I had a couple of suggestions for the next subject in my informal "tough guy" series, but at some point it occurred to me Charles Bronson fit that theme perfectly, and I had never really done a suitable portrait of the legendary actor.
I chose to represent him during glory days--the early 1970s, when he was about as a big a star as he ever was. Considering what most movie stars look like nowadays, its kind of amazing a guy who looked like this was considered a leading man.
While I was doing this, all I had for his hair was a flat black shape, and that didn't quite work for me--it looked too neat and tidy. So I went in and added a bajillion little strands of wild greyish hair, really letting my hand go all over the place, the better to capture that wild mop of hair that sat atop Bronson's head.
I've been trying to use the same elements for all these tough guy portraits--namely, the same set of colors for the skin, a light blue tone for the shirt, and that rough pattern I would place on top of it.
I at first thought the light blue shirt here didn't look sufficiently tough guy enough, and considered changing it. But then it dawned on me that if Charles Bronson is wearing a light blue shirt, that makes it a tough guy shirt.
I chose to represent him during glory days--the early 1970s, when he was about as a big a star as he ever was. Considering what most movie stars look like nowadays, its kind of amazing a guy who looked like this was considered a leading man.
While I was doing this, all I had for his hair was a flat black shape, and that didn't quite work for me--it looked too neat and tidy. So I went in and added a bajillion little strands of wild greyish hair, really letting my hand go all over the place, the better to capture that wild mop of hair that sat atop Bronson's head.
I've been trying to use the same elements for all these tough guy portraits--namely, the same set of colors for the skin, a light blue tone for the shirt, and that rough pattern I would place on top of it.
I at first thought the light blue shirt here didn't look sufficiently tough guy enough, and considered changing it. But then it dawned on me that if Charles Bronson is wearing a light blue shirt, that makes it a tough guy shirt.
2 comments:
I was an extra in Act of Vengeance, '81. I was face-to-face with him and I can say that you did a good job of encapturing him. Although as he was portraying a Mayor, he was clean-shaven.
Michael--
A)Thanks for the compliment, and
B)Wow, you got to be in a Bronson movie and meet him? How cool!
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