Watercolor Study in Ab Octaves No. 1

A small piano étude translated into color. The Watercolor Study in Ab Octaves No. 1 octave — Ab0, Bb2, D4, G4, A4, E5 — appears here as blue toward black, the harmonic-chromatic translation of this chord. From Ab0 to E5, the étude breathes across the full keyboard. Some accents — violet, orange, red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow — appear as tensions outside the chord tones.
Played Animé — with animation and a sense of forward motion, mp — at a gentle, conversational volume, legato — the notes flowing into one another. From Ab0 (black), the line climbs to E5 (yellow) — the climax, where the phrase hangs suspended. Arnaud wrote it in triple time, the melody moves in a quiet, waltz-like motion.
This painting belongs to my Harmonic Crossing series, an ongoing practice of translating harmonic relationships into visual form. Each variation is a study — direct, unadorned, focused on the essential character of the chord.