Anonymous1: i don't get it, why does he keep redoing the same pictures over and over again? he's done versions of this exact picture in 2009, 2010, and now 2011 and other than one of them being sepia, they are all identical. this one might be flipped horizontally, but that doesn't stop it from being the exact same picture.
ernesto1956: First of all, it allows buyers a chance to purchase a previous work that they missed out on. You may not even be aware of the fact that all of these pieces are listed on eBay, where I sell them to the highest bidder. If a particular pose does well, you can bet I'll be doing it again at a later date, with an intentional small variation added for interest.
Yes, in the final analysis a flipped image is the exact same picture, but as far as the tangible collecting of the artwork is concerned, no two pieces of mine are exactly alike. There are subtle differences. In fact, I have buyers who actually want to own more than one variation on a single image that I produce. More than one buyer of mine has purchased paintings that are "flips" of each other because they like how they look displayed side by side.
Bottom line is, I do this for a living. I invite anyone else out there to turn out over 2,000 pieces of artwork inside a ten-year period without repeating yourself, and see how far you get. Many artists do repaint the same image several times. It's what they do. There is nothing wrong with it on a philosophical level, and there is certainly nothing wrong with it ethically. Each piece is still unique because it isn't humanly possible for an artist to make two pieces that are 100% identical anyway.
That said, you may want to ask why the uploader(s) of these images don't screen them more carefully for any "duplicates." You can blame them if you're having to look at the same image too many times.
Yes, in the final analysis a flipped image is the exact same picture, but as far as the tangible collecting of the artwork is concerned, no two pieces of mine are exactly alike. There are subtle differences. In fact, I have buyers who actually want to own more than one variation on a single image that I produce. More than one buyer of mine has purchased paintings that are "flips" of each other because they like how they look displayed side by side.
Bottom line is, I do this for a living. I invite anyone else out there to turn out over 2,000 pieces of artwork inside a ten-year period without repeating yourself, and see how far you get. Many artists do repaint the same image several times. It's what they do. There is nothing wrong with it on a philosophical level, and there is certainly nothing wrong with it ethically. Each piece is still unique because it isn't humanly possible for an artist to make two pieces that are 100% identical anyway.
That said, you may want to ask why the uploader(s) of these images don't screen them more carefully for any "duplicates." You can blame them if you're having to look at the same image too many times.
I hope that answers your question.