Wow, this is almost like a whirlwind of straw forming itself into something coherent. I can't quite tell what he's holding, though. A remote? Love the fact that you didn't wimp out and use a black background, but something richer with undertones of green and brown. It makes me look deeper into the image. There's some great sculptural quality to this, as well as suggestions of meat and bone. That one orange stroke going diagonally across the shoulder is just killer.

Many thanks again!

Oh, right, I didn't make it clear enought - it should've looked like a mirror, but then he would've held it differently - now the thumb obscures his own reflection.
Thanks for mentioning the background - I may have to recallibrate my monitors, both show it as completely black... I didn't know the green was there. =/ (Then again, I noticed LCDs handle extreme darks quite differently from CRTs, sometimes in weird ways, especially at an angle. I don't yet know if it's worth recallibrating a monitor to see the darks below 10/255.)

Weird... mine is an LCD monitor, though maybe it's just a Mac/PC thing?

Hmm. I'd blame the monitor. Atleast all LCDs I've seen seem to be sensitive to darks, and some handle darks at an angle in surprising ways, like darkest darks actually become brighter than slightly brighter ones. I always get the sensation that LCDs are very bright from looking at them, some are so contrasty it hurts, so I'm not surprised you see more. (I'm a CRT freak... I admit it.) From what i remember, macs and pcs had slightly different gammas, but gamma influences mostly midtones, so i kind of doubt it could've been that... But I might be wrong, just searching for an excuse not to calibrate my glowy rectangles. :] All monitors show the same file differently anyhow (even two identical models - I've been running dual monitor setups for a while, and noticed that any two monitors end up totaly different).

Please note: These films are inappropriate for minors and are not safe for work

It's your fault I have to watch them - they are interesting yet disturbing,I never saw that kind of performance art before...

Your commentary makes this series infinitely richer for its presence.

How often do you work with traditional versus digital paint? This particular piece almost begs to be recreated as mixed-media.

Thank you.

I hadn't touched traditional paint for more than a year now... =/ I avoid it... I can't make anything decent with traditional media.

I don't think it's true for all the art you've produced in this series, but I am very fond of the way you use contrasting/primary colors to draw attention to the center of the piece. It works marvelously.

I just wanted to say that you are single-handedly redeeming digital working for me with these.

Thank you.

Neat!!

this is a looooooong series of pictures o.o

My coursmates and I studied Hermann Nitsch in art school.

You have to grind through the technique before it becomes effortless. You're just doing your due diligence. Beat not upon thyself!

Seems like the trick to looseness is committing yourself to The One True Mark. You hammer down a mark or a stroke and leave it alone, moving on to the next mark. That's where the freshness comes from. When you're still in the process of figuring things out, it's very hard to achieve that loose, confident look.

When you become aware of what you're doing, that's a sign you're divorcing yourself from the process. You aren't painting any more, you're judging yourself while you're painting. Easy to do. Not helpful. Does that make sense? It's the difference between hammering away at something with no awareness of time, and fighting a sense of frustration while working. Everyone has a slightly different way of handling these hurdles, but my two cents would be this: you're making yourself keep to this theme, which is awesome. Don't worry too much about how long it's taking you (I know, a tad hypocritical coming from me, but it's good advice). This is a learning thing. Pretend you're five years old again, and be a sponge. If something isn't working, discard it without any hesitation and move on to something else. Don't let judgment have any other purpose than assisting you in improving.

Art should say something. That's it, to me. It can be anything, from abstract to expressionist to realist, but please please GOD have it say something, something that I don't need explained to me. If you have to explain it to me in order for me to make sense out of it, start over. I have tried for years and I still can't get into high-concept contemporary art. Most performance art doesn't touch me, either. Some of it's really neat. The vast majority (like Nitsch) feels completely self-serving, gassy and soulless.

Very good points. I fully agree.
Many thanks again, kind sir!

Mos' welcome, my friend! I live to help.