Stacy Weitz Minch

Unlucky #13! Alright, this may not be the greatest copy I've ever done, but I was feeling pretty lucky just to be standing behind the easel for an hour to get a little drawing in and re-center. But my eyelid is doing that weird and annoying twitching thing today, which means I could probably use a nap. I'm thinking this guy is holding one of those old-fashioned oil lamps they used to use (either that or a seashell)? Either way, my mind is on the sea. I finished reading Moby Dick about a week ago, so I know all about the special whale oil they put in those lamps:  “For God's sake, be economical with your lamps and candles! not a gallon you burn, but at least one drop of man's blood was spilled for it.”    Whew. Honestly, I haven't had so much trouble finishing a book since I  read The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 10th grade and ended up quitting a mere 20 pages from the end--I just couldn't take it anymore (and I needed to start writing a book report, so I...

It seems that life is always feast or famine in some way or another, and this past weekend has been a flurry of out-of-town visitors. We're sort of an island here in terms of having family around, so I'm always happy to have visitors, but I would love it if they could evenly space their visits throughout the entire year so I could consistently have company to look forward to... pretty please? ;)  Well, life doesn't work like that... however nice it would be (maybe) if it were always steady and predictable. Life is a roller coaster. And when it all comes down to it, I really do like roller coasters (just not those horrible little spinny carnival rides--I can't hack those anymore--though I can't quite see their parallel to life at the moment--maybe just letting it get too predictable and spinning around in nauseating circles of vertigo, ha). That's a long way of saying that I didn't have much time this weekend, but I did manage to squeeze in an ho...

Just another little Bargue copy--finally a new figure, too. I was getting tired of that skinny adolescent boy. I think there's more of him later on, but a little variety is good (too bad they apparently didn't believe in using female models back then too, eh?). I think I squished the lower body a little bit (and maybe the head too... though it might just be the way I drew the hair up front?). And as usual, I don't see it until I take the photo, ha. Well, next time maybe I'll take a photo before I've darkened all the lines and made it near impossible to erase without making a mess.  I might go for something with a little more form/shading next time I'm looking for something to copy. I love these little figures, but they don't have the variety of line I'd like to incorporate into my live figure sketches. That Charles Bargue, though--the guy could draw. I love how you can see where he established a few accurately described reference points, and ev...

Ugh, I've had the hardest time with this one. About 3/4 of the way through, I realized that when I started, I didn't pull over any lines. Usually when I start one of these, I grab the navel height, and the knee height, and maybe the chin and drag those lines all the way over to the other paper, and they make a bit of a framework to double check new lines with. Didn't do that this time, and it was a challenge (totally unintentional, just got a little overexcited or lazy or forgetful, maybe? ha). Anyway, maybe it was good for my eye. Or maybe it was just frustrating. And no doubt it's still a little off here and there, but I just can't take it anymore (I'm in one of those knocking peoples' hats off kind of moods right here, so I guess this isn't my zen at the moment... where is that Montana sky when I need it? ;). Okay, enough griping from me. I totally love this stuff (every other time ;).

Another couple-hour Bargue study. I'm trying to rely mostly on my eye as I do these, and not measure more than I absolutely have to (which still ends up to be quite a bit). It looks like the right shoulder is probably a little high. It's funny how it's so much easier to see the differences in the photo. Anyway, more good drawing practice, even though it's nothing too terribly exciting ;) Changing gears, I just have to say that my "sea" is the easel--or sitting around stargazing in a hot tub in Montana on a clear winter night (it'll make more sense after reading the quote below:) I just love the line about knocking peoples' hats off. How come I haven't read this book!?

Okay, this intensive, studious stuff is feeling a little lackluster after all that fast-paced fun with color this weekend. I'll admit, it was hard to get back into the groove yesterday afternoon. But one thing I noticed while out there painting the landscape--I'm using the principles I learn here in everything else I do, even if it doesn't always seem like it's crossing over into painting. I'm getting better at eyeballing where I want to place things on the canvas and establishing more accurate relationships from the start (though still not as accurate as I would like!). So, here I go with the Bargues again. I am going to try to paint more than I have been lately, if I can find the time! But I've gotta keep up with this kind of practice. Also, I'm getting into an almost subconscious habit of backing up every couple minutes, and that really helps catch errors along the way!  The head and shoulders are still off, but I had erased and redrawn about 5 ti...

Another Bargue figure of this cute, skinny little guy. It feels like I was working on this one forever--I had to come back to it in several short chunks of time (busy weekend!). It's kind of hard to do it that way because it usually takes me a few minutes to get in the "zone" and by the time I'm there, something draws me away (usually quarreling kids, ha! Someday, I'm sure they will get a long perfectly ;). Anyway, at least when things are busy I can find a few minutes to sneak in here and there. And this kind of copy is much more conducive to that kind of working than some other things (like big, scary, multi-figure paintings).

I went out to try a little plein air painting yesterday, but the forces of nature were not in my favor (wind, sun, rain, you name it--I didn't come up with anything worth sharing--and that's saying something, since usually I'm not one to gloss over my painting fails--I wiped the board off before even packing up, ha). So, here we are back with the Bargues. Doing these is feeling a little bit like a security blanket these days ;) Below is my five-minute start. I was fairly satisfied with it (it was only my 5th or so time starting this same pose and my paper had just about had it ;) so I went ahead and finished the drawing up a bit. It's not perfection, but it's moving in the right direction. Now, to apply the same process to drawing from life... :)

The way this man saw relationships within a figure has me in complete awe--it's just so beautiful. I have a hard time making sense of those relationships when they are sitting right in from me, and he pulled them from life. Amazing.

It was nearly a mammoth effort to get this little figure study done these past couple of days :P Time, time, time. My copy's a little wide, especially on the right of the plumb line, and the lean/shape of the head isn't right (I seem to always want to make diagonal lines more vertical than than they should be). The lines are dark enough that there's not much use trying to fix it now, and I'm trying not to be too picky about it anyway. So,  Bargue figure #4. I don't know how long I will keep this up. I'm sure it's good for me to become aware of all these flaws in the way I see things (and I think I counted something like 47 figures? Haha). Let's just hope awareness can translate into improvement. It's pretty crazy how just the slightest variation in the placement of a line can make such a huge difference!

This lanky little fella and his extended arm were giving me grief, but eh, I think I'm done. It's amazing how much simpler it is to copy 2D to 2D than 3D to 2D--and still, it's pretty darn tricky. I think one thing that trips me up drawing sight size from life is how the size of the live figure changes with every little step you take. So either you have to only calculate a line while standing in the same spot (which I don't really do... but maybe should?), or switch between comparative and sight-size methods in the course of the drawing. Difficult stuff to learn.

Another Bargue figure. I'm trying to erase as little as possible (which was still a fair amount), and just "measure first, draw once" if I can. So there are obvious differences between the drawings (a little too narrow throughout, for one). I know, but I think approaching it this way (at least some of the time) helps keep me on top of my mental faculties and not get too bogged down on the nitty gritty details. I can lose myself in the details if I allow--I'll leave that for class, ha (not that I'm trying to lose myself in the details there. it just happens). Doing these copies makes me very aware of my constant tendency to oversize every line I draw. Fun :P

I've been feeling a little out of sorts with my figure studies lately, so I decided to start copying some of these beautiful little Bargue figures when I have the time. I'm hoping it will help me get a little more familiar with the process without the complication of dealing with moving figures and such. And Bargue... who was this guy? His drawings are genius.  I'm trying to be as accurate as possible, but without getting too anal about it--this was about a 40 minute copy, and I'm just leaving it at that.