PHONE BOOTH - The Caller

Another Kiefer Sutherland portrait of his character from the movie "Phone Booth" (who only gets about 30 seconds actual screen time, but still totally owns the whole movie).

This was actually the first portrait I started about 3 weeks ago... but it was getting WAY to tricky (the pretty much grey/black tones, the blending etc.) and my frustration got the better of me. So I totally scrapped it and gave up.

I went a more easier route and did this one instead:


But I kept looking back at the reference image [link] which I just adore way too much to let it go (and it is the most perfect image to use for this particular character- fuckin' NUTS!!) and decided to pick it up again and dust it off (by wiping half the layers).

I had also discovered a totally boss new way to enhance skin texture in my paintings (thanks to another portrait I am currently working on) so that made things go a bit smoother this time, and I am happy I persevered with this one!

Photoshop CS5
5 hours the firs time. Scrapped it. Picked it up again, invested another 10 hours or so in it again.
Airbrush + Texture brushes.
Dodge/Burn and Sharpen/Blur for finishing touches!

Also if you haven't seen "Phone Booth" yet... ffs go see it