Artworks and story from Alexandra Martins
Hello Natalie!
It has been a while since I started this online oil painting course, but my job (I’m a military) has taken a turn and I haven’t been able to paint much. Anyway, I’ll return home soon, I hope, and I’m already pulling my sleeves up to continue this course, can’t wait to be able to do that!
I have never had any painting classes before this course and I’ve already learned a lot from it.
I have decided to send you my artworks for critique.
Here’s the portrait of my mother.
I started doing this portrait on Christmas but haven’t finished because it has suffered an accident and has a small rip. I’m planning on doing it again.
I’ve also made a self portrait with pencils.
I struggle sometimes with not overdoing… I am always thinking that it could be better.
I was hoping you could say something about them.
Thank you for your time,
Best regards
Alexandra Martins
Feedback from Natalie Richy, Old Masters Academy tutor
Dear Alexandra,
Thank you for your kind words about our oil painting course. I’m really happy that you found it helpful.
For a beginner who never took any art classes before, you have created great artworks. Your potential is huge, keep painting and drawing!
I like the clarity of forms, harmonic colors and balanced composition. The overall impression is very good.
Regarding the small rip on your male portrait. You can try restoring this painting rather than redoing it from scratch. There are ways to glue a piece of canvas on the reverse side and paint over any signs of damage. However, you may do a new one just for practice.
There is one thing you may improve next time you do a portrait. You may want to soften a hairstyle border a bit, so it is not as crisp, but more natural. I think your mother portrait would benefit from a softer transition between the forehead and hairs. Please check how Rubens solved this challenge in his portrait of Isabella Brant.
![Peter Paul Rubens Isabella Brant [1621-25] Cleveland MA](https://oldmasters.academy/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/I-have-never-had-any-painting-classes-before-this-course-4.jpg)
Peter Paul Rubens Isabella Brant, 1621-25
Once again, thank you for sharing your wonderful artworks. Well done Alexandra, keep going!
Best Regards,
Natalie Richy
Old Masters Academy tutor
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How you will benefit:
The Old Masters Academy™ course is very comprehensive, yet totally beginner friendly. All you need to do is watch video lessons one by one and use what you’ve learned in your creative projects. You will discover painting techniques of the Old Masters. This is the best art learning experience you can have without leaving your home. All information is delivered online, including personal support by the course tutor.
Elisabillsmall says
I am so impressed by Alexandra’s art work. Quite good!
Old Portraitist says
The B&W self portrait is the most advanced, with proportions, contours, and textures more nuanced. Painting with colors adds a lot more complications, and the other two reveal this. Flatness from unmodulated swaths of pigment, and too abrupt transitions, with too large a jump in value, also flattens areas around facial curves and hairline. Relative contrast in masterworks comes from warm and cool variations without severe light-dark transitions.
When one’s rendering skills are still unsteady, building a structure with vine charcoal, that is easily modified and adjusted, can assist retention of better accuracy in proportions, that colors and pigments can then fill out as the framework is already well established.
Don’t expect great art works at this stage, but use studies to gain confidence with one aspect at a time, whereas trying to create a masterwork will overwhelm and likely disappoint the new artist. Yet, now and then a pleasant surprise will come anyhow, and prove your potential is not as straightforward as we’d like.
Clara says
no way! are you a beginner? i also want to study in your course : ) Is it possible to get a discount for a young mom?
Old Masters Academy says
Sure. Please send us an email, we’ll see what we can do for you.
Sandra says
WOW! I also want to paint like that !!!!!
Alexandra says
Thank you 🙂 I really enjoy painting. I just wish I had more time.
And thank you Natalie for the support.
Malina says
I love you, guys!
Elsie Zaboski says
So much to learn but I have a bad problem of being a jumper, if I am doing a painting I look at the applicable videos instead of starting at the beginning. Need more discipline.
Melissa Tobia Sanchez says
For someone who has never taking a class before this I am super impressed. Alexandra has a lot of natural talent. Great paintings and self portrait! Keep it up. Remember a line a day…
Angelika S Butz says
Okay, when I first looked at Portrait #1 I said to myself that is pretty good and has great potentials. Then came Mom’s portrait “WOW! Now that is absolutely fantastic, yes, there is a little problem with Mom’s left arm resting on her lap? the hairline did not throw me off so much since some people have lots of hair (I wished).
#3: full torso and the whole portrait changed for the better. Great, great work.
and then came the Self-Portrait and I nearly fell out of my chair. “What?” OMG! I can’t see anything wrong with PERFECTION but yeah the hairline could have a lighter touch. I have seen portraits by Artists that do not even come close. I am also self-thought but sometimes I mess up and I tack my work on a wall that I walk past every day and WHAM! I can see the mistake. But please, please, never ever stop and please frame these Portraits “what is the saying? “The Oyster is your World” Stay with old masters academy and soak up what you can.
Sorry, I am so wordie. Love, love your work.
Arthur Bollon says
Based on these works as presented they show a Great natural talent.
Improvements from my perspective as a artist who has taught painting: 1) In the self portrait, less emphasis on the very light arms and neck which compete with the face unless that was the intent; 2) For the female portrait the better hairline as already suggested and the back line is too straight and is out of character with the natural flow of the rest of the work; 3) For the mothers portrait and to lesser extent the self portrait they would benefit from a looser rendering like the female portrait and the Ruben example. Although some modern portraits do present sharp line delineations for effect I prefer the sfumato approach like Leonardo Da Vinci and Rubens.
For me one of the most important features of a great work of art is Mystery, you can’t stop looking at it – best examples are works of Rembrandt.