[HowardH]

Rick's answer suggests that my method is the more suitable one:

Hi!

Thanks for trying to find a creative solution. As far as I know (but I am not the webmaster/owner of that site), the income is generated by people viewing the advertisements (viewing is enough, clicking not necessary although it generates extra profit). This means people need to visit the site. When putting up thumbnails with a link to the jpg it doesn't show the advertisements.
So it seems to me only the first option would work.