With a chiselled jaw that looks as if it was sculpted by Michelangelo and a nose that pinches inward right at the middle, you have the distinct look of a Tom Cruise. Boy, I know a couple of plastic surgeons that wished they could replicate the Tom Cruise jawbone. Yeah, there's some other distinquishing features about his eyes, but it's the jaw and nose that makes Tom Cruise distinctive IMO. The hair style is from Jerry McQuire(picture #4) , but the face is based on the first picture (below) .... I was going for a younger Cruise (picture#1 &2). The lips looks a little lopsided but it isn't that bad. part of the problem is that the head is slightly turned to one side as well as the fact that my painting on the right side of the lips needs a lot of help :-(. Again, I wished I had a macro lens to do justice to these head sculpts as my flatbed scanner isn't very good.

I used a new paint wash techniques for Tom's head. To achieve shadow contrast around his eyes, cheeks and chin, I first use a standard wash using a darker flesh tone. Next, I mix half of the dark flesh and half of the basecoat flesh, thin it out and did another wash over the exact same area. I let the paint set for about 3a minute and then quickly wipe it off. Finally I thin out the original basecoat flesh color (to an airbrush/ milky conistency), but only apply it to the edges of the washed areas. What this does is create a smooth gradient between the two colors, making it more realistic. It's hard to see this from this scan, but if you looks at the Cruise head up close, you can see the effect I was going for. You can achieve the same effect using an airbrush, but I don't think an airbrush is fessible in area less than 3mm in length. If you look at the commercially made figures like FCs or even 21st Century army guys, their paint wash applications look more like painted lines than a smooth transition between shadows and light.

Addendum: I recently saw the trailer for Mission Impossible 2. I'm just amazed at how much Tom's face has changed. The dimpled smile is still there, but that thin tight cheek is not longer thin or tight. It really emphasizes the point that you must stick to a specific time frame when scultping human characters.

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