looking for guides to achieve renaissance/painting look to my photographs (samples)

[dragonstd]

hello there, people.

i am an autodidact photographer, and been around in photography for a few years already. i am digging quite deep into photoshop lately, learning new things every day and enhancing my editing skills.

i was always fond of the unique look some of my favorite photographers manage to create, by editing their already-great photographs in a way that make it resemble an old painting. i an not even sure if it's the "renaissance" look, but i will add a few links so you'll know what i mean:

500px / *** by Mark-Meir Paluksht

500px / about sea... by Mark-Meir Paluksht

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1375299_587969241259334_2071427446_n.jpg

1X - European Geisha... by Katerina Lomonosov

those are just a few examples. i can see that there is a lot of masking and layering in those works, but couldn't find any guides. i especially try to figure out how to create such "grudgy" backgrounds.

any help will be appreciated and thanks in advance <3.