Stacy Weitz Minch

It's the last day of 2016, and I don't have anything exciting to share (still working over that unfortunate little Sargent copy I started last weekend, which is no easy task--who was this Sargent guy anyway!!!? ha ;). But I just wanted to say thank you, 2016, for all you've brought into my lowly little life. There have definitely been some ups and downs, and I'm not so sure what the New Year will bring--life is funny like that. But I have a feeling that 2016 will be a year I will keep near and dear to my heart for a long long time to come. I'm almost a little sad to see it coming to a close :') Oh, and because every post needs a picture or two, James Charles. I happened across a couple of his things while Googling Solomon J. Solomon the other day. Happy accidents :) I love the simplicity and vitality of these sketches. And I very much admire an artist who can capture a child's likeness from life. They're such wiggly things ;) This is just bea

Quick 20-30ish minute watercolor sketch after Sargent. Done with the brown, black and red, and a touch of yellow from a $0.97 cent tray of kids' paints (sometimes I can sneak a little something in while entertaining the little ones, ha). I like watercolor. Drawing with watercolor can be pretty haphazard, and you never quite know what'll happen. But I think that's part of its charm. This is around 6" square.

This was probably a little under an hour of sketching, and it's not as good as I would like it to be. Ha. But it's something, and something is a lot more than nothing (especially when school is out for winter break!). I got a little lost in that jumble of hands, and didn't do a great job of varying the line through that area either. But I really love this painting and this artist, and I should probably do more of this kind of sketching. It's a little more enjoyable (manageable) than trying to control that paint :/ I just finished reading Solomon J. Solomon's book about drawing and painting a last week. It was really good. He describes a lot of mistakes that people make starting out, and well, they're all me. He must have had a crystal ball or something. I like to have faith that I can overcome all my faulty tendencies. But sometimes it's hard to believe, especially when I look around and see all these people doing amazing things. It can be a lit

I have to very deliberately make time for this stuff--even for things like this quick 30-60 second sketch-of-a-moving-target you see here. It's worth the effort, but in the process of always being in a hurry, I've become rather good at starting, but not so good at finishing. So I'm having to learn to slow down and get out of this "you only have an hour" mentality (not that it isn't true--an hour often feels like a gloriously luxurious amount of time in my world ;).   I want to be a good finisher, but I'm still a big believer in sketching like mad.  98.5% of the time, a quick sketch is nothing interesting (I could show you page after page of hideous things in my sketchbooks). But there's something so urgent and zealous about the process--it helps me refocus and get back to seeing the whole picture when I get a little too wrapped up in the little things. So here's to sketching while simultaneously learning to slow down (I almost feel a fresh

Well, happy holidays! I took a break from the internet and social media train for a couple days over the weekend, and that was nice. Started working on this portrait copy...and it's not going too well, ha. There are a lot of balls to juggle here. I probably should have drawn this thing out more carefully before just throwing paint up on the canvas, but I didn't (I drew with the paint--I'd like to be able to paint people from life, and get it right. But maybe I still need a little scaffolding ;). So I'm trying to correct the drawing (let's see how many errors you find in this drawing? fun game!) at the same time as trying to mix those  flesh tones (also not going too well, ha).  What a mess. I feel like this blog is becoming a series of unfortunate attempts. Sorry, readers. I'm definitely not sticking to my comfort zones lately. Oh well. I remember the first time I tried to paint a landscape, I immediately decided I couldn't paint landscapes (and did

This is the part where I get really discouraged and think, "I will never finish this thing."  The part where the adjustments are so minor that only the most astute observer would notice them. The part where after 3 hours of staring at this stone face, I can't see an ounce of difference in what's on the page since I started.  I think doing the Bargue exclusively this month has been a little mentally exhausting. And this week there haven't been any figures or anything to break up the monotony, so I'm just tired. And I'm coming down with a cold.  So I called it a night a little bit early tonight and that's fine. I'm sure I'll be a little bit happier the next time I post about this bearded friend (hoping that will be the finish. I'm optimistically shooting for finishing this by the end of 2016?). We'll see.

I'd like to get a better handle on the anatomy of the eye, and this seemed like a good place to start... and I was ready for something at which I might be able to feel somewhat successful. These aren't extremely careful copies--maybe 5-10 minutes per eye. Also didn't space my grid too carefully, ha :P But I'm just trying to get a better mental map of all the different lines/planes of the eyeball. They're complex little things.

Ugh, well, another little mess I've made. I started this portrait one night a couple months ago, and since it was far from finished, I really had nothing to lose by drawing over it. I thought it might be interesting to give drawing from memory another try. I just don't like failing. I don't think it ever feels good--not for me or anyone else. Not that I really expected anything different when I started working over this drawing. I knew it would be nothing but a learning experience. But somehow, it still hurts to fall on your face, even if you see the fall coming! So go ahead and quit following my blog. Just go somewhere else where you can see pretty pictures every day. I won't mind ;) But what's the lesson here? Was there any takeaway from this failure? Drawing from memory is probably a helpful skill to have if you want to invent compositions before getting a model. If you want to sketch things out beforehand. And I think in order to do that, it would help t

"Every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success." -Napoleon Hill (I'm currently reading his book called Outwitting the Devil , and it's bizarrely interesting. He claims to have forced the devil himself into a lengthy interview, which seems (to me) to be an interesting angle for presenting the author's personal views on the forces at work in the universe ;). However, I do like the idea that with each failure comes an opportunity to learn, and possibly to find a path to success in the future. So here's my fail. Do me a favor and don't look up the original of this drawing--just don't. Blaaaaaaaah. I'm a little embarrassed to post this, but in the interest of sharing the breadth of the learning experience, I'll go ahead and share my flops (you're welcome :P). The drawing is off. But aside from that, I am learning some things from copying this artist (whose technique is clearly WAY over my head). She adjusts the pres

I started bringing some of the values down this week so I could get a more solid handle on the shapes (it's kind of hard to see if they're correct when they're light in value). It's always a little scary, because once you start adding more pigment to the paper, it's harder to lift. So I'm trying to be pretty careful about where I darken things so I won't regret it later. It's also a point where it starts to feel like it'll get worse before it gets better--just because it starts to feel somewhat disjointed. I can only go so fast, so it's not all going to be united in value for a bit, and I really have to trust myself moving forward. I started at the top of the head because that was one place I felt pretty confident in my shapes (and because I figured it would make sense logistically to move from top to bottom, just for the practicality of smudging things on the way down). But my instructor felt like procedurally, it would make more sense

It's been harder to find time to do projects at home lately, since I've been trying to spend a few hours at the atelier 4-5 times a week. I spend the mornings and early afternoons just trying to keep up around the house, and when I get home in the evenings, it's like everyone has missed me or something ;)  This is about a 3-hour copy of a Colleen Barry drawing I found on her blog. I just love the way she draws. It's really beautiful. And the play between her shapes is so sensitive and sophisticated. I'm not going to post a side-by-side because I'm using different materials and it's just not a very clear comparison (I toned my paper with watercolor, which is pretty different in hue than her paper, and she also seems to be using maybe a brown colored pencil? instead of graphite like I did here--if you're interested I'm sure you can find this image in a quick google search. she doesn't post many). But as I'm copying this drawing, I can

Well, I had big plans for the last 10 minutes of this session (like a quick refining of edges and assessment of values), but the model snuck out the door at the last break (at a quarter to nine). He must have thought he was done, ha! Oh well. I worked much longer than I would have liked on that leg on the right (his left). Just having a hard time seeing the shape and placement of that foreshortened thigh/knee, I guess, and it still may be a little too lean.

My teacher asked the other day what it was that made me decide to start getting instruction in figure drawing (after attending open sessions for a while). I had a couple answers off the top of my head, but I've been thinking about it this weekend, because there wasn't a clear answer that came to mind (and maybe there still isn't). But I like to have answers, so I'm going to try to work my way through this one. For background (and I'm probably a bit of a broken record here), my mom put me in a figure drawing class at the local university when I was 16. The professor tried to convince me to seek out somewhere that I could learn the traditional methods of drawing and painting. He thought I could learn to draw and paint in the methods of the old masters!... Ha, yeah right! was my thought. I just didn't believe it (and I'm still not quite sure I believe it... though I want to. I'm trying :/). Fast forward 12 years. I found the atelier I'm attending r

Okay, this is after day 7? of working on this guy. It just gets more and more fun, ha. Hoping I've made a little progress in the past few days ;) Out of curiosity, I was searching google for the statue this may have been drawn from. This was the closest one I could find. Super interesting. Although maybe it was a reproduction of the one here that Bargue used. I don't know. There are some notable differences.

I can't seem to get a decent photo of this brown paper, but you get the idea. Didn't quite get that portrait right, and I was just playing with using the brown paper and white chalk combo. I get bored sometimes and have to switch things up (I like to move the furniture around in my house too :).

2.5 hours, pencil on Stonehenge paper This drawing. Ugh. The drawing is off, the values are a mess. I tried to unify things a little after I got home, but it's just... I've been in a bit of a funk this week and I'm trying to figure out why. It seems like for me, a depressive spell is often caused by fear with no place to go.  When I was super depressed a couple years ago, I felt panicked, like I was running out of time. I looked at my life and realized I wasn't doing everything I wanted to do. If you had asked me at anytime (after about age 16) about my bucket list, one of the first things that would have come to mind is "have a painting hanging in a museum." It's just always something I've wanted to do. But I never had the how in the equation, so I didn't even try to do it. I saw no way I could get there. I wasn't naturally gifted enough--in my mind there was just no way I could ever achieve it. I accepted that and I gave up--until

I was lacking the finesse to get that portrait in last night. But I tried my best with the rest of the figure. It was a little tricky because there was a very subtle twist between the hips and the shoulders. And this model's portrait is always pretty elusive for me. I think it's because a lot of her features are quite angular. Her eyebrows are arched, her eyes turn up at the corners, and her lips turn down at the corners. And if you get any of those things just a little bit off, the expression changes dramatically. Anyway, I don't think my head shape is even correct here, so it just wasn't happening. I was using white paper instead of the usual pearl gray. Just tired of the same stuff, so I decided to switch it up a little. But I think it messed with my perception some, and made my less-than-stellar line quality a little more apparent, ha! Maybe that's a good thing, though. If I'm more aware, I can do more to fix it, right? 

I sat around doodling on this portrait for a little while this afternoon, trying to remember enough about the form to give it a little more finish. It would have been a lot easier with the model in front of me. Pretty sure I lost some of the likeness along the way and overdid it with that white. It is what it is.  Before/after I'm almost in the mood to quit this stuff altogether today. It's stupid. I know it and I won't do it. But some days it's easier to quiet that urge than others. Often the foremost though running through my head while working on this stuff is " Why am I doing this?!". It's a good question, ha. Just one of those days, I guess. Day three (or four? I think four) of this cheery old Bargue face. I wish there was a way to expedite this, but there really isn't :P No way out but through.  And please excuse my moodiness. I guess I should have worked in a run this morning.

5x7", oil on linen panel Just a quick sketch of a persimmon from last night. Turns out they aren't very tasty (they're one of those fruits that suck all the moisture out of your mouth--and apparently their name means something like "dry fruit" ;). But they are pretty little things. I probably spent between and hour and hour and a half on this (I like to make a note of how long it takes me to do things, for future reference).

This guy Tony Sketcha (on Instagram) just kills me with his figures. Some people are so good at stuff :) And imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? I'm not being all that careful about getting the drawing exact here. Just more interested in his description of light and form on the figure. It's so simple yet descriptive. There's a lot of variety in his line--there aren't a lot of long straight lines. They're very specific to the contour. And he softens the line that divides light from dark with some perpendicular hatching that works nicely. Anyway, this was a pretty quick copy, 30-45 minutes or so. But this to say, I'm still here. I don't know if I've been too busy to post here (probably) or that I'm just pulling back a bit (another probably) lately. I had this dream a month or two ago that I was walking across a soft cork floor, watching my feet with each step. I looked up and realized I was standing on an empty stage in an empty au

This is the start of my new Bargue--Homer, I hear. I spent about the first 1.5 hours+ drawing the guidelines, then an hour and a half or so blocking in. And this was a couple hours into the next day. So a few hours in. It's just starting to set in how miserable this could end up being, ha :P  My drawing was feeling pretty stale last night. I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before, which I find can make a huge difference for me. I'm sad I got the stomach flu on the day I could have finished this one up. I kind of liked how it started. Sorry for the boring blog posts lately. Time is short these days. I could blame it on the holidays, but mostly it's just trying to divide my time between the important things and people in my life.

I guess I've posted progress shots of this pretty recently, and once you get this far changes are kind of slight, so this may not be too interesting. But here's the conclusion of my extended figure drawing from last month (sorry for the poor photo quality--maybe I'll try to take a photo with my real camera after I bring this home). I had a total of about 36 hours on this drawing, and I probably could have kept going for a while. I guess the good thing about being limited on the amount of time I have to spend at the studio is that I'm really focused while I'm there. Don't want to waste a minute. I started a new Bargue drawing yesterday, and I'll try to remember to take progress shots of that, too. At least in the early stages when the changes are noticeable.

Last night's 2-hour figure. I'm getting a little more used to figuring out the proportions with seated poses. Setting the widths can be a little tricky. Once I get a couple things set on the plumb line, I use those points to check the angles on the wider parts of the pose (like that foot off to the right), which seems to work better than trying to measure directly from the plumb line. But this probably makes no sense to anyone but me so I'll just stop here, ha ;)

I don't know what to say about this... except that it's done! And a new one's up on the board. And I left this one sitting precariously on a chair in the studio (oops ;).

Here's where I think I'm going to leave this little portrait of Noah (affectionately referred to as "Nosey" by those who know and love him ;). I've tried to work my paintings in layers before, and it's always been something of a big mess. It seems like this one went a little better, and I think what was different was that I was really careful about the drawing on the first layer and left the paint pretty thin and middle/average mass value, for the most part. So the second layer was more about getting specific about the smaller value and color shifts and building up a little more paint. Working general to specific--it's amazing how these concepts apply to everything ;) Anyway, I'm going to leave it a little painterly for fear of overdoing the "from photo" painting effect, and because my sis likes that painterly look. It helps tremendously to start with a decent photo, which I did--this pup's owner is a good photographer.

Have you ever watched an infant trying to coordinate his hands? Maybe he's trying to reach for a toy, or reacting to a bit of excitement. But those hands (and feet!) go flailing all over the place. And sometimes he doesn't mind his flailing, and he seems to be having fun. But sometimes he gets this look of frustration on his face, like in some abstract way, he's thinking, "I know I should be able to do this. I should be able to control these hands!!!" The great thing about babies is that they just never give up. They keep flailing until little by little they gain a bit of control (what choice do they have?). And before you know it, they're climbing the pantry shelves to raid the candy bowl ;) The other day I was looking at the front page of my blog and clicked on the flipcard view, which shows all the posts in little tiny squares. In a matter of about two seconds, I scrolled through the entire contents of my blog for the past two or so years--practically