Well, actually your shot above (love the paint job BTW) reminds me more of a large oil where the details are very sharp.

The lower one is very cool and the trees and the clouds particularly look hand painted. I think the aircraft look just a hair softer which gives (me) the impression of a courser brush or a smaller canvas.

On the web page though, the lower shot really highlights the paintedness of the picture, where the upper looks more like the direct screenshot.

All subjective of course. Both shots look cool and I could absolutely see someone thinking they were paintings.

For my own part, the shots that I really think come out looking cool in 2k, lose much of the effect as I resize them...even if I resize them first.

Another great artist is our own Roen. I think he really captures the surreal quality of a good aviation painting. That almost too sharp to be real quality.

I'm hoping that he doesn't mind me posting one of his images here: