Self-portrait

[Linda Brandon]

Marina, I congratulate you on this self portrait done from life, it feels unflinching and honest and direct - all good things! I also like the design element of the scarf, a nice touch.

I would just echo Ilaria to say that this feels more like a drawing than a painting.

What kind of lighting did you use here, by the way?

[Alexandra Tyng]

Marina, this is a fine accomplishment! You have a lovely face with interesting bone structure; I imagine it was a pleasure to paint. The color and modeling seem accurate.

It's true that you could put on more paint, especially in the light areas. This might naturally happen as you paint more with oils--or you may have to force it a little by adding more paint at the end, in selected areas. To get the feeling of a loaded paintbrush, mix your color, scrape it all together with a palette knife, then scoop up a generous amount with the tip of your brush.

The other thing that hits me are the edges. I think many are too defined. The lips, for instance, the lower eyelash area, and the bottom of the face and the neck. The hair also. If you get the features in the right place, you will NOT ruin the likeness by painting the light areas looser and thicker.

[Mary Jane Ansell]

Marina, I think it's lovely - to me you are capturing a real sense of your elegance and warmth, which I think is very rare in self portraits. It's fittingly classical too - Ingres and David come to mind immediately... an intentional reference I shouldn't wonder?

I do agree that the neck, particularly on the viewers left, isn't working yet though - I wonder if you are just trimming a bit off your jaw there? I'd be tempted to give the area a wash of the darker pink from your lower cheek and rework the highlights. And perhaps you could narrow the neck slightly to add to the elegance of the pose.

There's also perhaps a little too much going on in the highlights of your eyes that is giving your expression a slightly glazed feel - its marginal but your gaze is so wonderful otherwise that I think its worth trying to rectify this small issue... to me there's a slightly pink bulge in the white of your eye furthest to the left edge of the painting that I'd even out... and I wonder if the highlight under your inner lash line in the other eye needs darkening?

That's what I would probably be tempted to fiddle with first anyway - my apologies for being so particular because I really do think its lovely. Hope you will post it again if you do rework it!

[Sharon Knettell]

What a pleasure this is to see. I love the direct boldness of the face.

I am so impressed that this effort is from life. This is the proper way to begin and learn. Photographs never give you all the information you need and most beginners I noticed are tracing them and filling in the color. That is not the way to a definable style.

Two things I would work on:

A: The neck area. Squint as you are looking at it , soften the area of the farthest collar bone and some of the neck muscles.
B: The color. Remember the complementaries. If you use a yellow green scarf, a cool red background would be appropriate. Work the color arrangement out before you start. Keep changing the background drape until you find the right color harmony. You will know, it should have a pleasant vibration. Do quick small color studies first. They save you a lot of time in the end.