Sandman 01

In the realm of entertainment, there are a lot of characters called Sandman, or referred to as some sort of sand person...I started drawing one, and then more and more started popping up....so I did 4 total.  This was back in 2009 for a gallery show I had at Nickelodeon.

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.

Sand people: easily startled lil' sand kid

This is the cleaned up version of the sand kid.



I'd love to color him now - but I have work to do. I should be able to get to it by this weekend, at least.

Tusken Raiders: Lil' sand person

I can't believe I forgot to draw the sand people when I was doing my sandman series. I have three separate drawings devoted to different characters named Sandman - but didn't draw a sandman from Star Wars!

So, once I finally figured out my mistake - I went about trying to rectify it. Here's my sketch...I still need to clean it up (it's very rough...I drew it on the computer using a cintiq! All of the other drawings I've done in this series have been done in my sketchbook and scanned into the computer for cleanup), but it's a start!



Obviously I'll be posting the final illustration when I have time to work on it.

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...

The Sandman: one version

So I was all set to do a version of The Sandman (from the spiderman comics)...I had the drawing all finished and went onto google to make sure I had the correct colors - I typed in Sandman and three different comic versions came up. They weren't 3 different versions of the same Sandman, they were three different characters throughout comic history with this name. One of the ones that struck me the most was this guy dressed in a green suit with a gas mask on. I thought it would be fun to do a version of all three of the characters, and the gas mask guy was the first.

In the upper left hand corner is the first comic character named The Sandman. He's pretty much a knock off of the Green Hornet, with the green suit, 'mad men' hat, mask (although his is a gas mask) and gas-gun. It's the 'golden age' Sandman.

The upper right hand corner is the DC comics version of The Sandman. He was created by Neil Gaiman (and while the comic is named "the Sandman," the main character, which I've drawn above, probably isn't named Sandman. From doing very little research, I believe his name is Morpheus and he's the comic's main character. The comic is called The Sandman because the main character is the anthropomorphic personification of dreams.

And finally - the bottom two drawings are the Marvel Comics version of The Sandman. And, in typical Marvel fashion he's quite literally a man made from sand. I did two versions of him trying to figure out if I wanted to draw him with a fist, or just a loose arm of sand...

Anyhow - the first one I finished is the Golden Age Sandman.