Stacy Weitz Minch

3 hour portrait start. Somehow I have her looking younger than she should. I moved the eyes down based on my teacher's critique. There was a space issue, but I'm thinking maybe I should have moved the eyebrows/forehead up instead? I think whatever I did gives her a very youthful look (she's not 13 ;).

8x10", oil on linen mounted to hardboard Another plein air water sketch. Water is some tricky stuff, and the way the light was reflecting in the distance  here was really hard to capture. I kinda liked how the foreground came out though. It has some feeling of movement and depth, and contrasts nicely with that big rock in the corner. I haven't painted much water at all, but so far I find it to be really interesting to study. It's fun to look at something that is so complex and in constant motion and try to simplify it down into its most basic shapes and colors. It's a very impressionistic process, which seems to be right up my alley. I love laying down the impression, but getting into the nitty gritty finishing aspects of a drawing or painting is always a challenge for my patience. I can do it, but I'm not always a happy camper while I'm at it ;) I'm sure I'll learn to enjoy those aspects more with time. I always get frustrated when I'm learn

I intended to go a little bigger with this portrait than I've been doing lately (mostly I've been painting 3-hour portraits on 8x10's), so I gave myself plenty of space and ended up going a lot bigger, ha (can't quite seem to not fill the available space--I have this taped to a 16x20" board ;). This model had such fair, subtle skin tones, they were really difficult to translate. It seemed like every color I mixed was overstated in one direction--if I saturated the paint enough, the value was too dark, but if I made the value correct, the tone was too cool/chalky. I don't know what the answer is (probably should have at least pulled out the lead white), but I like getting a little painting practice from life in here and there. I was using a limited palette of titanium white, cadmium red, ivory black, yellow ochre, and raw umber. And I'm thinking I should pull the raw umber out (or use a warmer or less green/purple leaning brown). Also probably wasn'

I was an hour late to portrait session last night. We spent an eventful afternoon getting x-rays, casts, etc., after my son broke his arm at the playground. So I didn't have a lot of time on this one, and I didn't quite get the likeness. I think the closest eye needed to move toward the nose a little bit, and the muzzle area needed some tweaking. But in a situation when you're so pressed for time, you have to make a decision whether you are going to keep fiddling with the likeness, or try to work on other aspects of the drawing. I'm really trying to push my ability to describe subtle form, so I let the likeness go to some extent. This kind of angle is always difficult too, because the slightest turn of the head makes a huge difference in the placement of the features.

This has felt like a bit of a rough starts, and seems to be moving really slowly. But I haven't been getting in to work on it much. Things are crazy in the summer--it's hard to keep a set schedule. At this point, I'm still trying to work out the accuracy of the drawing before I really get in there and solidify things.

This is an 8x10" piece I painted on location in the canyon over two sessions. It's kind of nice to get the basic drawing and values down in the first session, then solidify the color and build up paint in the second session. The first session we got rained out, and we only had about an hour to start, so it probably would have been okay in one session too, if we had had more time. I really want to study the effects of water more. Those purple reflections in the water were pretty elusive to me, and my teacher pointed them out and helped me put them in. And in my opinion, they kind of make the painting :) But wouldn't have done anything if I hadn't had a solid base to build on, I suppose.

I did this painting over two 2-3 hour sessions. It's 12x16", which is larger than I usually paint in my little at-home studies from life. But I wanted to get the whole bouquet in there at approximately life size, so I just went for it. Painting can be a terrifying process. It's hard not to chicken out when things get hairy. But I'm learning to trust the process a little more. It typically doesn't look very good after the first pass. And that's always a scary feeling. But I guess what I'm learning from doing Bargue and cast drawings is that I CAN keep pushing until it's right. And lucky for me, I think I have a pretty good sense for knowing when things look right, so with each attempt, I just have to keep pushing toward that ideal.  

I got a little overly ambitious this afternoon, and started a rather complicated 12x 16" floral composition. The blooms are in the refrigerator as I speak, and I will do my best to tie this together tomorrow afternoon. My teacher has commented a couple times on how he likes how boldly I approach things. Perhaps a little too boldly sometimes ;) Though, I guess I don't know how I'll ever overcome the hurdles I have to climb if I cower in fear at the possibility of failure. Go bold or go home.

I sold a painting last night! And had a really great time at the ICAA Gala in Salt Lake. They had amazing entertainment from a couple of young musicians, and a delicious dinner. Thanks to all who made it happen, and congrats to all my BAA friends who sold paintings!

Quick sketch of our family pet. If ever a model moves, this one does, ha! My  mom pointed out that he's too thin, and she's right, but I feel like I might have a good excuse ;)

Six-hour portrait from life. I'm trying to be more cognizant of the turning of form while I draw. I think I feel a little bit timid about pushing down the value of the halftones, and maybe that's partly why I have a hard time getting that 3D feel to my drawings. I'll keep working on it. I like this portrait, though. 

Beginnings. This is after the first couple of hours. I have a long way to go with this one...

10x10", charcoal, pastel, and graphite on Arches MBM Ingres paper I finished up my first cast drawing on Saturday! I'm excited to get started on the next one (see below). I'm not locked in on this setup yet, just fiddling around and trying to figure out what the best arrangement will be.

I started this small portrait sketch from life. It was a 2-hour session, and I didn't get very far. So I took a reference photo, and I did a little more work on it last night. Working from a photo is a little different, and I was working under a clip light in the dark while we watched a movie, so it's a little rough. But the drawing is slightly better. I'll probably give it one more pass when it dries.

10x8", oil on linen mounted to hardboard I've been trying to start doing more painting from life. I've painted a lot of fruit from life, but a portrait is a little bit different. Accuracy in drawing is the main difference. Nobody will know if that strawberry is a millimeter too large, but in capturing a likeness, a millimeter can be crucial.  This particular model (Micah Christensen) is an art historian, and he spent the majority of the three hour session relating interesting stories and info for a very attentive crowd of artists (also, it was a much larger group at this session than usual, which I would guess can be attributed to the popularity of the model, though I was completely oblivious before showing up, ha ;). Anyway, I wasn't completely satisfied with the drawing, but this was a fun session :)

This model has the most interestingly shaped lips! Also, it's recently been brought to my attention by multiple people that I'm lacking in my ability to turn 2d shapes into 3d form. I'm working on it. But for now, I guess I'd better share this shapely portrait before I go and destroy it by attempting to model. Didn't quite get through working the shadow under the chin, but otherwise I was pretty happy with this start. 

Tuesday's figure. Beautiful model. Drawing the figure with full lighting from the front is one of the trickier lighting configurations (in my opinion), which is probably why I keep insisting on doing it. Keep tackling the hard stuff and everything else will get easier, right? in theory...

This is a five-day portrait I did in a workshop with Scott Waddell last week. He's a really good teacher, but it was a huge class (19 people), which made it hard for him to get around and critique, so the week kind of felt like floundering through a new approach. Scott paints with a window shading technique, where he basically finishes one form at at time. It was a foreign way of working for me, but I enjoyed trying something new. I think I prefer a little more context to go on when I'm painting (like, for instance, I started painting the forehead/cheek area, but once I added the dark behind the ear all of my flesh tones suddenly felt too light). These are things I'm sure you would get used to and have a feel for in time. Anyway, progress shots below.

I can't really call this a real copy, because I did it so quickly and the drawing isn't spot on. But I was trying to capture that fresh, intentionality of brushstroke, and it's hard to get that if you get too finicky with the drawing. So I sacrificed the accuracy a little (of course, I did the best I could without pushing things around too much).

Graphite portrait of Jerry. The likeness is actually quite good on this one, and trust me, I'm usually the last to say such things. But I'm saying it. This looks just like him :)

I've been thinking about painting this scene for a couple years now. The colors are pretty wild, which is partly why I want to paint it and also partly why I haven't . Maybe I'll get up the guts to do it sometime. Maybe not. Either way, this sweet little face brings back some nice memories.

Quick figure study from last week. Not my best. 

Here's a three-hour portrait start from last night at structure class. This model has so much interesting character to his face. I'm trying out some new measuring methods (mentally imposing a grid on the subject), and I think it was really helpful when drawing from this tricky perspective (I was sitting on a drawing horse below the model). Of course I still use all the same angle checking and comparative measurements as well, but when I'm in doubt about the placement of something, dividing it into quarters really helps clear those issues up quickly. 

10x8" I'm going to a portrait painting workshop soon, and I didn't really want it to be my very first experience with painting a portrait, so I've been trying to squeeze some painted portrait sketches in. This is the second one I've done, ha. I really like painting. But it adds so much more complexity to the job of drawing. I think I was getting on to her likeness in this sketch, but the color isn't what I would like it to be. Her tone seems warmer than I mixed here--I was mostly concerned with the drawing and was just mixing up some pretty bland browns. If I had a couple more days to work on it I might be able to correct some of the color issues, but again, I was standing in someone else's spot when they were absent, so it was more of a one-time thing ;)

Sketch of a local model, Birgitte. I was trying to be more cognizant about the design of this drawing, and I'm happy with where it went.

Copy drawing after a portrait study by Michelangelo. I like how he downplayed the shadows and focused on the form of the features. I was trying to be a little more careful about the direction of my lines, attempting to follow the form like he does (though he was using a softer black chalk, so there's definitely a different feel). Such a beautiful drawing.

4x6", oil on linen mounted to hardboard Quick sketch of a wild rose I clipped from a bush in our backyard. I've started keeping a cigar box loaded with paint in the freezer at all times. It's so much easier to find a few minutes to paint when setup is taken out of the equation.

Here's a painting I started as a quick sketch last week, and ended up working on for a few days in a row. Oddly enough, the part of the painting I feel like I'm struggling with most is the background. I'm letting it dry now, and I'm going to give it another go to see if I can't salvage it. 

I was pretty happy with how the likeness developed on this one (is it just me or are bearded men always easier to draw?). I'm also loving the focus on form in this class. We talked quite a bit about form light and highlight and how those things are related (or not so much related). Form is an area that I need some definite guidance, so I'm really glad I'm taking this class.

I had a pretty good block-in for this drawing, and it feels like it just got worse the more I worked on it. Maybe I need to use charcoal for portraits--it seems like I want to go darker than what pencil can handle. Or maybe I need to get better at handling the values without going dark with the graphite. I don't know. I'm just not very happy with this one (though, like I said, the placement of the features and the proportions were pretty decent from the first 20 minutes).

Horrible photo quality here, but this is my current cast project in progress. It feels like I'm getting close to the finish, but I need to address the entire drawing, paying special attention to turning the form and giving it a "sculptural" quality. So more specific information as to how the forms turn away/toward the light. The shapes/impression are there. I've heard some people say that they love finishing--it's the funnest part for them. For me, it's the most grueling. I think I see more impressionistically, so finishing is just really difficult and tedious. Starting's the fun part for me.

First night of structure portrait class tonight and it was something of a disaster. I haven't really drawn a portrait from this angle before, and it was throwing me off--my proportions were all over the place. I've been introduced to a new method of measuring where you mentally impose a grid on your subject's face, and then measure within that grid (which I'm trying to wrap my mind around). Harold Speed talks about physically making a grid with cardboard and string to help you find proportions. Maybe that's what I need to do? At any rate, this is only a two-week pose, so I think I may draw a little grid around the photo of this model and see if I can't do a little fixing before class next week. What a mess :P

about 10x7.5", watercolor on 140lb hot press artistico fabriano paper Watercolor has a glowing quality to it that no other medium has... I'm going to try to use it more often, partly because it cuts out so much of the prep/cleanup time compared to oils (and I'm always short on time), and partly because I just like the way it looks (even though I know no one takes watercolor seriously--oh well).

2 hour figure from tonight. I think the overall proportions and likeness are pretty good. Still just need to figure out a better way of attacking the values while working in pencil. I have a hard time stripping the image down to the most simple elements of light and shade. I think because the pencil is such a tiny point, it's hard to fill in all the masses satisfactorily, just for the fact that it takes so long to build up the value. So I typically end up trying to render an area more completely and then it feels out of place, so I jump around a bit and half-finish other parts, but maybe it would be better to just go ahead and try to fully render one area for the 2 hours and just see how far I get. I don't know.

I'm not a huge tomato eater, but I couldn't resist these beautiful tomatoes at the grocery store last night. And then i couldn't resist picking up my brushes and painting them when i should have been in bed ;)

My mother's day project, picking up the pencil whenever I had the chance (and a majority of it having been done while my 3 year old flooded the back patio with hose water). The proportions are a little off here and there, but it was an interesting copy to do. You can tell that so much care was taken in arranging the composition, which I think is something that isn't quite so prevalent in painting today. 

Watercolor is such a tricky medium to work in, especially if you have to work quickly--everything bleeds into everything else. Which is why I'm so in awe of Sargent's watercolors. They are incredible. It appears he worked quite quickly on location on many of them, and was able to control the medium much better than I did here (ha!). I'm a little rusty with the watercolors anyway (though I can't say I ever had a great command of them). But now that I'm used to oil painting (which I can be very lazy about--it'll sit in the same spot you put it till it dries), I think I'm less adept at handling what this fluid medium is going to do. Anyway, watercolors are just so much more convenient than oils. I'd like to get a little more proficient at using them, and practice would be the way to do it (though there are so many things I want to do right now). "You can't do sketches enough. Sketch everything and keep your curiosity fresh." -Sargent

Night one one this portrait from life. I feel like I blocked in a fairly good likeness pretty quickly with this one (which was nice since I ended up tossing the portrait I was working on earlier in the day). Next week I need to clean it up and tie all the values together. I think I can, I think I can... :)