Tag: Bob Seger

Like A Rock2 final Image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
LikeARock2 52.25″ x 20″ in height. Three canvases, aluminum, wood features, and added music

Like a Rock the second version is finished.  I must admit I was a little concerned about how to go about this project, but to my surprise ( every time I say it is a surprise) but it is not, (for I always figure it out in the end), the results of this artwork are beyond my expectations.

This artwork’s theme is from one of the longest advertising campaigns that ran for over a decade. This video demonstrates this artwork’s added tribute to the music from those Chevrolet commercials over the years, and is for the private use of the owner.

Because this is a commission work with a specific theme I kept the design and the colors of this project focused on what I would consider is a good representation of the subject matter, with a small amount of creative interest added, so not to bore me or the viewer.

Commission works are challenging,  educational, and rewarding.  At the same time they are restrictive in every creative way.  That means for my next project, my choice,  I will be looking for music that allows me to do it differently. Maybe it is time for some Team Spirit, or a little Thriller, or how about what’s in Vogue.  We shall see.

Scott Von Holzen

 

S_VH Like A Rock 2 image 4

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

My current trend  is to let the music  define the size and shape of the background.  That is not the case with Like a Rock. The rigid shape of the background of this work, like the recent Chopin commission, means that I had to adjust my music to fit the backgrounds. I don’t like doing that, but commission works have exceptions.

The wood features of the music evolved from my standard Classical music shapes. This simple style is flexible in the spacing, and in dimensions, allowing everything to fit in the  background.
Up next I will be doing some stripping to add interest and movement to the artwork.  After that I will be finishing up with the words.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H New Like A Rock image3

Published on by Scott Von Holzen


This is a commissioned artwork for the Chevrolet Like A Rock commercial that aired from 1991 to 2004. In this image, as I have always done,  I place the music moving from left to right. The color of that music is a tinted Primary Cyan, which is a close match to the blue across the front of every Chevrolet dealership.  I am using darker shades of that same blue for the other parts of the music, to avoid one-color-boredom. At the top of this image is a clamp, to improve the glued bond between wood and aluminum.

Although my Father, a lifetime car guy,  made his money with a Ford Lincoln Mercury, heavy truck dealership, I think he was generally more a General Motors car person.  Of course being a true car lover,  his last, most favorite and greatest car he ever owned was his S Class 500 Mercedes sedan. Still, my early car memories are of his first Cadillac. I can see it today as a 1964, probably an aspen white, De Ville.  For Dad buying a Cadillac was more than having a great car.  Thinking back I wonder if for him that Cadillac  was a defining moment.   Maybe that was the point where he no longer thought of himself as a son of a Swiss immigrant. From then on,  he wanted to be known as a respected and successful American businessman.

My 2006 picture of my Father Warner, and his Mercedes

Creating the Chevrolet logo brings back those memories of growing up in the automobile business that my Father built. To this day I still love the sight and smells of new cars on the showroom floor. And like my Dad’s Cadillac, I had a car passion: “Like a rock, I was strong as I could be, Like a rock, nothin’ ever got to me, Like a rock, I was something to see.” My car was my red 1968 Mustang, and then my yellow 1970 Mach I Mustang. There where the road and bar trips with friends,  but the best part came in fall when I drove my Mustangs back-and-forth, and around the streets of Madison. I was particularly proud, to let the campus ladies, take full advantage of getting around that little big city, with me, in my cool wheels.  I too, like Dad,  once thought, I was something to see.

Scott Von Holzen