Muse Chaser

Muse Chaser is something that I've been working on, on and off for a couple of months now, since I'm a perfectionist and want to get every detail right.
I saw this in my head one night last spring, while watching a movie.
Somehow I got the idea of a metaphore, which is about the artist chasing it's muse, or inspiration or what to call it.
Whatever that keeps an artist trying and creating.
Since I was extremely tired, I also use to think a lot in that state. So I started wondering what this muse-thingy really might be.
Is it some kind of an energy? A spirit? Another person?
Since it's something that sometimes goes away, which causes an artistic block, then is it alive?
What does it depend on?
Then I saw this picture of a tiger, sorrounded by these playful sprites. They're buzzing around his head, playfully teasing this majestic beast that otherwise seem to be able to reach any of its goals. But this time he can't.
You can se how obsessed he is whith the idea of catching those sprites.
Wants control. To catch. To explore. To discover what those really are.
But he won't get any wiser.
That's a state of mind I think we get to very often.


No references has been used.
Except for some anatomy studies on the head from that specific angle, and to study fernleaves to get it as realistic as possible.


[EDIT: I've uploaded a better version, with a deeper contrast, since I realized my computerscreen, where I painted this piece, is a bit old and crappy..]