I know this is a Chesler thread, but I thought I'd chime in here for one post, since my work is being discussed...
First of all, to clarify, I do the recreations in acrylic.
Second, I do agree with Valliant that some covers and artists lend themselves to my style of recreations better than others. But , the covers are not my choice and I always try to do the best possible job and be as faithful to the original cover as I can. This can be tough, as GA artists fudged a lot of details! Also, certain pen/brush/ink techniques can be difficult to replicate with paint.
I've found that the tighter the cover art, the easier it is to capture the feel of the cover. For instance, Schomburg covers, though time consuming, are actually easy to make look very good (not surprising). On the flip side, ACTIONs 1 or 7 were difficult, as Shuster's artwork is very loose and simple, and much of the image has to be filled in by me because of the economy of the work.
I too like the drips, smudges and "aging" on the work tb, but again, its the customer's call. I know it can be distracting for some people, but I've always liked "lived in" things (my comics are far from near mint), and try to give that feel to my work.
Don't want to high jack the thread, but wanted to add my . Thanks for discussing my work!
Comicjack, got any more Chesler's kicking around?