I Won’t Dance is a painting that is going in its own direction, and not necessarily in keeping with my original idea of trying to keep the coloring and style simple. This became an obvious concern after painting in the music. I  like the background to play a strong role in the artwork, but with the second and fourth panel I am seeing a mess of shapes and colors that do nothing for the look or the music.

After writing that comment, I turned around to take a hard look at this artwork, and decided that I have not reached that artistic level to know how to keep a busy background from interfering with the music. That decision required a paint over, and what you see above is Image four of I Won’t Dance.  The original idea was worth a try, and less riskier with smaller works. This was an easy fix: small work, smaller mistakes.

A couple of interesting features with this last image is the font that I used for the words, and the doting used in the two inside sections of this artwork. The font I got  from an Art Deco book, and although it has been a lot of work, I thought it was a wonderful choice. For this artwork the art deco look works marvelously. Still, in that art deco thinking I needed something to break up those big blue circles, (the dark blue represents the masculine aspect of this work).  A simple effective choice was a large number of small circles painted in gold, the feminine contrast.

I have never painted anything like this, and maybe that is why I have, so far,  invested over a months worth of effort in I Won’t Dance. Originally, I wanted to be done with these small works in two to a max of three weeks.  Thinking this over, I now see that three-weeks  per small artwork makes more sense. This reasoning is because I am now spending more time teaching myself Music Theory, practicing piano, and learning the violin.  Soon, I will have an alto saxophone, which will need time and attention. My thinking is if I am painting music,  playing music, learning the language of music, or reading books about art or music, any of these options makes for a better artist.

Next up, is the final image of, I Won’t Dance.

Scott Von Holzen