Tag: Music

Heart of the Matter, 3 panels totally 30inches by 8 1/2 feet.  There is only one image of a lone 8th  note in this work.  That in itself was a reason to use a different color pattern from the rest of the music.  On looking at it the next morning there was some surprise. There is a look of dissonance to this note, which may have some negative feedback from the viewer. It works for me, though.  That one note strands for a lot, including refusing to cooperate. I am at times as defiant and like minded.

Frank Sinatra – High Hopes, remember this song from when I was a kid.  It was a motivational song.

I would like to comment, once again on the photography.  The camera is a Canon 7D  with a Canon 580EXII flash, and a couple of bounce white cards.  The effort is to try and duplicate the actual live work. These images are close with the colors accurate, but no photo can compare to actually viewing. At times there is concern that the contrast may be too high in the photos.  This work sits on a easel which is one easel that is actually composed of  five other easels which gives it a length of about twelve feet. It is lit quite close from  above by nine 60 watt fluorescent 3500K  floods, my preferred color.  Maybe with this amount of light some of the the contrast is being washed out. Obviously the light environment can change colors, but since most of these works basically travel from the easel to storage its is impossible to come to any firm conclusions on the accuracy of what is viewed on these pages.

This latest image shows some of the needed work done to up the contrast of the background bringing it forward into the music. The note heads are now starting to move, but still they seem lacking. That very bottom violet edge needs to be pulled into the work. There is yet to be added the Tie, and a couple of  Rests. Finally, there is finishing to be done to give it that look.

Amiee Mann – Little Bombs “….Life just kind of empties out…”

This work is beginning to fall in place so it was today while walking, and listening to music, that two musical  ideas for the future came to mind. Not sure which one will go first.  One piece is a work by Vivaldi Concerto for Two Cellos, RV531 and the other is a country song,  Jesus take the Wheel,  made popular by Carrie Underwood.  I know, I have no idea either where that thought combo came from, but that is not unusual while out for a walk. What is unusual is having any kind of ideas about what is to be painted next.  Still, there are no certainties.  There are many, many musical pieces this artist would love to have the time to paint.  Most of the  time the decision on what is to be painted is an emotional  choice, with the only practical decision being to make sure that the music fits on the chosen canvas.

Listening to Concerto For Two Cellos – Vivaldi.

Carole King – You’ve got A Friend.  Finishing this blog entry with Beethoven’s sad Moonlight Sonata.  This is a must paint, but since it is so sad, I have yet, luckily, never found the mood.  And finally finishing this blog entry with Roy Oribison – Oh, Pretty Woman.

Scott Von Holzen

The Heart of the Matter 3 panels 30 inches by just over 8 and one-half feet. The sketch on the left came quickly Sunday night.  The weekend was spent mostly away from art, except for late Friday afternoon into the early evening.  When the painting stopped what had been accomplished of the sketch, were two straight lines, full of empty ideas. When returning home the solution for the design of the eighth beat became apparent to where it now appears to be flowing over the next quarter beat.  What colors will be used is still undecided, but there is a thought to try and not to duplicate the beams.

Van Morrison – Domino

Someone To Watch Over Me – Renee Olstead.

Bach: concerto for 4 Harpsichords.

Jackson Browne – the softer version of The Pretender.

It should be said, color choices are an important consideration and challenge for this work. So much of this art is abstraction, meaning there is no real world to be compared with. Since this is an art that paints music, the challenge is to use colors to fit a mood.   Since this music is tied closely to a single artist, the background colors came from the  different shades of brown that formed the album cover.  When it came to adding the music, this artist could then not resist brightening up the canvas for contrast, and to reflect the strength and message of this song.

What has occurred since, although, are color decisions that are being made to try and bring the background and the music closer together. Part of that can be accomplished by re-working the background, especially the more emptier areas.  This will help to create interest, and pull the background  forward along the flow of the music, to improve the blend, the harmony and unity of the canvas.

The choice of one word was done for two reasons, the three syllables offer an opportunity in design, along with the fact that it sums up the meaning of this music. Not sure of the color choice for letters, but brown was out and so was anything that look anything like a blue green combo. This green does work for starters, but, as usual, the letters will need more shaping to make them stand out to better match the meaning of the word, forgiveness.

Listening to Words Fail You – Kris Delmhorst along with the Bee Gees – Stop, Sly & the Family Stone – I Want to Take You Higher and Adele – LoveSong

Bruce Springsteen – Terry’s Song

Scott Von Holzen