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dj*, few people unrelated to the subject want to buy an out-and-out portrait, by which I mean traditional head study focusing on the individual. Figurative works are an easier sell - people in a setting that evokes more than a reaction to a specific person. The human form is graceful and evocative and very attractive, but the particular example has to have more universal appeal to be saleable. I have a painting of a redheaded girl in a green boat that apparently has that appeal, because I've had perfect strangers wanting to buy it. Some of my kids' portraits are like that too, such as the one of the little girl with fairy wings or the child with a baby chick or the girl on the beach with the ladybug. I think you're on the right track in shrinking the person relative to the size of the support and making the background more important.
Yes, MK does have a very potent style. I can imagine how hard it is for students of his to avoid becoming near-clones. But I think your own style shines through. Keep working on the figurative paintings and I think it will all come out right in the end. You just started doing this, after all!
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