Stacy Weitz Minch

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 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).

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 ;)

(sorry for the glare) Every year for the past few years I've tried to paint some lilacs when spring comes around. They're my favorite flower, and I just don't think anything smells better. But I'm biased. Growing up in Montana, the entire perimeter of my yard was made up of lilac bushes, and those blooming lilacs... heavenly! The painting is sketchy and could probably be considered unfinished, but I feel like I've said what I wanted to say, so I'm just letting it rest here. Better quit while I'm ahead (or while the rendering still feels genuinely like me--sometimes if I keep going I start thinking too much and it gets overworked in a not-good way). Maybe I'll try to do some purple ones this week too if I get the chance :)

We don't have a model coming in this week, so we're supposed to paint pears. I've painted a few pears before, and they're tricky little things. All those colors butt right up against each other and you somehow have to make sense of where they meet. I'm trying to keep the paint thin and flat so I can put more on top (since I'm sure I will have plenty of corrections to make). It makes me nervous to paint here because I know how high the standards are with regards to drawing, and painting is that much more complex. At this point, I'm pretty much 100% self taught when it comes to painting. I know there's a lot I need to learn, so I'll just keep throwing myself out there. I'm becoming convinced that the only way to learn is to keep making a fool of myself. Speaking of that... I squeezed all my paint onto my palette upside down today, genius that I am ;) I had never used the palette before (I use a glass tabletop palette at home), and it was j...

This is a commission I received from someone who ran across my paintings online, and I think it's just about finished. It was a fun one--especially the color. I haven't painted in a while. But one thing I'm starting to realize is that practically all of the problems of painting (except color and paint handling) can be learned/solved through drawing. So I'm okay with not painting a whole lot right now, though it sure is fun to pull out those paints once in a while  ;)

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).

5x7", oil on linen panel I woke up at 5AM this morning, laid around a little while trying to get back to sleep, then decided to get up and paint for a bit before everyone else woke up. Pomegranates always get me. They're just the prettiest. I think I might fiddle with that cast shadow more a little later. I haven't painted much lately and I kind of forgot about that panic state of every painting, where it feels like it will never ever come together (I think that's about where I ended with my awful painting yesterday). But it's still a surprise every time, ha. And why was I up at 5AM? I don't know. I wish I could figure out a way to predict and prevent my discouragement and anxiousness regarding all this stuff, but it comes in waves (and for no apparent reason).

Another quick little painting. I find these two-toned fruits pretty tricky as far as color and value matching goes, especially the transition where the two tones meet. But I sure do like having that little box full of paint ready to go all the time--it seems like half the battle of painting is getting set up (and of course cleaning those brushes after-the-fact. But I don't really use too many most the time :)

4x6" Another quick oil sketch. This kind of thing is just for fun, and isn't that nice? I think I will practice more white dishes next--those subtle shades of gray. I think I need to give the grays a little more color next time, and really study those values carefully (though I may need to spend more than 20 minutes at it)...  My palette was looking pretty crazy, so thought I'd share (and I'm still pretty excited about this silly little cigar box, ha).

8x8" It seemed like a good day for a carefree sketch of something. I haven't painted in a couple weeks, and maybe I'm missing it. Or maybe I'm just itching for a change from what I've been doing lately. This is me playing with paint and not thinking too hard--just letting the brush go.  I need that sometimes. These little studies may not be much, but I do think they are more helpful than I give them credit for. The mistakes made here are small, the pressure is low, and the lessons learned can be applied right away to the next little painting. So maybe I'll try to do it more. Or maybe I won't--just taking it day by day right now. I think this was 30-45 minutes or somewhere around there.

5x7", water mixable oil on linen panel I haven't had much time to paint or draw lately. But these beautiful pieces of fruit just had to be painted. This was about an hour and a half study, I think. Someday, I'll be able to do them more justice, but believe me, they're better than they would have been a year or two ago (if you don't believe me, just click on the label for "pears" at the bottom of this post--it's a little scary ;). I think I'm painting a little too thin lately. My first experiences painting were with watercolor, and I still try to make use of that background as part of my value scheme (letting some of the white show through the paint on top). Oil doesn't work quite the same way, and I need to build up a little more paint. I think I'm slowly getting a little bit better at matching colors, though, and that's a good thing. Shadows are still a little confusing for me, especially the dark color right under the frui...

5x7", water mixable oil on linen board Strawberries have such great individual character. Whenever I arrange them to paint, it feels like they're huddled in some kind of social gathering. This particular situation is something quite relate-able to human experience--at least my human experience. And I'd be willing to bet I'm not the only one :) This was a pretty quick little sketch--maybe 30ish minutes. Here are a couple behind the scene photos.

5x7", water mixable oil on linen panel I took a little bit of French in Jr. High and High School, and the names of a few different fruits (along with how to ask if I could use the restroom, and say a few very important phrases, such as "I like to dance") are the only things I remember from those hours of my life. So I figure I might as well pull that very useful information out of the recesses of my brain once in a while, if only to come up with something a little more interesting than "peaches" for a title to this post ;) I had fully intended to paint in Montana. I lugged my backpack full of paints and easel there and back, and didn't pull them out once--not once! I used to bring homework on trips, and it never got done, either (hey, I get car sick if I read!). I don't like to think of painting as homework--it's much more fun. In fact, it was killing me not to paint in Montana. Everywhere I looked, there was a painting just screaming to ...

6x4", water mixable oil on linen panel Yesterday was a long day. I guess the problem was that I was trying to get a few things done. We were having dinner guests, so I was trying to clean up a bit. We had to make a run to the grocery store. And I needed to make some dinner preparations throughout the day. Which doesn't sound like all that much to get done, but seriously. If ever there is something I have to accomplish during the day aside from playing the constant entertainer and referee... well, it can be a little frustrating. Anyway, the evening went much better than the rest of the day, and while my husband got the kids off to bed, I painted this little rose. Somehow, doing something artistic usually makes my world feel a little more rosy--clearly not all the time, but most the time ;)  I've been experimenting a little bit with varying levels of paint thickness on the canvas.  I think it makes the surface more interesting. When we were in San Diego last fall...

6x6, water mixable oil on gessobord, 5/16/16 The subject matter likely reflects poorly on my housekeeping prowess. But if I kept a good eye on what was going on in the bottom drawer of the fridge at all times, I never would have ended up with this cute little subject, right? Silver linings...

10x8" on board When I was growing up, the two acre lot around our house was surrounded by lilac bushes, and sometime in May they would all come into bloom at the same time. It smelled like Heaven (and if Heaven isn't teeming with lilacs, I'm outta there--that is if I get there in the first place ;). They're probably my favorite flower, and unfortunately so short-lived in the scheme of a year. Anyway, the last couple years around this time (they bloom about a month earlier in UT!), my nostalgia has set in and I've had an urge to paint the sweet little things. Which is trouble because they are really quite difficult to paint, if you're asking me. But still, I give it a try because I'm (almost) always up for an impossibly difficult challenge. This was about 2 hours of painting, and it would have been nice to have a little more time (although, honestly, I'm not sure it would have helped much). I'm feeling a little rusty with my painting l...

6x6", water mixable oil on gessobord, 3/28/16 (sorry for the grainy photo. I'm having the hardest time getting well lighted photos that aren't full of glare lately). There are about a thousand of these things hanging around my house (okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but it feels like a thousand). And altogether way too much candy for the composure of two little ones ;) This was kind of an interesting exercise in color mixing. I don't usually paint things with such uniform, saturated colors. And it took a few little experiments to get the colors right (especially the green!). Painting is really hard, and I have to wonder if I will ever feel like I know what I'm doing? I've been a little discouraged about it lately (and haven't been doing much of it). But it doesn't matter. I'm just going to keep on trying--and giving myself little pep talks all the while (I really wish I didn't have to do that, but I do. So I will).  ...

5x7", oil on linen panel, 3/19/16 Alright, so I didn't make good on the few days' break. But this was a quick little painting--nothing too intense. Radishes have such great shapes and colors.

5x7, water mixable oil on linen panel, 3/5/16 This is me trying to not completely neglect painting while focusing more intently on my drawing skills. Quick sketch (1.5-2 hours--or however long Disney's Aladdin runs ;) from this afternoon. Part of me wants to go back over this after it dries and see if I can bring it to a more refined finish. But the other part of me says "don't do it!" I guess I'll see what wins later on. It seems like whenever I try to go for a more finished look, I end up destroying whatever was good about the first go, so I dunno... it scares me a little (not that I have a ton to lose with this... a couple hours and a tiny panel, so maybe I should just go ahead and try?). Which reminds me of Keats again: "I was never afraid of failure. For I would sooner fail than not be among the greatest." I certainly have a long road to travel before being among the greatest, but he inspires me nonetheless :)