perfect book for the whole family to share and for anyone entranced by the fantasy and everlasting magic of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was the best-selling American children’s book of the twentieth century, and the classic 1939 movie of this quintessential American fairy tale left a permanent mark on the hearts and imaginations of devoted fans throughout the world. In THE ART OF WITCHES, WIZARDS, AND WONDERS BEYOND THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD artist and Oz archeologist Gabriel Gale brings to life all the creatures and inhabitants from L. Frank Baum’s beloved series, many illustrated here for the first wicked witches and their armies, mythical beasts, elemental fairies, robots, insects, one-legged and two-sided people, and many more sky, land, sea, and underground creatures. THE ART OF OZ also debuts the first-ever “Google Map” of the Land of Oz!
Gabriel Gale has mapped the country and animated all the creatures he found there. He has sketched Emerald City the buildings and habitats of the enchanted Land. Through spectacular illustrations, in original and precise style, Gale portrays each character in detail, often with attention to anatomy, structure, size and scale. Gale’s fantastical, vivid, and delightful renderings are also accompanied by excerpts and drawings from the fourteen books in Baum’s Oz series and the most famous inhabitants of Oz—Professor H.M. Woggle-Bug, T.E., Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Toto, Glinda the Good, and the Wizard—add context to this magical endeavor This is the perfect book for the whole family to share and for anyone entranced by the fantasy and everlasting magic of Oz
192 pages, Hardcover
Published November 23, 2021
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December 3, 2021
A Coffee Table Art Book That Is More Like a Virtual, Glorious Book of Records
By: Ron Baxley, Jr., YBR Publishing Oz and fantasy author
Five Stars (*****)
Gabriel Gale and John Fricke have created “The Art of Oz: Witches, Wizards & Wonders Beyond the Yellow Brick Road” not as a mere coffee table art book but have created instead a virtual, glorious Book of Records of sorts with wonderful illustrations for both Oz fans and laypeople. The Book of Records is, of course, Glinda the Good Witch of the South’s compendium of all things which happen in Oz, and Gale and Fricke have created a virtual version of that with many strong visuals.
Fantasy author and artist Gale spends some time showing artwork from his own “Ages of Oz” series, and this section and others remind me of a guidebook which came out to fantasy author Piers Anthony’s Xanth books in the nineties yet more unique. From insects the Wicked Witch of the East has enchanted for characters to ride to modernizations of classic Oz characters, Gale shows great skill with realistic anatomy but with fantastical flourishes and otherworldly uses of color. But most of the time, in addition to showing the original Oz artwork from W.W. Denslow and John R. Neill, Gale shows his own artistic concepts and finished unique drawings for many of the characters in L. Frank Baum’s 14 Oz books. Co-author, longtime Oz and Judy Garland author and Emmy-winning scholar, John Fricke provides detailed narratives for this book. These are not the scholarly texts one expects but even better; they blend the scholarly and the creative. Fricke writes in the didactic, enthusiastic voice of H.M. Wogglebug, T.E. who introduces Gale and his work but also pulls in, as a scholar would, discussions of pop culture interpretations of Oz from the Out World versus that of original Oz author L. Frank Baum. He then discusses how Gale has made Oz his own visually. Fricke also uses the regal, kind voice of Princess Ozma when introducing Gale’s work, making her pages seem more like a decree. And who could forget how he uses the nascent yet spunky voice of Dorothy Gale to discuss how the Oz books all began, showing her as humble when she discusses her friends, who are depicted, and her role in defeating the Wicked Witch of the West? Fricke also pulls Baumian sources for and write captions throughout the book.
Within this book, Gale shows his “Ages of Oz” version of the Wicked Witch of the East, Ava Munch, and has her dressed in regal purple attire with a grimace on her seemingly disintegrating, horrible face along with a blueberry-colored birthmark. Next, Locasta, the Good Witch of the North, is depicted in a white gown in “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and as elderly. Gale in his “Ages of Oz” depiction has her in purple which befits her role as the Good Witch of the North, ruling the Gillikin Country. But Gale does an homage to Baum, as Fricke writes in the caption, “As she aged, Locasta’s raiment slowly turned white to accentuate her eminence as a good witch.” Also, Gale’s Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, is just as I always imagined her. By Gale, the famous Four are, of course, depicted, including Scarecrow with a head made more of sewn-on pieces that I had envisioned but still hand painted, friendly, and charming. He is even in his Munchkin blue attire and hat. The Cowardly Lion has pelts of those he has defeated and has earned his courage, and it shows in his expression. The Tin Woodman is made of more cut out pieces of metal than I had imagined and is a true warrior, but this truly fits for a character whose human pieces were hacked off and replaced with tin. The young Dorothy Gale has the perfect little gingham dress and bonnet on and has blonde curly hair and a determined face (kudos for getting that pattern right on the dress). Gale even makes Dorothy seem a little spunkier by having her hands on her hips. For some of the other Oz characters, Gale does his own spins, including a Neapolitan take on the Wheelers and grotesque figurative gargoyle-faced Hammerheads but also shows their anatomy with dissection drawings. TikTok’s gears are even more intricate than in the original as are the carved wood pieces of Jack Pumpkinhead who still has that large childish Jack O’Lantern grin. What are truly stunning are the Romani-like variety of colors in the patchwork pieces of Scraps. Gale’s takes on the Baum characters are intricate and ultra-colorful with a strong eye for anatomy and detail, and there are so many great drawings of various characters there is no way a single review or even several reviews could hold them. Finally, I should note that author, Oz scholar, and L. Frank Baum authority Michael Patrick Hearn, whose annotated “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” among many other annotated children’s and literary books and other publications, have made him well-respected, provided an afterword which gave a full endorsement of Gale’s visual modernizations and additional Oz history to supplement what Fricke already had large contributions of within the book.
I will treasure this illustrated Ozian Book of Records, and it will hold a place of honor among the modern Oz books I have on my shelves.
By: Ron Baxley, Jr., YBR Publishing Oz and fantasy author
Five Stars (*****)
Gabriel Gale and John Fricke have created “The Art of Oz: Witches, Wizards & Wonders Beyond the Yellow Brick Road” not as a mere coffee table art book but have created instead a virtual, glorious Book of Records of sorts with wonderful illustrations for both Oz fans and laypeople. The Book of Records is, of course, Glinda the Good Witch of the South’s compendium of all things which happen in Oz, and Gale and Fricke have created a virtual version of that with many strong visuals.
Fantasy author and artist Gale spends some time showing artwork from his own “Ages of Oz” series, and this section and others remind me of a guidebook which came out to fantasy author Piers Anthony’s Xanth books in the nineties yet more unique. From insects the Wicked Witch of the East has enchanted for characters to ride to modernizations of classic Oz characters, Gale shows great skill with realistic anatomy but with fantastical flourishes and otherworldly uses of color. But most of the time, in addition to showing the original Oz artwork from W.W. Denslow and John R. Neill, Gale shows his own artistic concepts and finished unique drawings for many of the characters in L. Frank Baum’s 14 Oz books. Co-author, longtime Oz and Judy Garland author and Emmy-winning scholar, John Fricke provides detailed narratives for this book. These are not the scholarly texts one expects but even better; they blend the scholarly and the creative. Fricke writes in the didactic, enthusiastic voice of H.M. Wogglebug, T.E. who introduces Gale and his work but also pulls in, as a scholar would, discussions of pop culture interpretations of Oz from the Out World versus that of original Oz author L. Frank Baum. He then discusses how Gale has made Oz his own visually. Fricke also uses the regal, kind voice of Princess Ozma when introducing Gale’s work, making her pages seem more like a decree. And who could forget how he uses the nascent yet spunky voice of Dorothy Gale to discuss how the Oz books all began, showing her as humble when she discusses her friends, who are depicted, and her role in defeating the Wicked Witch of the West? Fricke also pulls Baumian sources for and write captions throughout the book.
Within this book, Gale shows his “Ages of Oz” version of the Wicked Witch of the East, Ava Munch, and has her dressed in regal purple attire with a grimace on her seemingly disintegrating, horrible face along with a blueberry-colored birthmark. Next, Locasta, the Good Witch of the North, is depicted in a white gown in “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and as elderly. Gale in his “Ages of Oz” depiction has her in purple which befits her role as the Good Witch of the North, ruling the Gillikin Country. But Gale does an homage to Baum, as Fricke writes in the caption, “As she aged, Locasta’s raiment slowly turned white to accentuate her eminence as a good witch.” Also, Gale’s Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, is just as I always imagined her. By Gale, the famous Four are, of course, depicted, including Scarecrow with a head made more of sewn-on pieces that I had envisioned but still hand painted, friendly, and charming. He is even in his Munchkin blue attire and hat. The Cowardly Lion has pelts of those he has defeated and has earned his courage, and it shows in his expression. The Tin Woodman is made of more cut out pieces of metal than I had imagined and is a true warrior, but this truly fits for a character whose human pieces were hacked off and replaced with tin. The young Dorothy Gale has the perfect little gingham dress and bonnet on and has blonde curly hair and a determined face (kudos for getting that pattern right on the dress). Gale even makes Dorothy seem a little spunkier by having her hands on her hips. For some of the other Oz characters, Gale does his own spins, including a Neapolitan take on the Wheelers and grotesque figurative gargoyle-faced Hammerheads but also shows their anatomy with dissection drawings. TikTok’s gears are even more intricate than in the original as are the carved wood pieces of Jack Pumpkinhead who still has that large childish Jack O’Lantern grin. What are truly stunning are the Romani-like variety of colors in the patchwork pieces of Scraps. Gale’s takes on the Baum characters are intricate and ultra-colorful with a strong eye for anatomy and detail, and there are so many great drawings of various characters there is no way a single review or even several reviews could hold them. Finally, I should note that author, Oz scholar, and L. Frank Baum authority Michael Patrick Hearn, whose annotated “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” among many other annotated children’s and literary books and other publications, have made him well-respected, provided an afterword which gave a full endorsement of Gale’s visual modernizations and additional Oz history to supplement what Fricke already had large contributions of within the book.
I will treasure this illustrated Ozian Book of Records, and it will hold a place of honor among the modern Oz books I have on my shelves.
Displaying 1 of 1 review