Category: Rock music

S_V_H Stairway to Heaven Image 2

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

stairway_2Stairway to Heaven, second image, you can see this work taking on its own unique character.  I took a close look at this video and saw some of the lighting they where using.  You can see this in a snippet I captured from the video:

stairwaysnippetI then went totally abstract and did a mix of related colors spread all over the straight shafts you see above.  I am not trying to be fancy and am attempting only to replicated some of the colors of this video and their chaotic movements, such as, a blurry Robert Plant.

This is again the link to the video that the coloring for this artwork originates:

My words for this video “We all Know,” offer, what I always try to accomplish, multiple meanings for the viewer.  As part of this art since the beginnings their placement has been slowly changing. That is another discussion, but now words have no exact location, only a place in harmony with the Artwork.  That change in thinking is helping the Art of the Artwork to evolve from the restraints of the music.  Someday the Music will only be the starting point:   One day One that comes from One finally will be Two.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Stairway to Heaven Image 1

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

stairway_1This is the first image for the artwork Stairway to Heaven, composed of three canvases 56 inches in length by 24 inches.  Over the years  I have considered, but never felt convinced, to paint this great rock classic song, or any other music by Led Zeppelin. I now realize that this avoidance reaches back to the day that my musical connection became personnel.

I was a sophomore in high school and on Sunday, February 9th 1964,  the Beatles, made their first black and white television American appearance, on the Ed Sullivan show.  It was the influence of The Fab 4 that formed my early musical tastes.  That meant that I ignored the music of Led Zeppelin which I considered to rough, to loud and to hard to listen to.  Instead I favored The Byrds, Crosby Still, Nash & Young,  The Mamas and the Papas, The Beach Boys, Ray Charles,  The Four Seasons, and Simon and Garfunkel, more so than The Rolling Stones, The Animals,  The Zombies, The Kinks,  Sly and the Family Stone,  Jimi Hendricks, or Janis Joplin. I do remember a moment when the influence of the Beatles was less when I made the rare album purchased of the 1970 record, Live at Leeds, by the Who.  To this day, though, I have no interest to listen to Heavy Metal music, or even classic Punk music.

After 46 years since its release I am now painting the music of Led Zeppelin one of the earliest hard rock bands.  Stairway to Heaven is a needed step forward in the broadening of my musical appreciation.

Here is the YouTube video where I found the color plan for this painting. Do not waste your time watching this entire video.  For all the positive reasons for liking a live music version I am afraid this example of Stairway to Heaven is awful.  Throughout this video I sense that Robert Plant is not into the music.  This is especially noticeable in the dramatic last section  of the song, after the guitar solo,  where Plant’s voice seems weak and disconnected from the music.

 

Here is the better studio version of Stairway to Heaven:

 

Scott Von Holzen

 

 

S_V_H Waymore’s Blues Image 1

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

waymore1aThis is my first artwork based on a Country song by Waylon Jennings’s  entitled Waymore’s Blues. This is another of many examples that the root of America’s music originates from the Blues, including Country.

First up is the studio version of Waymore Blues:

Now, this is a lot more interesting live version.  I like the back-en-forth conversation Waylon has with himself and the woman next to him.  She certainly  has the country look,  that leaves me wondering what is going on here. Waylon seems a little unsettled, and out-of-place compared to her.

This artwork is 20 inches by 60 inches in length.  For the background I wanted to use colors that depict a Waylon Jennings style.   Shades of blues became the obvious choice to portray his rough blue jean look.  Looking for another color that choice became obvious: brown, for it is hard to ignore Waylon’s full head of hair. As a nice contrast I added a strip of Silver which I see around the rim of his hats. I also added to the background my own stylized version of Waylon’s logo, which you see it in many of his videos.

I know the color Black is also a dominate color for Waylon,  but I am saving black and white for the music.  Those colors come from his guitar.

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