2009...so far, so good!

Welcome to a new year, new post, and slightly new direction for at least one painting. I've been doing an ever increasing amount of digital illustration lately. However, this image is more classical in style and technique. An obvious homage to Thomas Gainsborough's (1727 - 1788) Blue Boy, I used only oil paint and Liquin on canvas.   The effort only took three and a half hours, which surprised even me.  I'm interested in exploring the concept of "Monster Master Copies," but I may have to think up a story that would justify publication.  Probably needs something more than "pictures I made for Christmas presents."  Although, my brother really did enjoy it as his Christmas present.

As you can see, my palette was a bit brighter than the original, which fits with the furry blue monster approach.  Several years ago, the Henson's produced a calendar featuring photographic parodies of famous art, including Kermit the Frog as "Green Boy."  While that "Kermitage Collection" was inspiring to me, I wanted to see how using the same media as the original art affected the way the art was received.  I believe the response would have been different if I painted with watercolors or rendered the image in pen & ink.  Any thoughts?