Death (1992) by Vincent Locke

DEATH OF THE ENDLESS

by Vincent Locke

1992 Convention Sketch

Ink on strathmore paper

8.625 x 12 in.

Not for Sale


I have a tattoo of the 7 Faces of Death by Chris Bachalo on my arm. It had been printed in a DC Releases advertisement ahead of the Death: The High Cost of Living mini-series, but I had already been such a huge fan of Bachalo's work on Shade the Changing Man and Gaiman's Sandman, that felt confident in my choice to have it forever inked upon my flesh without having read it. I advised Chris of my plan, and we arranged for me to pay for and pick up the original artwork at his table at SDCC that summer. Through a tragic mistake, the artwork was accidentally sold to someone else.


Heartbroken and depressed about this unforeseeable twist of fate, I wandered the convention center floor aimlessly, eventually stopping in front of Vincent Locke's table and when I happened to gaze down, his sketchbook was serendipitously opened to this page. I purchased it immediately, explaining (probably not very coherently) what had just transpired, and devising on the spot my next move. I particularly liked her Pictish features and that the hatching was reminiscent of the classical style implemented on the Les Miserables Original Cast Recording LP which was quite popular at the time. Less than a week later I had this piece tattooed on the other side of the same arm that has the Bachalo artwork. For very personal reasons, this has become my favorite rendition of Dream's sister, Death. Locke worked on the Sandman comic shortly thereafter, but he never got to draw Death in print, so this remains a very special piece.


I didn't see it at the time, but as I get older the more I've come to see (and enjoy) the likeness of early 90s P.J. Harvey in Vince's drawing which provides an additional touchstone to the era.