Cry me a River was finished on Sunday.  A much more detailed image will be uploaded this week to the website at   www.scottvon holzen.com. The Progress notes for this week are such:  Interesting use of color.  Lately, there has been too much of the blues and greens, and a general feeling of color boredom.  The use of different shades of Magenta and the mixing of magenta with different shades of blues to move the colors towards violet worked with this music.

Cry has been generally sung as a torch song, but when it was first heard way back it was Joe Cocker and his more upbeat version that has been remembered over the years. There is some Joe and some Julie London, and Etta James so this work holds well.  The shade of blues and deep reds are bluesy and the bright greens and yellows opens up the work to not be too drab or too sad.

Progress with style: the one lone eighth note using copper, gold and blue worked and may move the styling of these notes a head just a bit.   The lines drawn below the main background, where also made to work, but not enough to move forward like the Birthday Painting from July.  That was the main disappointment with this work, given some cover by the use of yellow to pop the lines and give them more definition.

Again with the lower lines section, the left side throughout this work had been a challenge.  The problem started with beamed eighth notes being drawn high on the canvas.  This necessity amounted to a lower left side devoid of interest.  Because of that the word ‘you’ was quickly chosen to fill space. Finally, near the end  after the signature was deliberating placed, more shades of magenta where applied to that left side to darken areas to contrast them with the lighter, and in places,  bluer right side. That technique of  changing shades in flat paint areas was first displayed in the Birthday painting, an amazing work that pushed hard the way forward, and all in one day.

Cry me a river is an interesting work, and one that had enough persistence to keep the artist honest.

Scott Von Holzen

Scott Von Holzen