Machiavelli's watching

This was one of the first composite digital images I created -- quite a few years back in fact, when I lived in Vermont. This particular image represented my general approach to digital painting: begin with a background (in this case a water image with a round shape I created using Bryce) and then just start experimenting with various other images: here I usedf a stock nude photo from the early 20th century, and then a photo of Machiavelli's statue outside the Uffizi gallery in Florence; I added the eyes (my niece's eyes in fact) to "give Niccolo some life." And voila!