Richard and his Pet

Here is the preliminary drawing for a painting that will be in a massive group show in May. The curator is having about 25 artists paint him as an albino animal hybrid and is exhibiting them 19th century salon style so I thought a 19th century man was in order. I imagined Richard as a sort of Moreau-style professor with one of his creations. I thought the real question should be was Richard's unique condition a product of his own imagination or is it what inspires him to create similarly hybrid beings.