Vivaldi The Four Seasons, Spring Allegro. This large work 36 inches by 14 feet and I have completed the basic flow of the music.   Now that the music is all in place, those aspects of music notation that I consider the interesting part of the music, are up next.

For a good artwork to succeed,  I search out not only a musical phrase to paint, but that part of the music with a lot of musical things going on. In this artwork you have a lot of slurs, a pile of trills, and a large number of beams. Sheet music is boring and limited to facts, My interest goes way beyond by finding a way to portray a small musical phrase that speaks to the music, and has enough interest to capture the interest of the viewer.

The Ebay Auction is still gong on for this Years Birthday painting that I painted yesterday.

Scott Von Holzen

 See Important Message bottom of this entry.

 

 

 

Background Image 1 July 4th. This painting is the twelve in this series Vivaldi The Four Seasons.  It consists of five canvas panels.  The total length of this artwork is fourteen feet by three feet in height.  In this background I tried to show the colors of spring where I live.  Since Spring, again, was short, and lack the emotions I use to attach to Spring when I was younger. Now, when I think of Spring I think of April and May as our two best months where storms can easily become tornado warning.  In many emotions I dread Spring.  This year what there was of spring came late.  I thought way late and to me Spring was an afterthought. But when it did come I saw it in the blossoms of the crab apple trees, the smell of lilac bushes, of few rhododendrons, and if you travel into the country side plenty of Golden Rod.  That is it for Spring.  And some of those colors, Purple, Rose, Pink, Violet, and Yellow, are what you see above.

 

 

Background image. July 13th. Here you can see the results of my struggles to find a more pleasant look to this background. The colors in image 1 seem rough, harsh, and not working together.  That could not totally be resolved in this version, but it is better.  I specially like the wide blue center strip with the dark and light areas of those narrow strips giving a lot of depth and almost a sparkle to the work. I can see more of this random stripping, letting previously colors show through, can give a work interest and impact.

I spent a lot of time working on this background trying to its entire look that is eye-catching and that adds drama. This background at the point of it being finished, minus the music you now see, completely dominates this artwork. Now that is where the music comes in.  When I decide what the music is going to look like I do so thinking about how I can counter the background. I did this to change the focus of the painting. And this continues, in many areas, of  this artwork. Each new addition make it own statement in color and contrast to that around it.  This painting will tell the story of how each shape has interacted with all the other shapes. When finished  you will see that all these unique additions in color and shapes, have all evolved to become a logical part of the artwork. It all will connect not only with itself, but hopefully in the mind of the viewer.

 

Attention: 

I will paint this years Birthday Artwork  all in one day,  Thursday July 31st. You will be able to bid on the art through an online EBAY auction.

Plenty of details to come on your chance to own an original Von Holzen Birthday painting at an amazing discount up to 60%.

Scott Von Holzen