The Harmonious Balance of Song and Happiness (Gage Massey)

In this piece you see a jazz band up on stage performing to a group of people. Although you cannot see too much of the crowd, the people you do see seem to be dancing exuding happy feelings. The lines used in this painting are also round and organic which creates a sense of relaxation. There is also a strong emphasis on the trombone because it takes up most of the foreground. This underlies the importance of the music in this piece.

Here we see a group of Indian musicians who are each playing an instrument and one girl is singing. Each of them are holding a soft smile on their faces exhibiting that they are enjoying themselves. The dancers in the background bring a joyful theme to this painting along with the group of musicians. The dancers create a rhythm in the piece that allow the viewer to almost hear the music themselves. The group seems very unified in their music where the dancers complete the scene.

Here we see two musicians performing with wide smiles. The complementary color pattern of their jackets create great contrast in the piece. They also have an analogous color scheme with the two hats. The way their bodies are symmetrically tilted incorporates movement and rhythm showing that they are moving their bodies and dancing to the music they are playing.

Here we see a group of musicians performing on top of a balcony or porch. They all have melancholy faces and the dog sitting to the left of the man playing the lute is engaged in a stare with the viewer. The lines used to create the railings direct the viewers attention to what is essentially framed, a group of people listening to and playing music and exuding happiness while doing so. The artist used dynamic shaping to show movement in the group.

A man and a woman are depicted here engaged in what seems to be love making and caressing while three musicians play in front of them. Obviously the man and woman are enjoying themselves as the music is played for them. We can see this from the way the man holds the woman and how she stares up at him. Each of the three musicians are smiling as they play for the two lovers. There is good sense of balance with the painting being able to be slit in the middle with equal parts in each section. This is not only visually pleasing but makes the piece less busy.

Here a woman plays piano while what seems to be a man and another woman singing in front of her. The woman to the right has the slightest smile on here face and is the one emphasized. The artist puts this emphasis on her by using light values over her to make it seem like a light is shining down upon her. The other two have more of a dark value giving them less attention. The artist has a strong sense of contrast as well in applying these values. Although they all seem to be enjoying themselves, the girl to the right is featured and she holds the classic Mona Lisa-esque smile.

We see a man playing a piano or other keyboard instrument. Bright musical notes float off into the air coming from the music he plays. He has his eyes closed and head back with a sense of relaxation upon him. The way the artist painted him incorporated a good sense of movement in that you can tell he is dancing and enjoying the song. The music notes also exhibit movement and are visually engaging. I would say the jagged lines create a slight tension in the piece but the overall emphasis is positive.

Here we see four musicians playing their instruments together. The artists contrast of the two groups (men and woman) show that the men are simply playing and the ladies have something else going on as well. The woman to the right has a smile on her face as she seems to tell the other woman something while they are playing. The split complementary colors the woman to the right wears are jovial and emphasize that emotion.

We see here a band of musicians performing for a group of three on the dance floor. There is a man and two women dancing and it seems that the man has his eyes on the lady in blue and the two are smiling at one another. It seems the band member to the right of the standing man is gazing enviously at the man and woman perhaps wishing he was dancing or enjoying himself like they were. The man and women are dancing and having a good time to the music being played.

Here we see a sort of religious dane taking place involving Lord Shiva. He is standing in a circle of beings playing music in different forms as he dances before them. Lord Shiva is one of the only ones holding a sort of smile in this painting but you can see that the monkey in the bottom right playing cymbals is happy playing for Lord Shiva. The pink elephant and the red man also seem to be engaged in the celebration.