Background Composite Tests

The big question for 'The Hell Painting' is, howmy gonna make the backgrounds, and to what degree will they be sets verses photographs or real objects, paintings, etc. So i've been doing a few tests. I grabbed a photo of our 'Red Death' character from 'The Masque of the Red Death' for reference. I then slapped him into a cartoon background. Looks like crap. Then I slapped him into a photoshopped Dutch painting. Definately some possibilities. The less set building I get away with, the better.