Category: 2017

S_V_H Runnin’ Down a Dream final image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

The Tom Petty tribute painting, Running Down a Dream,  is finished with a big Woo Hoo!   Woo and hoo do not show up in any of the lyrics, but they repeat a remarkable THIRTY times throughout the song.  Okay, they are not the best lyrics of the song. My favorite line is ” me and Del were singin’ little Runaway.” But, woo hoo, sets the mood of the song, and reminds me of my Mustang days when driving could be just that,  driving. I do not do that anymore.  Now, when I am in my car it is to go get stuff, and that is about it. That reminds me of a favorite lyric quote from the famous, and missed, Leon Cohen:
“Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way”

This is an interesting looking, non commercial, non living room, artwork. This is also the first time I have altered the stems of my music in a way that is totally non sheet music like,  and surprise it still works.  In the past  the vertical look of the stems as the move up and down following  along with the music, was the obvious choice. What changed with this painting began with using extra small solid color canvases and then filling space with the metal frame. That got me to thinking that inflating the size and even going horizontal with the stems would add some bulk, improve interest, and fit the look and the mood of this artwork.  Because of their size I than could decorative the stems to add contrast with the canvases.  For their colors I found them on the album and single covers.

A lot of the other colors used for the painting come from Tom Petty’s other albums and his performances. For example,  the red used for those little circles inside the large bronze circle openings comes from the color red used in a number of Tom Petty’s albums, including Damn the Torpedoes.

Woo hoo, this completes this project in time to move on to this years Christmas Painting, which will be Silver Bells.

 

Scott Von Holzen

 

S_V_H Chopin Polonaise in A Flat major Final image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
Chopin Polonaise in A Flat Major, Op 53, 24 inches by 36 inches

This Chopin artwork is finished, kinda.  Since it is going to be around the studio for a few more days, I probably will touch it up, because this is one of my rare artworks, that has to be framed to actually look finished. Of course, this is a commission work, so I will have to wait for the image of it hanging in the Music room to see how good this artwork really is.

That now means that it is time for me to get back to the good stuff of finishing my half done Tom Petty artwork,  pound out a few more Mini-artworks for my Etsy website, and get in the mood for this years Christmas Painting, Silver Bells.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H In The Mood final image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
Acrylic on three canvases, 40.5 inches in length x 17.5 inches in height.

In The Mood  is  finished. This is an upbeat jazz music, so I used different shades  of yellow, red, and multiple blues to add to the feeling of   movement. For the flow of the music the first coat I painted a light magenta. I than lightly painted the music with a gold color pick from the brass instruments.  I also used a light gray for the Mondrian squares, and to represent the suit color of the band  on the vertical shafts.

In the middle, out-of-place, I placed three notes that represent the lower bass music.  To separate them from the rest of the music flow, I reduced their height  and used darker colors, to represent the lower tones.

This is also the first painting where the aluminum frame defines the size of the artwork. The  three canvases are than used to fill in the spaces inside the frame, and to more importantly offer support for the flow of the music. The metal frame makes it a lot easier to work with different heights of canvases. That flexibility is nice, and framing the artwork may be a direction to follow.  My problems with using more aluminum is finding lengths with few flaws,  the increased complexity, and issues in making sure everything ends up looking square.

I can judge my feelings for an artwork by a glance, and am happy with the results of this one.  This painting is more fluid in its movement,  and is less musical looking, when compared to the recent artwork,  I will always love You.  That artwork I feel has a structure that is too rigid like notation. This change in thinking means that I am looking to paint artworks  that are less notational, and far less sheet musical, looking.

With the death of Tom Petty, next up I am going to paint one of his great classics, Running Down a Dream.

Scott Von Holzen