Dale Ulrey

In looking back, I've found I never posted this drawing by Dale Ulrey for Reilly & Lee's unpublished version of Ozma of Oz. It's an interesting piece, particularly due to the changes that were made to it.

This illustration is of Ozma and friends coming across the Giant with the Hammer, a mechanical creation by the firm Smith & Tinker, the same craftsmen who created Tik-Tok. Illustration art is often adapted, or changed, or corrected before being published - unfortunately, this isn't always done with long term results in mind. There are drawings that print beautifully, but in person have had so much reworking done that they aren't very attractive. In the case of this piece, it was clear that an entire background had been thickly whited out, and the covering was flaking. I decided to have it removed to see what the original version of the drawing was, and this was the result. Not only was there a whole mountain range, but the tail of the Hungry Tiger appeared as well.

On the left, I've digitally removed the background that was hidden, as well as some browning near the Giant, to show the final intent of the drawing. In this form the image is more dynamic, with a strong diagonal thrust. The drawing could be returned to this state, but I think it makes an interesting example of the changes that illustrations go through. Also, since graphic editing is so simple to do by computer, there's no real need to physically cover the unwanted parts of the image.