Thanks Arch Nemesis, the nostalgic aspect has always been linked to how much I appreciate the illustrative work that used to be used to tell stories (and of course to attract our intention). I am also convinced that a digital toolset, used creatively, provides illustrators with the means to recover some of the popular ground (illustration in mass publications) that was lost to photography.
Technically, I try hard for a good pose, if it's a single study like these, and then set up the render to provide the optimal conditions for manipulation in Photoshop. I like to contest some of the realism that inevitably results from software like Poser or Daz Studio, by using either a wide blurry paint daub or dry brush filter to create more basic blocks of tone and colour - just as I used to start a painting traditionally. Then it's a case of working the image to a 'painterly' conclusion, with smudge tool brushes and paint brushes. I don't like the the watercolour filter at all, or any others unless it's used as a means to achieve something that doesn't look 'mechanical' or 'programmed. My choice of a digital workflow has been because of the 'turnaround' - I can meet deadlines, and realise ideas, in ways that would take much longer if I worked traditionally. Thanks for your comment.