Making of "Padrone e Servi"

Herewith I present some key steps in the production of my entry for the "Master & Servant" contest promoted by CGTalk.com . I would like to underline the process presented here is only one of the ones I use to create my paintings. As long as I don't find an ideal process (which probably I never will), I will keep trying out new and different things to see what I can come up with.
My aim for this painting was to present the "mafia" master and servant relation in a comical ways in which the boss is like a father of the "family" which protects him.

Step 1
First sketch (done entirely in the computer) that grabbed the initial idea: a godfather surrounded and protected by countless midget bodyguards with Tommy Guns.

Step 2
Color study. I went for a sepia color scheme that would somehow resemble photography of that era. I also introduced 2 personal bodyguards on either side, making the whole composition triangular, thus underlining the hierarchy.
The obvious background for me was a city where these mobsters could exert their influence and control it.

Step 3
Photo session. This was somewhat boring, but important to get the right reference. By using myself as model, the resulting resemblance between the boss and the midgets helped to convey the idea that these were actually clones of "Big Boss".

Step 4
Line art. I usually don't do lineart, but since it was more or less a requisite for the contest.

Step 5
First color pass. The "Tommy Guns" were rendered in 3dsmax from a model I found on the Internet so they looked accurate.

Step 6
Here, the godfather suffered some changes to go back to the initial look of the sketch where he looked much more robust.

Step 7
Detailing. I also changed the boss's stance so he would face the lightsource to bring him into focus.

Step 8
More detailing and value adjustment. I also sized up the midgets because they looked to tiny.

Step 9
Final image.