I'm currently doing some Master copies in order to help improve my skill. I think I can learn a lot studying from the old Masters, especially in terms of color. The original piece titled "The Bacchante" is from Gerome Jean Leon. I started this one in black and white and added color in the later stages. I might be using this technique in all my future pieces, I'm not so sure. Colors can tend to get a bit muddy if you start off with greyscale, but hopefully I can recitfy that. You can check out the WIP at my blog as well.