Stacy Weitz Minch

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).

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 ...

  Another quick study of this rose I have hanging around my kitchen, this time in watercolor and watercolor pencil.   And the second session on this long pose. It's feeling super scary right now. And maybe the head, or at least the face, is too big. I started bringing down the values but didn't get all that far...

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.

I had intended to start a drawing today, but the watercolors were calling my name. And since the kids were happily playing in the sprinkler in the back yard, I just sat at the kitchen table and kept painting!  The great thing about watercolor is that it forces me to be intentional and direct. It seems like I read in a book somewhere (maybe Harold Speed's book on oil painting?) that watercolor is a master's medium, and the student shouldn't touch it. I can see where the author was coming from--it's a one touch and you're done kind of thing, so it can be really tough and you're sure to churn out a lot of flops along the way. But at the same time, I think it is a good way of learning to be less detail oriented and allow yourself some space to just play. There's something very organic about the way the colors flow from the brush to the page too, and I like that. I used to always draw the outline in pencil first and color it in later, but I don't ...

One of my neighbors asked me the other day how on Earth I ever get anything artistic done with two little kids at home. She said she would love to do something like that, but there's always something else to be done. And isn't that the truth? There is always, always, always something else I could be doing other than paint (or draw).  I've just had to figure out where my priorities lie (which quite honestly, has not been an easy process) and let the other things go. The floors don't get washed or vacuumed more than once a week (if that), there are toys everywhere all the time, and we don't have a very elaborate or consistent bedtime bath routine (one of my friends the other day was saying how they only wash their kids' hair every other day, and I was thinking, Do I even remember the last time I washed the kids hair ? ha). I do what I can to simplify, and I still only have a few minutes here and there to do what I want to do. My husband has this little sa...

Yesterday was a bit of a long day. My baby had a rather phlegm-y cold, so we couldn't venture out to any of our favorite haunts. Instead, we filled the time with online games, daytime bath time, movies, Sculpey clay, PBS children's programming, a brief outing to look at the frozen lake and break up the monotony, and a little watercolor painting. All this, and... no naps :P (plus, in the midst of it all, I even managed to deep clean the oven and sew half a sparkly pink dress for an upcoming dance competition for my girl--super mom :).  I don't get out the watercolors much anymore (and couldn't say I did yesterday either--this was done with kids' watercolors and paintbrushes ;). What I love and hate about watercolor is that you can't backtrack. Each stroke is there to stay, and largely unpredictable (but then again, maybe that's just me). Sometimes you end up with some happy accidents (and maybe even happy yellow!--but not this time. This was done wit...

7 1/8x4 1/4", watercolor on paper, 7/20/15 Today I pulled out my watercolors (it has been years!) to paint with my daughter at the kitchen table for a few minutes. This little candy jar is a favorite item in our kitchen... Looks like it could stand to be refilled :)