I always found that your use of colors brings your work life. It's not realistic, but it's attractive. I too have much to learn about color, though.

Awsome Job!!

I don't know why you think you don't know anything about using color subtly. The greens used in the left side arm are pretty damned subtle. And it seems like you started this as almost a monochrome and came in later, adding little bits as they felt right. And they do. Painters see a lot of colors that aren't really there, emphasizing colors they are -sure- are there even though we can't see them. So there's no real wrong answer, as you well know.

The Opalka stuff is interesting. I'm not really sure what it's meant to say. I feel a lot of people will consider it a waste of a life. Like a lot of modern or conceptual art, it demands both a leap of faith on the part of the viewer (such that the audience believes the art is sincere and not meant to be some kind of art-school swindle) and a lot of research into the person's work. the more I look into the Art World, the more messed up it seems and it's money that makes the mess. But I'm going on.

This has been an amazingly cool series. When you think you're done, line them all up, make one big thumbnail page and really -look-. You won't be able to deny the improvement or quality of the work.

Many thanks for your comment again! Very much appreciated! :]

I noticed that up until now i used mostly highly bright , very dark and very saturated colors (with gray here and there, for complementary via simultaneuous contrast) - i rarely played with the ones at the middle values and saturations. And that's what i'm trying to improve in.
There's a bit of a problem with those greens... They look subtle, but they're texture/pattern, subtle interest is easy to bring into the work that way, i can make it look interesting, but I don't have the control over it I'd want. I'd want to weave some more interesting brushwork using subtle colors, but I can't, yet... I'm not used to working with subtleties.

"I feel a lot of people will consider it a waste of a life." (Reminds me one exhibition of fluxus - empty gallery with only one sign - "art is useless. go home")
I think that's a part of his statement - it is a waste of life. That's his only single artwork he's been making all these years. Imho, it can mean alot of things, not nescessarily one (post-modernism seems to often be polysemantic, I quite enjoy that - it's a way of avoiding the "I don't get it. this sucks!" response, since there's no monopoly of truth). It may be exploring the limits of what a person can do with his life (both the low and the high limit, since he's doing only one thing - wasting time, on the other hand, he's reaching for the impossible and will stop at the point he dies (i wonder what number he'll be at)) or it may be a statement/comment on ensuring an "afterlife" by wasting life, both in case of religions and art, or even god knows what more (I bet each viewer would interpret it differently, alot like an inkblot test, but pertaining to concepts, not visual perception). I don't believe a work a person can be this devoted to can have only one meaning... But it [the work] does make one think and is worth contemplating. That's some worth. Imo, anyhow.

Yes, there's the big problem with money in the fine arts. Some movements were anti-museum [Futurism, Fluxus], or even purposefully avoided being professional and making money [Fluxus], but that didn't work at all - eventually whatever has been left behind them ended up a high-price commodity/investment for the riches (like Fluxus mail order stuff, which was intended to be very cheap).

On second thought - most earth art is temporary and doesn't cost much (north american variety - moving huge ammounts of rock and earth to form artificial structures - does cost much... that's one of the reasons i don't like it), except artist's devotion and skill. That kind of work can't be bought, because it's ment to deteriorate. (But some viewers would still insist it's a waste of time. And, ofcourse, they'de be right.)

I used to think it [fine art nowadays] was all messed up, and the more i researched, the more it appeared so. I've no idea why, but lately lots of it is starting to make sense... Like dots finnaly connecting.

Thanks, btw. I'll have to make a thumbnail poster at 100, if i can manage it that far. I do sense improvement. And every new problem I discover or failed experiment opens up lots of new possibilities [to discover ne problems, probably]. That's why I'm still thrilled with this project. :]

Mostly what I meant by the Fine Art world being messed up is the people around the art and around the artists, not so much the actual work or the actual artists though they often have their own problems. The more I read about how one has to try and appeal to gallery owners, and they have to appeal to wealthy, eccentric clients and the like, the whole thing just seems to be this big shill game, where people are generally marketing to a handful of clients, trying to make them believe this stuff has monetary value, and by doing so, degrading the whole purpose of the work in the first place. And yet, because of this shill game, the artist gets to keep on working, eating and living. And then there are the critics and so-called experts... gah. When the work finally makes it to a museum, available to anyone that wants to go, that's when it seems free and clear of all this crap, though again, there's the curators who decide what we can see, and so on. A lot of this is just frustration on my part as art, seemingly, can't have logic associated with it at all. Part of this comes from having just read a really fascinating book on art forgery.

I, too am a culprit when it comes to using bright, saturated colors, so I can see you wanting to get out of that and flex your skills. Good for you! I think it's working and am someone that's all for breaking one's own molds from time to time.

Sorry for the ramble...

Yes, I agree. And the complexity of the field and looseness of estimations make it very easy for the hacks to thrive - all they have to do is speak nonsense dead-seriously and that'll fool the majority into believing he's a misunderstood genius. That really does get on my nerves.
"95% of everything is junk." Same goes for finearts.

Rambles are good. Rambles are useful. :]

btw, what book was it? I'd really like to read something about the topic.

The book was called, "I Was Vermeer," and it was about a very successful forger of mostly Vermeer during the 30s and 40s. I recommend it. Quite the read.

Half the fun of art is learning how to do it better. imao

i love this, i really do enjoy your style of art, i just wish i could get this sort of style on a canvas or something i dunno....but it's very direct and catches your eyes quickly. the texture just adds more interest for the eye :D
roman opalka's art makes me smile :3

I love this! how you can say you don't know color?! Your work is vibrant and energetic!

That's the problem - I've been stuck in this "vibrant and energetic" thing and using fully saturated colors almost exclusively for too long - I can't use colors subtly anymore. Finding one pseudo-style that [sort of] works and repeating over and over again isn't knowledge. I'm just surprised it took me so long to realise i've fallen into a routine. Still, it's a pleasant discovery - I've found more room for experiments and improvement.

Thanks, btw. :]

Oh, yeah totally, I guess you can take what you know now and try and see how it would apply to something which is the opposite of your current work. You can do it!

Seeing your works I feel your color feels just right, not too saturated, but perhaps this is because I have been used to saturated colors myself. I am far worse in that department though as somehow for reason I can't explain I always give my pictures a full range of value from absolute white to absolute black.

I can definitely see you working with the color. the cool gray is all it needs to really make those signs pop. good job,

i always concidered the strong colors one of the better aspects of your style,but the softer ones work great as well
*nods* It's always a joy to see an artist strive for higher reaches,the more you know the more you have,and the more you can do