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Musical conversations are portrayed visually

All That Jazz - digital painting - 2006 - Dan Beck

I love music - if you’ve been on my site, you might have noticed, I write music and play a number of instruments.

There are many similarities in the creative processes for music and for art. They are there even when one is not taking on such an obvious reference to the other - as in the above.

When I created the above piece, I put on some jazz and referenced instruments I was hearing and the kind of interplay that the instruments might have. I could probably make it out to be more thoughtful than it was - but in truth I didn’t think that much.

Having said that, I am well aware of my own education in jazz and music.  Improvisational music is a conversation - not an idea I invented - but it is.  The vocabulary changes with musician and background - but it is about listening, conversing and offers one’s take or perspective.

As a brand new piece - All That Jazz has not yet been set up with a way to purchase the original art prints - please send inquiries to specialorders@outhousestudios.net .

See Also

• Jazz 1
  Earlier piece with similar theme
• Improvisation
  Quick synopsis of conversations in music
• from The Age of Intelligent Machines
  similarities in art and music from new technological perspective - completely different angle but interesting

Music Conversation, Embellished Themes, Shared Record

Jazz 3 - Digital Painting 2005

Unlike the previous explorations of portraying jazz, this one does not reference instruments. It does, however, attempt to reference music.

When it was created, I was listening to jazz, I was creating with the music as a fairly active listener - to the extent that is possible while painting.

As I am looking at the piece now, I see that perhaps I did create a conversation.  There are several key players - the cross-hatched black, the blue tablecloth patterned ribbon, the orange shapes. 

But what I see mostly that is similar to music is how everything is built upon each other. There is a theme and it is embellished upon and everything leads to something grander where everyone is contributing and it is bold but then it is done - contained in the space and/or time allotted.

The similarity between art and music is found in composition:  in the space not just the subject,  in the sense of being built upon within the piece, in the sense of building upon other art or music.

There is also the need for audience (even if it is just the author), and though much is unsaid - ideally it is a record that someone found something new and most likely wanted share it.

See Also

• The Connection: Painting with Sound
  Discussion of particular connection between music and art
• NPR: Manjul Bhargava: An Artist of Music and Math
  Other connections - Music, Math, & Beauty
• Multiple spaces: musical space/music-and-space
  Discussion of importance of space (silence) in music
• Joni Mitchell Hompage
  Had thought of her as good example of artist/musician then spotted her site in related search