IF: Voices - lil' Tusken Raider

It's hard for me to think of the lil' sand people (tusken raider, if you prefer) without hearing Obi-wan's voice.  "The Sand People are easily startled but will return in greater numbers...."

And if you really liked the movie (and seriously, who didn't?  Well, up until the last three were released anyway) you'll probably also remember this, "These blast marks are far to accurate for Tusken Raider's ....these were made by Imperial Storm Troopers..."

Alec Guinness had an amazing voice.  Along with James Earl Jones (Darth Vader) they turned the possibly corny dialogue into something riveting and believable.

Well...enough about this star wars (sci-fi nerd talk) and back to my illustration (arty, comic book, animation nerd talk).

This is my 4th version of the Sandman.  In the very beginning I was just going to do a version of Spiderman's nemesis The Sandman:

But as I looked online for reference I found several other characters in the comic book world also with that name.  There was one from the golden age of comics:

He wore a gas mask and shot a gun that put people to sleep (much like my story here).  When I saw him I just had to do my version of him.

And the character that dominated the search engine when you typed in Sandman was this guy:

Now I don't think his name is The Sandman (so maybe drawing him was a bit of a stretch) but he's in a comic book called The Sandman...I believe his name is Morpheus.  But what's say we count him, eh?

Anyhow - As I was putting my Sandman obsession to sleep, I was suddenly struck with the thought of the Sand People from Star Wars.  If you took just one of them, you could very well say he was a Sand Man (but most people would probably call him a tusken raider).  And, of course, I had to draw him.  This should put to rest The Sandman saga.  It ends with this 4th and final illustration:

What was nice about this one (which makes it slightly different than any of the other drawings I've done in this series, and not just sandmen, but all of these illustrations) is that I drew it completely on the computer.  I did the original sketch on a cintiq, cleaned it up in Illustrator, and then painted it in photoshop.

Dr Manhattan: Who Watches the Watchkids?

I finally had the chance to read the comic "The Watchmen." I've always heard a lot about it...and, most recently, because of the talks of a movie adaption, I had to see what all the fuss was about. Was this going to be another horrible take on a movie like The League of Gentlemen was (I never saw that one, because of how bad the reviews were)...but there have been good things said about The Watchmen movie.

So I read the comic - started to anyhow - I'm about three quarters of the way through. It's quite a good story. And I hear the movie is supposed to be quite faithful to the book.

I got the idea to do the Watchmen this last Saturday while I was at the bookstore. I didn't have my laptop with me, but I wanted to get started with it, so I this first version with pencil and watercolor. The colors turned out quite a lot nicer than the scan lets on...but even still, I wasn't going to be satisfied with it until I could get the drawing into my computer and do it for real.



This version I changed a little bit - I actually got some reference for the earth, so the world looks a little more realistic. I would have done stars in the watercolor, but lacking salt, I made do with a starless sky.

The Sandman: from Marvel's Spiderman

I would assume this is the most popular version of the Sandman. While the Sandman from DC/Vertigo Comics is quite the cult fave, Spiderman's long time nemesis stands out as the most iconic. The Marvel Comics Sandman was invented in the 60s to menace Spiderman (and in classic Stan Lee fashion, each hero or villain's name described their ability).

Originally I was just going to draw this version of the Sandman. I went online because I wanted to be sure about his costume - for some reason, a green striped shirt...he also had striped hair (but I don't understand why...so I didn't draw my version that way). While online I discovered the other two versions of the Sandman, so I had to draw all three. They all come from different times in the comic book history and all represent a different interpretation of what a character called Sandman would be.



And now on to other characters...I think my couple will be Pinocchio and Peter Pan. Hopefully I'll have those out this next week some time...

The Sandman: from DC's Vertigo

Now, I'm pretty sure this guy's name isn't The Sandman - so maybe I should have named it differently...maybe he doesn't even deserve to be involved in the Sandman group...his name, I believe, is Morpheus. But he's the main character in a comic called The Sandman - so that counts. Close enough, anyway.

This one is a little bit different than the other ones, because I've decided to develop the hands a little bit more. Previously I left the fingers off completely (or, in the case of the godzilla, I drew little stubby claws), but I feel like the line of characters is evolving. Who knows, maybe one of them will stand up soon...but probably not - I did these drawings specifically with them in a sitting pose because I wanted it to look like a doll or stuffed toy that's propped up. I wanted it to have life and dimension, but the also needed to have that stillness and familiarity that would lead to the view to see them as incredibly cute.



All that's left is the Sandman from the spiderman comics...

Freddy the kid: Freddy Krueger

I've always wanted to go as Freddy Krueger for Halloween. I never did, but one year I bought the glove. 10 bucks. I thought it was pretty bad ass.



Anyhow - I'm in the middle of doing a series of entertainment icons...and since halloween is coming up, I've been concentrating on horror movie icons. One of my favorite villains has to be Freddy Krueger. My dad had my brother and I watch the first Nightmare on Elm Street when we were kids and we spent that night huddled in our beds, scared out of our minds...I remember looking at the door to our room, expecting some form of monster to come tearing through at any minute.

As I grew up - the picture that haunted me the most was of the girl in the body bag walking up the steps (from a basement? I can't remember)...and a creepy scene where Freddy is walking down a alley way scraping his arms against each wall. I saw that scene recently and couldn't believe it used to scare me. His arms grow long to reach each side of the walls, but it comes across as so cartoony. Maybe it's still scary, I'm just watched too many horror movies...