Johnny Depp found Tonto inspiration in painting

London: Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp says his Native American look for the Lone Ranger`s sidekick Tonto was inspired by a Kirby Sattler painting.

Depp stars in the upcoming action Western film "The Lone Ranger", directed by Gore Verbinski, alongside Armie Hammer playing the Lone Ranger, reported Daily Star. Lone Ranger is a fictional masked ex-Texas Ranger who with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. Sattler licensed his work to the producers of the Western, so Depp could study the piece and create the perfect warrior image for the film. "I`d actually seen a painting by an artist named Kirby Sattler, and looked at the face of this warrior and thought, `That`s it. The stripes down the face and across the eyes...It seemed to me like you could almost see the separate sections of the individual, if you know what I mean," Depp said. Depp said that Sattler`s subject isn`t actually based on any particular tribe - but he`s a blend of history, fantasy and the romantic image of Indian warriors. "The whole reason I wanted to play Tonto is to try to mess around with the stereotype of the American Indian that has been laid out through history, or the history of cinema at the very least." PTI