Morpheus by Ryan Kelly

This is the first of two Sandman pieces - this one depicting Morpheus and the second showing his successor - that I commissioned from artist Ryan Kelly. Ryan has done notable work on Vertigo's "Northlanders", "Lucifer" and "American Virgin". As I planned to hang the pieces side by side, I'd asked Ryan for similar or related backgrounds and to include 2 common elements: a gem and a raven. Morpheus here wears his ruby and is accompanied by his raven Matthew. On the other piece, Daniel has the emerald "eagle stone" around his neck and beckons to his white raven Tethys. Though Ryan says he does his best work when he is asked to "do whatever you like", I have to say that these look nothing less than his best, individually and as a pair. I'm grateful to him for finishing these before TCAF. He’d confessed that he was feeling burnt out with commission requests and drawing 3 of his own projects. That just makes me treasure these even more! (Toronto Comic Arts Festival, 05/2010)