Illustrations and Presentation of The Wizard of Oz

Arnaldo was invited by Antofágica publishing to illustrate their edition of O Mágico de Oz (The Wizard of Oz), by Lyman Frank Baum, released 123 years ago. In addition to the edition’s illustrations, Arnaldo also wrote the Presentation. The new edition of O Mágico de Oz was translated by Davi Boaventura and afterwords by the writer and researcher Carol Chiovatto and the writer, illustrator and screenwriter Janaina Tokitaka.

Read Arnaldo’s presentation for this release here.

Among fairies and pawky pillows

I suffer from insomnia, and between insomnia and one drawing and another, the paintings in this book came to be. My schedule is like this, at night — and the book is like a dream. A dream! It takes us to a place that we only realise that we imagined after reading it. It refers to the old things that we used to listen to before sleeping, as children and adults, next to the fireplace that we used to fantasise about. It reminds our ideas, ideals and dreams; the bizarre beings that only us can understand, the folklore that everyone knows. I put myself in the book and go with it: monsters, adventures, dangers, pleasures, amazement, all that stuff.

There are unexpected things that happen in life. The wind starts blowing, a cyclone comes, then the dog Totó flies and sees things impossible to describe.

There is experience, and there are things superior to that… And we carry on.

Stories are very important to me: we think about these trips and try to make a connection with our fairy tale. At night, I would go over the story and think: now I’m going to draw this according to my dream, my present moment and the things I achieved during the day and during my life. Little by little, I create something that establishes a parallel between me and the story told, and sometimes I find a Fairy (“Fada”, in Portuguese) that satisfies me. Sleeping on a cushion (“Almofada”, in Portuguese – “Almo-Fada” – wording play with the sounding of Fada and Almofada). A good cushion (Almofada).

Some time ago I wrote a lyric called “Memories of a Pawky Pillow”. Tells about its mischief in the midst of a thousand beds and sheets and quilts, and women and men, and he manages to establish a life between dream and wakefulness. And I, playing the story in my mind, made a connection between what I was reading and my imagination to paint. And sometimes I got something fruitful… Beyond imagination! The Pawky Pillow and the Fairy…

Another day I thought that if we have to sleep 8:30 hours a day, and there are 24 hours in that day, a third of our life is about dreaming. And then, walking down the street, I saw a guy with a T-shirt: “Live your dream: sleep more”. The message of the book, for me, is hope for a world that lives up to our dreams. When painting the world of Oz, I remember having an experience with death: I felt that it was running away from me. Death becomes even more distant when we manage, little by little, to do things that please people and the public. And this was a creation that pleased me a lot. Painting Oz was bold (“ousado”, in Portuguse, another wording play with the same sound for Oz and “ousado”). Oz.