Category: Classical music

S_V_H Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Summer Presto image3

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

summerPresto_3This is the Last Vivaldi of the Four Seasons series. This is a large artwork 240 inches in length.

The following video featuring the soloist, Mari Silje Samuelsenh, displays her violin talent and the electric connection the orchestra has with this Vivaldi masterpiece from the start. Than, from the 24th second to the 34th of this movement, you hear the music that is this painting.  In only 10 seconds,  that takes 20 feet to represent, the entire orchestra does a number of synchronized head movements that is visually stunning.  Than interestingly just before the one minute and twenty seconds, the serious concentration you see in Mari’s face suddenly changes,  she smiles, letting some unknown viewer share her exhilaration in this, one of the finest performances of  any music,  composed almost 300 years ago.  Amazing.

My challenge is to do some of my head bobbing and find the way to paint the emotions of this music into this artwork.

The green strips, you see on this work in progress, are pieces of removable tape I use as a guide and to create sharp edges for the painting of the this music’s shafts. You can see by looking at the flow of the music going up the scale why everyone shakes their heads.  That up and down is a natural movement with the music.

I would like to mention that you are seeing a small directional change in style. If you compare the middle stripping from the first image of this work, with the second image, you will see that I have done something different from earlier works.

This close up of image one is how I have portrayed stripping in the past: using multiple layers of colors spread all within a single strip:

SummerPresto3CNow, with this second image you see I have added, using different colors, brush strokes in a cross hatching method, that covers multiple strips. This helps to create a less stagnate and more interesting image, without losing the structure of the artwork. This is a small part of that head shaking I need to represent.

SummerPresto3D

Finally, a little reflection:  I have looked at a lot of music representations in art and the best of these works are pure abstractions. Although at first that might be thought of as the logical method to display sound,  I do not see it that way. I do not paint music as an abstract. Instead I show the structure and organization of music, while always remembering that a piece of music is never played the same twice. This artwork strives to represent the spontaneity, and diversity of music, and not the cookie cutter images you see in sheet music. This art flows with the music, but is never meant to be precise. This art displays, in tribute, the beauty and wonder of a single musical piece.

Scott Von Holzen

 

S_V_H Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Summer Presto image2

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

summerPresto_2

Summer Presto from the Vivaldi Four Seasons series.  Composed of eight panels each thirty inches, this artwork reaches a length of twenty feet.  What you are seeing is the background completed, for now.  Blue dominates this artwork because  the theme of this movement, from the Summer concerto, is a  storm.  Along the edges I have created the forward and backward flow that appears in the clouds of an approaching storm. The narrow strips in the two wide bars of color is where much of the music will appear.  Then between the music I again have gone with another back-en-forth created from using two different patterns. This neutral area does then add interest, drama, and variety to the artwork.

Understand, this music is about a  summer storm, but I am in no way trying to physically depict a weather scene. Thousands of artists that can do that better than I would ever.  Instead, I am going for something less predictable, which I would think, can represent nature, but also shows the range of this artist’s style. If you stand far enough back, to take in the entire work,  you would see that it is the center area of this artwork that dominates this work. Those sections are there not to represent the storm theme, although, they strangely enough, work will with the rest of the background.  Their main purpose is to shake up this artwork,  challenging me, and the viewer to take this artwork beyond the music.

For now, this is it for this artwork. With the Holidays coming up I need to turn my attention to this years Christmas painting.  For 2014 I am painting A Big Red Sled, made popular by the band, The Killers. It is an interesting piece of music that I can relate to, and I find the music interesting.. Normally, my first thought about the Christmas artwork,  is to keep it simple and easy. I tried that with this music, but I could not do that which lead to the struggle to except that part of the music that was the most difficult. Next, I had difficulty finding a physical design for the music. Last night I thought I figured it all out, and prepped three larger canvases for the artwork. This morning I was looking at my earlier Christmas works, and the 2012, Let it Snow, made me change my mind.  I have now finished a new setup for this artwork that consists of smaller canvases, but more of them.  I have gone from three large flat canvases to six, with four to be attached on top of the background. As far has the look, I am seeing wide bands of gold with narrow silver strips for separation. That is about in for Big Red Sled, for now.

As for the Vivaldi I will work on it, here and there, over the next month, and post a new update in early January.

Scott von Holzen

 

S_V_H Vivaldi’s Spring Allegro image4

Published on by Scott Von Holzen2 Comments

SpringMvt1_3

This is the fourth image of this 16 foot artwork, and the second to the last painting in the Vivaldi Four Seasons Series.  I must admit that after completing 11 of the 13 canvases for this series, that I am antsy to finish.  I have three smaller works that may turn into jobs, and I will have to drift off to hopefully lock up that business, so this work will take that longer.  My disappointment is that I have not finished this artwork. That means, sometime this fall I will start the last Vivaldi, and finished it hopefully, by late, late, fall.  I actually like to paint these Vivaldi’s during the season in which they are a part off, but that goal has slip away this last year.

I am still out on this work.  It is much different from past Vivaldi’s in that I am depicting three flows of the music. Most of my past Vivaldi’s I have painted only the violin movement only.  I have done a couple with two flows,  For example, I am thinking the Fall Vivaldi that I completed this last January. But this work is my only three-part picture. That make the smaller notes necessary, but because of their size, that leaves a lot of open spaces that I need to find a way to fill with some interest. Also, the choices for the background colors come from my notes and memories of this years spring; the apple blossom trees, lilacs bushes, rhododendrons, and spring weed colors. I have debated those chooses of colors, not feeling for the most part, pleased by them. I have, because of that, countered the background in the more free use of the color green with the music.

I am about three-quarters done with this work. My goal is to finish this painting by the end of September.

As for this years Birthday painting,  it has not sold yet, so it hangs beautifully in my other office closet at work. It is just fine that it is there.

Scott Von Holzen