Demon # 45

Here is another Demon from Preludes And Nocturnes.

This first scan is of a rejected design Scott did for this character. I really like this design and so I thought it was worth showing.



This second scan is the original pencil drawing...



and here is the final painted character.

Wood Of Suicides

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

This is the Wood Of Suicides, which appear in Preludes And Nocturnes.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Lycius

Lycius is a dwarf that, along with Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus (also known as Augustus Caesar), went into the market disguised as beggars, as advised by Morpheus in a dream, in order to hide his thoughts from the Gods.

That day Lycius and Emperor Augustus sat on the steps and discussed many things including Julius Caesar, actors, prophesies and dreams.

At the end of the day Augustus Caesar and Lycius parted company and never saw each other again, although Lycius did write about that day in his memoirs.

Lycius has been on Scott's mind for some time. This first image is the original design for Lycius drawn back in September 2010. Scott even got as far as inking the drawing, but ultimately decided that he didn't like it.



The second image is Scott's final painting, which was completely re-drawn.

Emissary (The Wizard)

This is another character that nearly made me go insane.

As I mentioned with the previous Emissary (The Blank-Faced Man), while re-reading the series and making a list of all the characters in the series I noticed this wizard on multiple pages from Season Of Mists. He was typically standing near another Emissary, who happens to be The Blank-Faced Man. He is one of the Emissaries who go to the Dreaming in hopes of obtaining the Key To Hell. I thought he might be Merlin...but he's not). I looked online hoping to discover who this character was and found nothing. I asked everyone I knew and I got all sorts of strange answers, but none of them were satisfying. I asked all the comic nerds I knew and nobody knew who he was. I asked Scott and he didn't know, which was kind of surprising since he seems to know all sorts of obscure DC Universe characters. I emailed Neil Gaiman, but never got a response.

Then I heard that DC was planning on releasing the Annotated Sandman books in 2011 and 2012 and they were going to be edited by a gentleman named Leslie Klinger. I asked him. At the time he didn't know who the wizard and Blank-Faced Man were, but they were on his list of questions he had planned on asking Neil. He said that if he found out anything he would let me know and he did. According to Leslie, these characters were drawn by Kelley Jones "as part of NG's direction to draw a random crowd of people."

It was a huge relief to finally discover who these characters were...or weren't.

A special thanks goes out to Leslie Klinger for solving this mystery for me!!!

Demon # 40

Today we have another Demon from Preludes And Nocturnes.

This first scan shows Scott's preliminary attempt at the character, which he rejected because he wanted a more organic feel to the Demon. I like this one. He sort of reminds me of Hammerhead from Star Wars.



This second scan is the final design, inked, prior to painting.




And here is the final painting.

Alien # 7

And here is another Alien from The Heart Of The Star.

Blue Walking Stick

Okay...so, I bet you are wondering what the heck is up with this character. I mean, he's a blue walking stick. No, he is not a demon and he is not someone from The Dreaming, but he is a noticeable character in a group of strange characters.

This Blue Walking Stick appears in A Game Of You and is one of the many characters who vanished into the darkness of Dream's cloak as Barbie's world ended.

I like this guy....I hope you do as well.

Demon # 149

This is another Demon from Preludes And Nocturnes.

Dreamer At The Wake # 10

Here is another Dreamer At The Wake.

Alien # 3

This is one of many Aliens who appears in The Heart Of The Star, which happens to be my favorite story from Endless Nights.

Psycho-Killer

Psycho-Killer is one of the serial killers who attended the Cereal Convention from The Doll's House storyline.

I really like this painting. Scott did quite an excellent job with this character.

Demon # 57

For some reason this Demon, from Preludes And Nocturnes, reminds me of Pete's Dragon.

Demon # 106

Here is another Demon from Preludes And Nocturnes.

Scott really enjoys drawing those demons.....

Alianora

This character presents one of the unanswered mysteries from the Sandman series.

Alianora appears in only three panels from the series, but we can suspect, based on their brief conversation, that there is a much bigger history between them.

When Dream uncreates Barbie's world in A Game Of You, Alianora is the last of the characters who enters into the darkness of his cloak. Alianora appears to have once been Dream's lover a long time before and he made some sort of agreement that he would eventually destroy her world.

Gaiman, through Barbie's voice, speaks of Alianora and says "She was magnificent. She looked very proud and very sad."

The mysteries that surround Alianora include her past relationship with Morpheus as well as the events that lead to her sadness and how she came to have a scar upon her cheek. Hopefully someday we will learn the answers to these questions.

Demon # 81

This Demon reminds me of the wrestler King Kong Bundy. I think it's the weird jumpsuit that he wears. Why would a demon need to wear a jumpsuit?

Demon # 24

This Demon is from Preludes And Nocturnes.

Can you find him?

Here is Scott's initial pencil sketch of the character and the final painting.