The Studio, AKA Living Room

First, an introduction to my painting space, in my pint-sized apartment. Please observe the studio essentials, readily available.

Studio essentials:

A. Picnic basket. Sometimes you just need to get away. Also, sometimes, you just don't have anywhere else to put stuff.

B. Toaster oven. For snacks.

C. A bunch of stuff I should've tucked away before I took the picture.

D. Giant prehistoric television. I've been in an endless debate on whether to toss this thing or not. On one hand, it uses a large amount of valuable space, in relation to the total amount of space I have. On the other hand, I like to listen to movies while I'm painting--preferably ones I've seen 20+ times so I don't feel compelled to watch. Also, I feel that there should be something present that represents a normal living room, for my husband's sake. 

Getting back to it

Hello out there!

Well, I got married, and now it's back from La La Land and back to work! I decided to go very DIY with my wedding, which basically sucked away all of my free time and painting time for the last couple of months. Although I did manage in that time to have my first gallery show, sell my first gallery painting, and finish a couple of doggy portrait commissions, too. :)

Anyway, being a happily married woman aside, another exciting new tidbit is that I am now a proud Mentor Member of the California Art Club. I've wanted to be a part of this group since my introduction to their annual Gold Medal exhibition last year, and now I'll have an oppurtunity to submit artwork for next year's show! Yes! Their website is californiaartclub.org.

Bonus picture of me with my new husband. :D

The Talent Myth

I sometimes find myself in a situation where a person tells me they could never be a painter because they don't have any talent. I tell them that it is a very popular misconception that to be a good artist you need to be born with The Gift. I tell them that 'talent' actually comes from a lot of hard work, and that painting is a skill to be learned, just like brain surgery, or making couch doilies. I tell them that when I was a kid, I wasn't any better than they were.

Usually, this conversation ends with them not believing me, and me thinking maybe it's time to stop trying to talk people into this concept.

Today, that all changes! I have proof to back my reasoning! I am going to show you what my artwork looked like when I was 7 years old. For some sadistic reason my mother recently framed this and hung it in her home, where I can now see it on a daily basis:


Yes. Happy Faher's Day. (See inscription in the clouds.)

This was the best I could come up with before I had training or lessons of any kind, and my 7-year-old self thought it was pretty kick-ass. For some added fun, try figuring out what this painting is actually OF, and then click on the picture below for some startling revelations.

Whooaa!! A new post!

Please forgive me! I have good excuses for why I haven't posted a blog in so long.

1. I moved to a place where I don't have anywhere to paint.

2. I got engaged, and have been very busy being in love with my fiance.

3. I didn't feel like it.

Those are my excuses. Feel free to volunteer any of your own.

The News:

I started my next set of classes with Joseph Todorovich. So far, 3 out of 4 paintings have been very mediocre. I think this is because I've been experimenting with each class this time around, trying new things. I'm learning things, but after awhile I just want to have a nice product at the end. I think there's a balance. I have one more experimental class to go, and then I'm going to go back to just trying to do a good job. But I did paint one that I'm really happy with:

I had my first proper gallery show! And even better, my painting sold about two weeks later! To someone I didn't even know, which is infinitely cooler than, say, my dad buying it. 

Here's the link to the gallery I showed at: The Barn Gallery.

In a couple of weeks I'll be moving again, this time to my very first, very own apartment. One day I will not have to seize control of my poor fiance's living room for my painting needs, but for now it's at least something!

More soon. Love, Nat

Great American Figurative show

I saw the Great American Figurative Artists exhibition at the Waterhouse Gallery in Santa Barbara. I was working the day of the actual reception, but lucky for me I was in Santa Barbara the day before and got to see all the paintings without a crowd blocking me from putting my nose up against them. Too bad I missed the schmoozing oppurtunity, but for the pure purpose of looking at beautiful artwork, it was wonderful. So inspiring!!! It's always cool to see paintings by artists that you've only seen in magazines or online. The real thing is always 100x better. I have to say, this beauty by Jeremy Lipking was my favorite:

Another favorite was this one: "It's Sunday" by Benjamin Wu

Another one that is just WAY better in real life. Just take my word for it. Oh yeah, and obviously Joseph Todorovitch's. I probably should just turn this into a Todorovitch fan site for all the mentions he gets.

Hopefully someday I will have some more of my own art to show you! I moved to a small place, and now I am about an hour away from all my painting stuff. But I'm going to have at least one long painting day a week. I have a couple of big, time consuming paintings to complete, and then I'll probably do some smaller paintings so I can feel the pleasure of finishing a painting more than once every couple of months.

Pet portraits!

Jimmy - oil on canvas - 12"x12"

I am now offering my services for custom pet portraits!

You send me a photograph by mail or email and within 30 days of payment you will receive a beautiful oil painting of your special friend.

This includes, but is not limited to:

Dogs

Cats

Birds

Iguanas

Hamsters

Horses

Snakes

Livestock

Mice

Fish

Turtles

You can find out more on my website here: www.nataliecrittenden.com

On the easel

Alright, well this painting is not exactly on the easel, but I don't know the technical name of the piece of furniture that I keep all my stuff in. I'm working on a 30"x40" painting right now, I'd say about a quarter finished. I'm pretty excited about this one!

I've been kind of negligent lately on making this an interesting blog... but I'll be posting more in-progress shots of my work. The next few months will be spent making paintings for a show, which I don't want to keep under wraps until then, so this will be a happy medium.