Demon # 77

Tonight we have a grumpy little Demon.

Demon # 75

This is another Demon that I didn't immediately recognize when Scott gave me the drawing...not because it's drawn inaccurately, but because there are so many demons that I simply couldn't remember them all, but sure enough...the little guy is there, standing to the left of Choronzon in a mass of demons.

Can you find him?

Bernie Capax

Bernie Capax is one of the "Old Ones." While on his way to work one morning he recollects his dream from the previous night where he walked amongst Mammoths and was remembering their smell...something he hadn't smelled since his childhood. Unfortunately he was lost within his own thoughts and didn't notice that he was walking past a construction site or that there was a brick wall that was about to crush him.

Bernie is one of the first people to die in the Brief Lives storyline written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Jill Thompson.

Dreamer At The Wake # 11

This is one of the more distinctive Dreamers at the Wake. I would love to know if Neil specifically asked for Michael Zulli to draw this character or if he gave him the freedom to draw whoever and whatever he wanted.

Alichino

Alichino is one of the two Demons who present Cain to Lucifer when Dream sends him as an envoy to the Dreaming in hopes of securing Nada's release from imprisonment in the Season Of Mists storyline.

I really like Scott's version of Alichino. He reminds me a bit of a bull, which is the same impression I got from Kelley Jones' drawing of the character in the original published version.

Demon # 79

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a...scary tiki-looking Demon!!!

This is one of the many demons from Preludes And Nocturnes. He sort of reminds me of a scary tiki statue.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Demon # 94

What better way to celebrate the day before Christmas Eve but with another creepy Demon.

Demon # 93

This Demon seems completely out of place in the original comic series, which makes him an incredibly memorable character.

Demon # 35

Cute, isn't he?

Prez Rickard

Prez is one of a handful of DC Universe characters that Gaiman integrated into the Sandman Universe. Prez was originally a four issue series released in 1973 and was by writer Joe Simon and illustrated by Jerry Grandenetti. The series was cancelled and a fifth issue was released inded in Cancelled Comics Cavalcade #2. Prez also made an appearance in Supergirl # 10 (released in 1974).

Gaiman took the character, pretty much as he was in the original series, and set him in an "alternate" America and a mysterious storyteller known as "A Seeker" is searching for that reality, but is trapped inside Worlds' End.

Prez is an idealistic young man who has a knack for fixing watches and becomes the youngest US President in history. He is popular with the people and does many great things for America and the world while he is president, but unfortunately tragedy strikes when his fiance is murdered. After the murder Prez loses his optimism and ends his term quietly and uneventfully. According to the story, once Prez left office "things were no longer golden in America. It wasn't that things got bad. It was that they weren't spectacularly good anymore." Eventually Prez disappeared and his disappearance caused many rumors and speculations about where he may have gone and what he may be doing.

One interesting piece of trivia, at the end of the story, Prez gives a watch to Dream. That watch is visible in a closet of items (including a city in a bottle, Azazel in a globe and the Corinthian's skull) in the Season Of Mists storyline.

Here is Prez Rickard...

Demon # 76

Tonight I had planned on sharing a different character with you...someone that you would absolutely recognize. Unfortunately time sort of got away from me and so I don't have the time to type up what I intended.

So, you have something to look forward to tomorrow.

Tonight you get another lovely Demon!!!

See you tomorrow.

Demon # 123

This is not one of the demons that I immediately recognized and so I had to look him up and sure enough he's there....How Scott managed to find him I have no idea since my description (and page/panel placement) was completely off. Still he managed to find him and he's quite excellent.

Demon # 150

Scott certainly loves his demons....

This Demon appears in Preludes And Nocturnes. He's not immediately easy to spot, but when you find him he is very recognizable.

Faceless Nightmares with No Names

In The Dolls House, Dream is standing on the beach with Matthew as he is creating these Nightmares. When Matthew asks what Dream is doing, he replies "I am creating a new nightmare. I have not yet given it a name."

These Nightmares appear again in The Kindly Ones, but remain unnamed.

Homeless Man

This is the first of several homeless men that appear in Sandman.

This Homeless Man appears in "Going Inside" from Endless Nights.

I really like Scott's version of this character. He did a great job giving this homeless man personality and exploring the depth of an easily forgettable character.

Mort Notkin

This is Mort Notkin. He is not someone that you may remember immediately, but he appears in the very first issue of Sandman (or the first chapter of Preludes And Nocturnes).

Mort is a dreamer who Dreams that he is at a party with a bunch of celebrities, including Elvis Presley, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe and a few others (some of whom have caused a lot of speculation, some investigation, and several arguments of regarding their identity). In Mort's Dream he is wearing a clown outfit because he thought it was a costume party, which it obviously wasn't.

This is one of my favorite paintings Scott has done so far.

The Facebook Page

Hi Everyone,

It's been a little while since an update.

The reason for the absence is because I've been working on a Facebook page for the Sandman Portraits blog.

Why would I do that? Well, I think it's nice to have a place where people can search for specific characters based on who they are. So, you can go to the Facebook page and look at a photo album of all the Demons that Scott has drawn so far....or all the Gods, or Serial Killers...whatever you desire.

Of course, the Facebook page is not going to replace the blog. This blog is still the number one source for the Sandman Portraits and will always be updated first and this is the only place you will get insight on each of the characters. The blog is still the most important place to view the Sandman Portraits, but the Facebook page was set up to compliment it.

If you feel like it become a Fan of the Sandman Portraits Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sandman-Portraits/146572692061774

Thanks.

Alien # 2

This alien is one of many that attended the parliament of creation from "The Heart Of The Star" in Endless Nights.

I love this story so much, it's always a joy when Scott decides to work on a character from that story!!!

Todd Faber

I thought I'd take a break from sharing scary demons with you and instead post a freakin' awesome painting of Todd Faber.

Scott showed me a rough sketch of this awhile ago, but he wasn't pleased with it. I saw a hint of where I thought he was going with the drawing and, of course, loved it and told him so. Thankfully he listened to me and stuck to his original sketch idea because it's perfect!!!

Todd appears in Fear Of Falling, which is a short 8 page story that appeared in the Vertigo Preview (and was later collected in The Kindly Ones).

Scott did an amazing job with this character. There are several subtle little things about the painting that work perfectly for the character in relation to his story. If anyone cares to point them out, please feel free to post them in the comment section.

So, here's Todd...from the original pencil sketch (that Scott didn't like), to inks, to the final watercolor.

Demon # 2

This Demon is one of the creepiest and weirdest Demons from the Sandman series.

This Demon appears in Season Of Mists and she seems appropriate for tonight.

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!!!

Demon # 16

This Demon appears in Season Of Mists and is sitting by the camp fire with Ketele and Rimmon.

I really like the little hairs that Scott added to this Demon. It makes him creepier than he is in the published comic.

Erasmus Fry

When I re-read Sandman earlier this year I made a discovery that I had never thought about during my previous readings (and there were many) of the series. Sandman is full really creepy people. Sure, there are sweet and lovable characters as well, but there is something about the creepy characters that really stick with you. I recently joked with Scott saying that he has probably never drawn this many creepy people for a single project before.

Erasmus Fry is one of those creepy people. While I also find him a little sympathetic at the end of Calliope I still feel that he's ultimately a pretty creepy guy. He probably lives in the house that kids avoid on Halloween.

Scott did an excellent job with this drawing. I think he captured the character perfectly...a grumpy, somewhat creepy man that, even as adults, we'd probably try to avoid on Halloween.

I hope you enjoy it.

Demon # 82

This Demon is not easily recognized, but she appears in the club scene where Dream and Choronzon are battling over the ownership of Dream's helmet.

This Demon looks pretty much nothing like the character in the comic, which is both cool and unfortunate since Scott did a fantastic job on this one and I really like the design and creepiness of the character, but the Demon in the original comic also was visually pretty interesting and also delved into an interesting...um...sexiness that Scott hasn't approached yet (but will due to the number of strippers and bondage men and women who appear in Brief Lives).

Still, see if you can spot her. I described her as a "Horse-Faced Demon).

Demon # 63

Today we bring you another Demon. This Demon is a lot more difficult to find than most of the ones you've seen so far. It even took me a little searching to find him, but once I discovered the page and panel he was on this little guy was super easy to spot.

This little guy is so cute.

Dreamer At The Wake # 13

There are tons of cool and interesting looking characters that are seen at The Wake.

This is one of those characters.

I called him "zombie man" because the way that Michael Zulli illustrated him in the original comic reminded me of a zombie. Is he one of the undead? Was that Gaiman's intention? Who knows, but since it is the Halloween season I thought it might be nice to share him.

Demon 160

I really like this one.

This demon appears in Season Of Mists and Scott did a fantastic job with this guy...

Demon # 167

This Demon is an example of why this project is so cool.

In the comic, this Demon's face is not visible. All you can see is that he has a longish head and that he's wearing some sort of fur coat.

Scott gave this character a life and a personality not found in the original comic by finally showing us what his face looks like.

The Snake

The Snake has no name, but he lives in a cavern beneath the world and from the Snake's mouth drips venom, which Sigyn catches in a bowl to prevent the venom from dripping onto Loki. If the venom drips into Loki's eyes, he writhes and screams and this causes the earth to shake.

Slim

Did you know that Death had two goldfish?

This is Slim, Death's goldfish.

Cute little guy, isn't he?

Demon # 47

When creating the list of all the characters in the Sandman universe I would sometimes give panel numbers and descriptions for characters such as Men, Women, Faeries and Demons simply because there were so many and I wanted to help Scott figure out which character I was talking about.

This Demon was listed as "Demon # 47 (Preludes & Nocturnes 102 – Right Lower – Blue Puckered-Lip Brain Demon)."

I think that Scott did an excellent job with this. He certainly is a "puckered-lip" Demon.

Demon # 37

Here is another wonderful Demon from Preludes And Nocturnes.

I really like the progression of this one and so here is the Demon from start to finish.

Demon # 27

Tonight we have another Demon from Preludes And Nocturnes.

Enjoy!

Demon # 148

This one should be easy to find!!!

Peasblossom

Today is my wife's birthday and, to celebrate, I thought I would post one of my favorite drawings Scott has done (so far).

This is Peasblossom. He is one of the many faeries from the Midsummer Nights Dream story from Sandman # 19. This story has been recognized as being one of the best stories in the Sandman series and so it only makes sense that Scott would find inspiration in that and draw this amazing piece. This is one of the best examples of Scott's new found water color work.

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Demon # 80

Tonight we present another Demon from Preludes and Nocturnes.

He's a bit trickier to locate. Can you find him?

Alien # 1

What?

An alien in Sandman?

That's right...this is the first of several aliens to appear in the Sandman universe (and no I am not including Superman or J'onn J'onzz).

In "The Heart Of The Star," which appears in Endless Nights, there are several aliens scattered throughout the story.

I hope you enjoy it.

Demon # 28

Today I met up with Scott and got some pretty amazing drawings.

The previous drawings Scott did were all done with ink and colored pencil. Scott has switched to ink and watercolor and it makes a huge difference. For the next thirteen days or so you are in for a real treat!!!

This Demon is one of the many demons from Preludes And Nocturnes and is seen on the double page spread.

A Sneak Preview

One thing I really like about commissions is the surprise of seeing the finished drawing. I rarely like seeing preliminary drawings simply because I like the surprise. Of course there are instances where I really do enjoy getting a sneak peak and this is one of them.

I will not post sneak peaks very often...and this may be the only time, but Scott sent me a preview of Julius Caesar, which he drew today and I liked it so much I thought I'd give all of you a sneak preview of what is to come....

I hope you enjoy it.

Boss Smiley

While stranded in Worlds' End, Brant Tucker encounters a Seeker who is looking for the America in which Prez Rickard was president of the United States Of America. The Prince of that world was Boss Smiley.

This is one of my favorite drawings Scott has done so far.

Here is Boss Smiley, from pencils to inks to the finished drawing.

Wildcat

Ted Grant, also known as Wildcat, appears in the Prez story from Worlds' End.

This is one of the instances where the DC Universe creeps into the Sandman Universe.

Urania Blackwell

Urania Blackwell was an agent for the CIA before she was sent into the same Egyptian tomb that caused Rex Mason to become Metamorpho. Like Mason, Ra (the sun god) gave her the ability to transform her body into various elements and for awhile she called herself Element Girl.

She eventually left the CIA and became reclusive.

Death came to visit Urania on the way to another appointment. When she expressed her desire to die, Death told her that she should ask Ra to take her powers and let her die. Ra granted her wish and allowed her to die.