Robert DeNiro

Robert De Niro, Jr. (born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973 (My Birth Year, Yaaay). In 1974, he played the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, a role that won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

His critically acclaimed, longtime collaboration with Martin Scorsese began with 1973's Mean Streets, and earned De Niro an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake LaMotta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his roles in Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976) and Cape Fear (1991). In addition, he received nominations for his acting in Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (1978) and Penny Marshall's Awakenings (1990). Also in 1990, his portrayal as Jimmy Conway in Scorsese's Goodfellas earned him a BAFTA nomination.

He has earned four nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy: New York, New York (1977), Midnight Run (1988), Analyze This (1999) and Meet the Parents (2000).

De Niro directed A Bronx Tale (1993) and The Good Shepherd (2006). He has received accolades for his esteemed career, including the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award.

Along with Al Pacino, I consider DeNiro to be among the best actors in the industry. Here is a caricature of him , followed by a work in progress shot and some pics from some my favorite DeNiro characters.





Deniro as Bounty Hunter Jack Walsh in Midnight Run:



Max Cady in Cape Fear:



Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver:



Real Life Boxing Champ Jake "Raging Bull" Lamota in raging Bull:



And last but not least, The Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part 2:

Tony Montana-Process Tutorial

Al Pacino is one of my favorite actors, I have been wanting to do a caricature of him for awhile now.  I went with a Scarface because it is one of my favorite roles he has played and I figured with the new enhanced Scarface bluray  that is out now, it would be fun to do.  I have alot of Pacino pen doodles floating around my sketchbooks. Here is one of Tony Montana.



This is a picture of a collector toy my wife got me for my birthday a few years back. I guess I'm kind of a fan:)



And a picture of my subject, Al Pacino in character as Tony Montana, "your never gonna see another bad guy like me, let me tell you."



This a quick breakdown of my process along with the process shots. I did this all in photoshop. First I start with a loose sketch and blocking in tones.



Next I make a new layer and fill it with a medium grey to tone the canvas. I lower the opacity so that my original sketch shows through, and on a new layer I proceed to clean up the sketch adding details to the face and background, all in greyscale.



more of the same, getting the tonal values right and trying to keep all the attention on his face, which I want to be the main focus of the piece.



Now I start to think about color, so I glaze the canvas with a brown and contrasting blue hue.



Here I continue to make adjustments and add colors, separating the character from the scenery. I also continue to refine the drawing along the way, which has still remained pretty loose.





All that is left is the details and finally the textures, and what would a Scarface caricature be without all of the cocaine.





I hope you enjoyed reading my process as much as I enjoyed Painting it and that you may have learned something that will benefit and motivate you in your own creations.