Bird # 6 (illustrated by Kai Martin)

One evening Nada sees a mysterious stranger standing below her window and falls in love with him. She tried to discover his identity, but nobody in her kingdom knows who he is. When all other attempts to find him failed, she enlists in the help of The King Of Birds to discover who this man is.

This is one of the birds searching for the stranger.

This bird appears in Sandman # 9 on page 8 in panel 4.

I am not familiar with bird species, particularly African birds and so I am unsure what type of bird appears in the published comic, but I love Kai’s approach to this character. I really like the line work accenting the feathers and the variations of ink to show contrast. I also like that he added a “No” response from the bird, who also was unable to find the stranger

Man At The Renaissance Fair # 4 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

After a day at the Renaissance Fair, Hob and Gwen head toward their car and it begins to rain.

Hob tells Gwen that he loves it because “most of the olden days happened in the rain.”

This man is one of the people who attended the Renaissance Fair and was caught in the rain.

He appears in Sandman # 73, on page 21, in panel 3.

This is a great portrait from Anna. I love her approach for this character. She captured him at the moment when he is running through the rain. He doesn’t look thrilled to be getting wet. Once again I love the blues that Anna used for this portrait and how she used a darker blue for the rain coming down.

Here is one of the many men at the Renaissance Fair…

French Soldier # 3 (illustrated by John Carmine)

Here is another French Soldier from the Fables And Reflections story, Thermidor.

This French Soldier is one of the soldiers looking through Johanna Constantine’s belongings in hopes of finding the head of Orpheus.

He appears in Sandman # 29, on page 6, in panel 1. He is on the right looking through a chest.

This portrait was drawn by John and he did a great job. I think he really captured the personality of the French Soldier, making him appear stoic and of noble bearing. I like the fact that this minor character has a personality that can easily be seen from this portrait!!!

Quorian (illustrated by Max Rugers)

In Sandman: Overture we learn of a small planet and on the southern continent a race of huge carnivrous plants live. These plants have limited mobility but have beautiful minds.

Quorian is one of those plants and when he slept he dreamed.

In his dream, he encountered someone he had never met before. He was a white flower on a tall stem with dark resplendent leaves. In his dream this flower knows that something is wrong, but is unable to find what is wrong. This tall white flower than catches fire and dies.

Quorian had never seen fire, but he knows immediately that this fire means death.

Quorian appears in Sandman: Overuture # 1 on pages 2-5

Max did a great job with this portrait. I really like the colors that he used and the blending of the greens and yellows. It makes this plant seem completely natural. The colors of the background are also very muted, and work well to contrast the character.

Paramedic # 2 & 3 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

In A Game Of You, Barbie’s apartment building in New York is destroyed by a hurricane. Wanda, George and a homeless woman named Maisie Hill were killed. Barbie was inside the apartment at the time the building collapsed.

These two paramedics responded to the scene of the devastation. They helped pull Barbie from the wreckage and took her to the hospital.

Mary Gentian was filming a news report and she was getting in the way of the paramedics and hostile words were exchanged between the paramedics and the news reporter.

These two paramedics appear in Sandman # 37, on page 12.

In the published piece, the paramedics had very little personality; they were blank slates. Anna made these characters seem like people you might have seen before, or maybe even someone you know. Looking into their eyes, it is easy to come up with life stories for them.

The Black Guard # 9 (illustrated by Kai Martin)

I would like to welcome Kai Martin to the Sandman Portraits project!

I met Kai about a year ago at a local convention and loved his art. I commissioned a few drawings from him, which turned out to be the highlights of my convention. I immediately thought he would be a perfect artist for the Sandman portraits and I am happy to announce that he will be working on some portraits for us.

First up is a member of the Cuckoo’s elite army, The Black Guard.

The Black Guard were sent out in search of Barbie and her friends and bring them to the palace of The Cuckoo. At one point the Black Guard came close to finding them, but Barbie, Primando, Luz and Wilkinson hid under a snow drift and were able to avoid detection.

Eventually the Black Guard captured Barbie who was then delivered to the Cuckoo.

The Black Guard appears in several parts of the A Game of You Storyline.

Kai did a fabulous job with this portrait. I love the details that he put into this portrait and the darkness of the shadows surrounding this ominous character. This is a perfect portrait of this dark and mysterious character.

Secret Service Agent # 2 (illustrated by Anna Hybsier)

In Worlds’ End, Brant Tucker wanders the hall of the inn and encounters a man known only as The Seeker. He is searching for a reality where Prez Rickard becomes president.

The Seeker tells Brant about Prez and his legacy.

Like all presidents, Prez had an entourage of Secret Service Agents who surround him at all times…even while he is jogging.

This man is one of the Secret Service Agents who jogs with Prez Rickard, the President Of The United States.

He can be seen in Sandman # 54, on page 11, in panel 1.

This is a wonderful portrait from Anna. She had really captured the attitude of secret service agents whose job is to protect the president. He seems stern and serious and his eyes are hiddent behind his reflective dark sunglasses. I really like the line work for this character’s face and hair and the details like the reflection in his sunglasses just add to the coolness of this portrait.