Tag: Frederic Chopin

This fourth image of this popular Chopin music is near finished. I am also surprised how well this painting moved along, without  any major issues.  The planning had to be good because of my limited working space, and that paid off for there is not much I would change. The overall look of the music is pretty good considering I had to fit a lot of Chopin into 36 inches by 24 inches without the artwork looking crowded. All that is now left is for me to do is to sharpen the edges, shape up the music,  clean up the background,  write in the title of the music, and finally sign and date.

Since this work is different from my current style I do have so thoughts on how this project is turning out.  I like the reflective qualities of the silver and bronze colors, and their changing colors in different light and angles.  That is a surface feature for me, but also it works well with my theme of simulating movement in these artworks. Reliving the past with the flatness, and especially the oblong shape of the music are two traits that can create  highly marketable artworks,  especially to musicians.  Although I will not return to this look unless commissioned, I still enjoyed the challenge and income of this type of project.

Scott Von Holzen

This is the third image of Chopin’s Polonaise Op. 53.  Even though I have eliminated every rule of sheet music that defines it, and none of my artworks if attempted to be played would actually sound like the music they are portraying, that look of sheet music is definitely in this painting.  This is not an issue with Classical Music because I choose music that is in the Public Domain.  Still, I don’t generally paint music this way, because of the look, and because I would like this art to appeal to a greater audience of music lovers who would not necessarily understand music notation.

But……, what separates this artwork from most of my other current work, is that this painting is marketable to a large segment of potential customers which are musicians and lovers of Classical Music. These people know their music better than I do, and want to see the music in their artworks, and know where the painting appears in the original music. That is true of my client for this artwork which will be a gift for a musician.  As this art keeps moving forward creativity I must not forget what has gotten me to where I am today, and what will still support this adventure in the future.

Besides viewing Image 3 you can also see and listen to this wonderful piece by Chopin’s Polonaise in A flat:

For the most part the music is in place, and it does fit in this constricted format. The next step, which I have already started is to add some technical musical items you find in sheet music. I see all this add-on stuff as interest.  In this short excerpt Chopin used a number of “grace notes,” two “trills,” a couple of “crushed notes,” and a “fortissimo.” Each of these items need to be drawn in, and I am not a drawer. I rather take a photograph to save time. Like the words you see in most of my artworks my drawing skills need a lot of time, patience and determination to make sure the results are beyond  acceptable. Next up I will be adding more interest like “ties,” and “diminuendos.”

if you like to see another image of this music take a look at this piece of the original Chopin signed manuscript of this music,

 

Scott Von Holzen

This is Frederic Chopin’s surprising  Polonaise Op. 53 image two. The surprise is to see so much music already in place.  I have not painted in this style since the Japan artwork in early 2016.  I do remember the difficulties with that similar commissioned  Kyoto artwork, and because this time of the year is busy, I knew I needed to find time-saving measures to meet my client’s timeline.  My first idea was to draw in lines that I could than use to guide the orderly placement of the music.  I changed the size , color and brightness, of each group to blend in with the background while still being able to connect to the music.

I than improved on an idea I used with the Kyoto painting.   Using a thin piece of plywood I cut out the music to size. I than attached a square post and guide markers.  It did not take long to than learned that I could use it as a musical stamp. This saves me from the tedious task of free hand drawing in each note.

 

This artwork has a background of Burnt Sienna that I covered with Burnt Umber light.  I than added Burnt Umber light to the bronze paint to get the shades I wanted with the main music lines.  The smaller accent lines I painted bone black.  For the music I am using the same Winsor & Newton Silver I used for the Japan work.  When I show the Japan work, as an example,  my customer like it for the silver made the music stand out from the background.

Scott Von Holzen

Comment:

Both the silver and the bronze are reflective acrylic paint colors, that change shades when viewed at different angles and in different lights. This effect creates a visual delight to the eyes.  It is as if you can see the vibrations of the music of Chopin move across the canvas.  Looking at this painting I feel the joy that is on display.  This unfinished Classical artwork is already making an impact. Chopin’s Polonaise defines this arts philosophy of making visual music that grabs at you emotions as if my notes where the sound.

Scott