Rembrandt and Caravaggio

This portrait is obviously inspired of Rembrandt and Caravaggio.
Rembrandt has always been a great inspiration source to me. It took
some years before i got to know the art of Caravaggio.
I have tried to use their technique by working with a combination of
smooth transitions in the light/shadow and more rough use of oilpaint.

If i some day am able to paint a portrait painting that looks like Rembrandt
could have painted it, i then would have achived one of my goal.

When i went to art school i tried to copy a portrait of Rembrandt. At that time i thought it was pretty good. Maybe it was, considering my level at the time.
If i should have tried to copy now, i would still have struggled to get it right, but i figure it would have been a lot better than my first tryout.

To be honest, i don`t think i ever will do another copy again. It is possible to learn a lot just by looking at a painting by Rembrandt or other artists. Looking at a painting with my background as an artist, i believe that i see with other eyes than anyone else without experience with painting practice. So it is a kind of waste of time for me to copy more paintings. On the other hand, i do not like the idea of being known as a copy artist, or copycat.