I have made slow progress on the artwork Love is All Around because of the coming of summer and the need to finish a Winter Vivaldi that I started January 5th 2014.  I have finished the Vivaldi. I think this seventeen footer and I both agreed that it was time to move on.

The big issue with Love is all Around is the struggled I have had with the staffs of this music. Usually, I spread light colors over a dark background and quickly finish the staffs.  That idea, although, did not seem to me to fit this work.  In the past I have used little boxes of contrasting colors for my staffs.  You can see a lot of this technique on the great painting Autumn Allegro 3rd movement Vivaldi.  I also used this same style for the ending notes of the Take Five artwork.  I am guessing I carried over that influence to this work.  My problem became my color choices.  This lead me to repaint the strips several times, which has slowed the progress over this last week and more. I am not sure if this will be the final changes to the staff colors, but for now I am moving on.

I believe I am correct that the client mentioned to me to not use any pink in the painting.  Well, in reality pink is a tint of magenta with added white to lighten.  In this work I could not resist using magenta. This is a love song, and too me magenta and love go together nicely. What I have done is use the solid color of magenta to stay as far as possible away from any perception of the ‘pink color.’

When I was discussing this painting with the client she mention these words “You gave your promise to me, and I gave mine to you.” which I can see how this could be a favorite part of the music. They speak to love between two people. I looked at these measures, but I could not find enough interest to work with.  I did find another section, near the end, which I made the choice for this artwork. Here you find the words, ” So if you really love me come on and let it show.”  This is a strong voice of expression, and the need for and to love.  At this climatic point in the song the music also showed a lot of interest. The choice then was easy:  words with meaning, and artistic potential.

I have a way to go.  I am not certain that I have a total understanding of what this artwork is trying to say or want from me. That means there is still a lot of work to do.

Scott Von Holzen