What’s New
Antonio Bosano, Pencil Portrait Artist
2021
This website is dedicated to my parents wherever they are now. It’s hard to define one’s capacity to truly miss another human being until you’ve lost them.
For my father – profound thanks for teaching me to avoid being a couch potato. “Play the guitar, play the piano, draw, paint, practice practice practice , become the best version of yourself that you can. Study, study. study, If you fail an exam, take it again and keep taking it until you pass. Don’t waste your time sttting around. When the end comes, you’ll be motionless for ever.” Most of all, even when I was a young man, he would challenge me about life – “Do you think you were placed on this earth simply to have a good time?”
For my mother – profound thanks for the sympathy that went with the physical pain of pushing myself. The blisters, the bleeding fingers, the frustration I’m still going through to turn myself into a decent solo pianist. “You’ll get there, you have tenacity” I can hear her saying.
Amen
2012
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
October 2021
New Portraits
October 2021
September 2021
Cary Grant – North by Northwest
August 2021
July 2021
Peter Falk
Rose Byrne
Hazel Court
June 2021
Valerie Leon
Billy Preston – Revised Portrait
Caroline Munro
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
Natalie Portman
Matt Damon & Emily Blunt – The Adjustment Bureau
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
Himesh Patel
Paul Newman – Revised Portrait
Emily Blunt
June 2020
Brenda De Banzie
Michael Goodliffe
May 2020
Laurence Olivier – revised portrait
Jane Merrow – revised portrait
Yvonne Mitchell
Anton Diffring
Shirley Bassey
Taina Elg
April 2020
Max Von Sydow
Gladys Knight
Peter Lorre
Lily James
Lily James in colour
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
- Vera Miles – Revised Portrait
- Andrew Gold
- Georgie Fame
November 2018
- Sofia Helin
- Kirk Douglas – revised portrait
- Guy Pearce
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
- Amy Adams
- Cliff Richard – Revised Portrait
- Cillian Murphy
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
Daliah lavi
Suranne Jones
Andrew Lincoln
October 2017
Tom Petty
Jessica Raine
Marilyn Monroe
September 2017
August 2017
Peter Cook & Dudley Moore
Joni Mitchell
Olivia Newton John
July 2017
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
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