Ref pics for my next piece (Patreon)

Finally, a new painting idea has entered my head - which has been so devoid of painting ideas for about six months that it hardly knew what to do with it, haha. 

My creative process usually starts with a story, often a phrase, words more than pictures. I then spend about two to six days playing with concepts in my head. Often, I play through three or four at the same time, and save all but one for later. That's why the last half year felt weird - there was so little there that wanted out. 

I then start gathering reference. Around two years ago, I started putting all the ref for one piece in one separate folder in my reference library, which is the only way I can find stuff again among the thousands of images on my hard drive! 

This one will be called "Bones and Legends", again a piece without any story connection, but the idea has been with me for a while. It hit me again when I thought about fitting scenarios with which to try out the wet, running background technique I used for "Together Alone". Only this time, I'll try to do it for figures too. That's going to be a tough one, to keep myself from overworking! 

I actually think the lute player with the beard is Ronnie Drew from the Dubliners, which is a nice little touch.