What’s New

Antonio Bosano, Pencil Portrait Artist

When I informed my wife at the tail end of 2011 that I was going to build the world’s largest pencil portrait website, I got precisely the reaction I would expect from a person who knows me as well as she does. No hint of trepidation—no obvious “How long will that take you?” Nothing really—beyond “Oh that’s good.” She knows I never lose interest in projects.

Mind you, one thing has changed. When people ask after me, she now replies “He’s under construction!”

A BRIEF WORD ON GENDER NEUTRALITY.

As anyone who follows entertainment news has become aware over the last decade and a half, most thespians of the female persuasion now refer to themselves as actors, not actresses. Journalists and other non-actors, to varying degrees, are getting to grips with the gender-neutral program. On the one hand this change in usage is informed by the egalitarian impulse that has pushed aside “stewardess” for “flight attendant” and, less successfully, “waitress” for the ungainly “waitperson” or ambience-free “server.”

Well, one of the great delights of having a website is the freedom to ignore such political correctness – or is it nonsense?!!! You decide, but here at this address, a woman is an actress.

Coming Soon

April 2019

Peter Skellern

New Portraits

April 2019

• Peter Finch

March 2019

• Claire Foy
• Mark Benton & Jo Joyner

February 2019

• Ruth Wilson
• Curtis Mayfield
• Ennio Morricone

January 2019

• Donald Sutherland
• Madeleine Carroll
• Idris Elba

December 2018

• Vera Miles – Revised Portrait
• Andrew Gold
• Georgie Fame

November 2018

• Sofia Helin
• Kirk Douglas – revised portrait
• Guy Pearce

October 2018

• Burt Reynolds
• Jodie Comer

September 2018

• Janis Ian
• Laura Carmichael

August 2018

• Michael Craig
• Bernard Hepton
• The Manhattan Transfer

July 2018

• Amy Adams
• Cliff Richard – Revised Portrait
• Cillian Murphy

June 2018

• Fats Domino
• Michelle Keegan
• The Duke of Edinburgh
• Steely Dan

May 2018

• Ian Dury
• Marta Dusseldorp

April 2018

• Terry Wogan
• Ryan Gosling
• Roger Bannister
• Pete Best

March 2018

• Tom Burke & Holliday Grainger
• David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson
• Ray Barrett
• Ian Stewart

February 2018

• Archie Panjabi
• Alexander Knox
• Mansfield Town 1976-77
• James Norton

January 2018

• Ken Dodd
• Britt Ekland
• Imelda Staunton

December 2017

• Gregory Porter
• Morecambe & Wise
• Claudine Auger
• Jessica Lange

November 2017

Daliah lavi
Suranne Jones
Andrew Lincoln

October 2017

Tom Petty
Jessica Raine
Marilyn Monroe

September 2017

Edwin Starr

August 2017

Peter Cook & Dudley Moore
Joni Mitchell
Olivia Newton John

July 2017

Rossano Brazzi
Kit Harington

June 2017

Molly Peters
David Bowie – Aladdin Sane

May 2017

Guy Doleman
Marion Cotillard
Carly Simon

April 2017

Elkie Brooks & Robert Palmer
Paul Carrack
Robbie Robertson

March 2017

John Hurt
Gene Vincent

February 2017

Emily Watson
Ruth Jones
Hattie Jacques
Peter Cushing

January 2017

George Michael
Dustin Hoffman
Ashley Graham
Harry Andrews

December 2016

Tom Hanks
John Grisham
Victoria Wood

November 2016

Helen McCrory
Michael Bublé- Revised portrait
Eva Mendes
Myrna Loy

October 2016

Steve Winwood
Natasha McElhone
June Ritchie

September 2016

Jennifer Jayne
Mary Wilson
Meryl Streep

August 2016

James Jamerson
Jane Merrow
Matt Damon
George Harrison – Revised Portrait
Eleanor Tomlinson

July 2016

Dolly Parton
Lee Marvin
ABBA

June 2016

Steve Marriott
Edward Fox
James Fox

May 2016

Robert Plant
Eva Green
Glenn Ford

April 2016

Denzel Washington
Joanne Whalley
Sheridan Smith
Gerard Butler

March 2016

• Jenny Agutter
• Scott Walker
• Marianne Faithfull

February 2016

• Alma Cogan
• Jeff Beck
• Clive Dunn
• Robert De Niro – Revised Portrait
• Cate Blanchett

January 2016

• James Coburn
• Carol Lynley
• Elvis Costello
• Chrissie Hynde
• Bruce Willis

December 2015

• Adam West
• Anthony Valentine
• Amanda Seyfried
• Omar Sharif

November 2015

• Ronnie Spector
• Nigella Lawson
• Mick Fleetwood
• David Gilmour

October 2015

• Natalie Imbruglia
• Catherine Deneuve
• Alexandra Bastedo
• Harold Wilson
• Marilyn Monroe
• Lynsey de Paul
• Gerry Anderson
• Lana Turner

September 2015

• Mark Ronson
• Mary Quant
• Naomie Campbell
• Sir Alf Ramsey
• Linda Ronstadt

August 2015

• Smokey Robinson
• Aretha Franklin
• Monica Bellucci
• Alfredo Di Stéfano
• Henry Fonda
• Andy Williams
• Ingrid Bergman
• Nina Simone

July 2015

• Anne Hathaway
• Diana Dors
• Diana Ross
• Rod Steiger
• Dorothy Dandridge
• Elizabeth Montgomery
• Henry Mancini
• Bernard Lee
• Otis Redding

June 2015

• Kathy Kirby
• Lulu
• AP McCoy
• Barack Obama
• The Everly Brothers
• Rex Harrison
• Stella Stevens
• Edward G. Robinson
• Elke Sommer

May 2015

• Stephen Boyd
• Enid Blyton
• Jerry Lee Lewis
• Kelly Holmes
• Her Majesty, The Queen
• Barbara Murray
• Jonny Wilkinson
• Gary Sobers
• Zena Marshall
• Joe Cocker
• Frankie Dettori

April 2015

• Gene Hackman
• Ray Winstone
• Julie Andrews
• Christopher Lee
• Geoffrey Keen
• Little Richard
• Racquel Welch
• Teresa Wright
• Terry Thomas

March 2015

• Eddie Redmayne
• Senta Berger
• Oliver Reed
• Ingrid Pitt
• Joan Collins – Revised Portrait
• Kim Karshadian
• Hoagy Carmichael
• Shirley Eaton
• Nicole Scherzinger
• Russell Crowe
• Aidan Turner
• Twiggy

February 2015

• Janet Munro
• Rod Taylor
• Luzianna Paluzzi
• Carole King
• Jeanette Sterke
• Loretta Young
• Glen Campbell
• Maria Perschy
• Yvonne Romain
• Sammy Davis Jnr
• Jose Feliciano

January 2015

• Donna Reed
• Orson Welles
• Steven Gerrard
• Ed Sheeran
• Neil Diamond

December 2014

• Jenna Louise Coleman
• Kevin Spacey
• Caterina Murino
• Salma Hayek
• Joanne Froggatt
• Alan Rickman

December 2012

My kindle book John Lennon—Reflections on a life is now available for download.

Updated Commentaries

• Iman Abdulmajid
• Adele
• Muhammad Ali
• Ursula Andress
• Julie Andrews
• Chet Atkins
• Burt Bacharach
• Stanley Baker
• Gary Barlow
• John Barry
• Alan Bates
• The Beatles
• David Beckham *
• Tony Bennett
• George Benson
• Chuck Berry [new]
• George Best
• Beyonce
• Honor Blackman
• Dirk Bogarde (updated 23/07/14)
• Humphrey Bogart (updated 7/9/13)
• Hugh Bonneville
• David Bowie
• Marlon Brando
• Yul Brynner
• Michael Bublé
• Richard Burton (updated 14/4/13)
• Kate Bush (updated 19/10/14)
• Michael Caine
• Glen Campbell
• Claudia Cardinale
• Helena Bonham-Carter
• Johnny Cash (updated 27/5/13)
• Gabrielle Chanel (updated 13/2/14)
• Ray Charles
• Cher
• Eric Clapton (updated 03/10/13)
• Jim Clark [new]
• John Cleese [new]
• Winston Churchill (updated 29/1/13)
• George Clooney
• Brian Clough
• Eddie Cochran
• David Coleman
• Sean Connery
• Harry H Corbett (updated 9/3/14)
• Chris Cornell
• Daniel Craig [expanded]
• Joan Crawford
• Sheryl Crow [new]
• Tom Cruise
• Benedict Cumberbatch
• Tony Curtis
• Timothy Dalton
• Bette Davis
• Sammy Davis Jnr
• Miles Davis
• James Dean
• Simon Dee
• Diana, Princess of Wales [new] (updated 14/4/13)
• Sandy Denny
• Michelle Dockery
• Michael Douglas
• Bob Dylan (updated 4/3/13)
• Shirley Eaton
• Duke Ellington
• Clint Eastwood
• Jose Feliciano
• Bryan Ferry
• Shirley Anne Field
• Albert Finney (updated 15/1/14)
• Errol Flynn
• Harrison Ford
• Clark Gable
• Lady GaGa (updated 19/10/14)
• Greta Garbo
• Ava Gardner [new]
• Art Garfunkel
• Marvin Gaye (updated 8/3/13)
• Eunice Gayson
  Mel Gibson
• Karen Gillan
• Philip Glenister
• Gloria Grahame
• Hugh Grant
• Pete Ham
• Naomie Harris
  Richard Harris (updated 18/3/13)
  George Harrison
• Debbie Harry (updated 29/3/15)
• Tippi Hedren
• William Hartnell
• Jack Hawkins
• Audrey Hepburn
• Bernard Herrmann
• Alfred Hitchcock (updated 7/5/13)
• Buddy Holly
• Trevor Howard
• Sir Geoff Hurst
• Lauren Hutton
• Michael Jackson (updated 27/4/13)
• Mick Jagger (updated 26/1/14)
• Sid James (updated 29/3/13)
• David Janssen
• David Jason
• Billy Joel (updated 21/3/15)
• Elton John (updated 10/06/14)
• Richard Johnson
• Angelina Jolie
• Brian Jones
• Tom Jones (updated 3/3/15)
• Carolyn Jones (updated 2/6/13)
• Kim Kardashian
• Carol Kaye
• Grace Kelly (updated 12/2/13)
• Jacqueline Kennedy
• Dr Martin Luther King [new]
• Heddy Lamarr
• Burt Lancaster (updated 3/3/14)
• George Lazenby
• Peggy Lee (updated 17/3/13)
• Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau
• John Lennon
• Gina Lollobrigida
• Julie London
• Joanna Lumley
• Patrick Macnee (updated 15/3/15)
• Madonna (updated 15/3/15)
• Dorothy Malone
• Imelda May
• Paul McCartney [new] (updated 7/11/13)
• Nelson Mandela
• Steve McQueen [new] (updated 2/3/13)
• Freddie Mercury
• John Le Mesurier
• Kate Middleton
• Vera Miles
• John Mills
• Kylie Minogue
• Helen Mirren
• Robert Mitchum
• Matt Monro
• Marilyn Monroe [new]
• Bobby Moore
• Roger Moore [revised and expanded]
• Kenneth More
• Morecambe & Wise [new]
• Van Morrison
• Janet Munro
• Andy Murray
• Graham Nash
• Paul Newman
• Jack Nicholson
• Harry Nilsson (updated 27/7/13)
• Leonard Nimoy
• David Niven (updated 09/6/13)
• Kim Novak [new]
• Laurence Olivier (updated 21/10/14)
• Roy Orbison
• Clive Owen
• Lucianna Paluzzi
• Pele
• Carl Perkins
• Eva Peron
• Maia Perschy
• Michelle Pfeffer
• Brad Pitt
• Sidney Poitier (updated 17/3/13)
• Christopher Plummer (updated 10/9/13)
• Billy Preston (updated 16/9/13)
• Basil Rathbone
• Robert Redford
• Oliver Reed
• Cliff Richard
• Keith Richards
• Diana Rigg
• Yvonne Romain
• JK Rowling
• Eve Marie Saint
• Lalo Schifrin
• Ayrton Senna
• Rufus Sewell
• Robert Shaw
• Jean Shrimpton
• Paul Simon (updated 17/3/14)
• Jean Simmons
• Frank Sinatra [new]
• Dame Maggie Smith
• Romy Sneider
• Dusty Springfield [new]
• Terence Stamp
• Ringo Starr
• Jeanette Sterke
• James Stewart
• Sting
• Mark Strong
• Gilbert O’Sullivan
• Taylor Swift
• Elizabeth Taylor (updated 16/4/13)
• Mick Taylor
• Rod Taylor
• Gene Tierney
• Terry Thomas
• The Trotters
• Aidan Turner
• Tina Turner
• Robert Vaughn [new]
• Marc Warren
• Paul Weller
• The Who
• Brian Wilson
• Amy Winehouse [revised and expanded]
• Norman Wisdom
• Stevie Wonder
• Natalie Wood
• Ronnie Wood (updated 31/10/13)
• Bill Wyman
• Loretta Young