Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Wildlife Artist”
How To Paint Rocks doesn’t sound like wildlife art but animal habitats are full of rocks and plants. I’ve painted a lot of rocks in my art career and not all of them looked like rocks to me. I’ve painted baked potato rocks, rocks that look like I dropped my ice cream cone on the ground, flat shapeless rocks and …
I painted this beautiful puppy for a friend. I wish I knew the breed of this little guy. I do know that he is trained to visit hospital patients and help with their mood and recovery. If this pup came to my room I know I’d be instantly better. I did a detailed drawing of Boogie and started my painting …
The Eagle, majestic bird of prey, symbolic inspiration to artists, religions and organizations. I began searching for eagle reference materials at my brothers book store early in December of 2012. There are so many photos, drawings, paintings and writings about eagles. I was confronted with countless artistic possibilities of eagles living in the natural world. My brain was overwhelmed with …
My name is Laura Curtin and I am a wildlife artist from Southern California. Working predominately in oils I create paintings to make people smile. Every painting is a place I would like to be. Although the habitat is true to the subject the animals place in the painting is from my imagination. I paint because I can and I …
I started using my cell phone camera for taking photos of my paintings as I paint and I have a lot of pictures of paintings in the making. I thought it might be fun to do a few short articles on How To, paint whatever. This Post is about feathers. I’m finishing up a painting of eagles resting in a …
Christmas time is full of nostalgia. Seven years ago when we moved into our house I bought new Christmas decorations, pretty flowers, butterflies, color coordinated bulbs all sized to fit a 8 foot tree. It’s a beautiful tree when it’s all decked out, I wanted it to look like a fancy one at the mall or Pottery Barn. I decorated …
Contact: Laura Curtin Tel: 714-654-7293 Email: info@lcurtin.com Website: www.lcurtin.com Laura Curtin… Wildlife Artist! Tax Expert! Critics Say – ” Laura’s paintings are not your average wildlife paintings. The wildlife subjects in her paintings look real and the settings are natural yet the scene seems magical. Watch one of her paintings closely and you’ll be sure you saw something move or when …
I don’t think I’m going to get my Eagle painting done before tax season gets started in January. I have two paintings going and I’m pretty darn sure I’m not going to get either one of them done. This year went by so fast. The whole summer and fall devoted to making, selling and promoting art. Time really got away …
How to Oil Paint? Practice. I know that’s not what you wanted to read but you know it’s true. While practice is important and the best way to get better at anything, specific instruction is also very helpful. I’ve been painting a long time and the lessons I’ve taken from other artists were very important. I learned what I like …
Hello! No Painting Today… I’ve been busy with my “other job,” income taxes. Today was the last day to file if you had an extension of time to get your taxes completed. I like tax season and the extension deadlines because I get to be busy with work and see people I haven’t seen in a year. I think it’s …
Last night I woke up at 1:10 and could not go back to sleep. Kevin saw on the internet that if you can’t sleep try stretching your toes out and then curling them back over and over until you fall asleep. I’ve tried this before and it worked pretty well. Last night not so much. I never did go back …
I feel really fortunate when I can use my own photos to paint. I’m not a big traveler and when we do go on a trip it’s usually to one coast or another. I got lucky taking photos of horses in a field when my husband and I stayed in San Luis Obispo, CA . Kevin was napping and I …
I’m working so much right now it feels like tax season. The new routine is get up at 5:30 post an etsy listing on facebook, twitter, and pinterest. Exercise for an hour. Feed the cats. Get ready and go to the office. Work is split between taxes and clients, painting, promotional work, printing prints for sale and so on. I …
The most important painting tip I’ve learned over the years is “Keep Going.” I am telling myself to keep going a lot with this new painting I’ve started. I wanted to paint something different, something I’ve never painted before. I decided on a desert tortoise. I found wonderful reference material. I can see the finished painting in my head and …
I love my yard. We moved into our house in January 2005. The previous owner John, was a true gardner, he loved his yard. He planted plumeria and roses, perennials and annuals. He cultivated orchids of all colors. Our neighbor, Oscar was a good friend of Johns and together they cross bred different plumeria for unusual colors and fragrance. I …
It’s Thursday painting class again. Yay! Today was treat day. Joan brought homemade chocolate chip cookies, she loves to bake. The next door neighbor to the art gallery is a caterer and she brought us angel food cake and oatmeal cranberry cookies that were still warm from the oven. I’ve been on a strict diet since February and for the …
My ADP rep Linda Pomier stopped by the office today with a trainee to give me a new stylus for my ipad, (very cool), and some information about new programs the company is promoting. The trainee, sorry I don’t remember her name, asked me why I started painting wildlife. I said, “I don’t know?” Those were the first words out …
I’m still excited about Monday’s radio blog show where I hope to keep my foot out of my mouth. But today I must do tax returns. Monday is the tax deadline for many entities like Corporations and Partnership business. So it’s off to work I go. Yesterday was Thursday painting class and I started a new painting. I love blocking …
Today was our once a year painting class Christmas Lunch. What a day! We went to the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach and spent 2 wonderful hours eating designer food and talking. A bit expensive for lunch but what a nice view and it’s only once a year. Most of us in class have been together for 20 years. …
I made a decision a couple of weeks ago to not give away my power to anyone anymore. Which to me means staying up at night worrying about the things people do. I’m talking about people I know, close to me, not people I read about and wonder how the heck they could be so horrible. I’d wake up in …
Well hello out there. Thanksgiving is past and the Winter holidays are nearly here. I participated in a Holiday Boutique a couple of weeks ago. The show benefited the Second Chance Pet Adoption and I think they did do pretty well for the pets. My friend Jennifer and I worked hard for weeks preparing painting prints in mats and frames …
So I haven’t posted anything lately. When I mentioned that statement to my husband about a week ago he said, “And we all thank you very much.” So I figured if my husband doesn’t even want to read my posts they probably aren’t missed. But here I am. I’ve got my happy face on and thought I’d say hi. I’m …
I’m putting together prints of Paintings for a holiday boutique set for November. I haven’t been in a art show in 10 years. I’m excited about the show but I have no idea how to anticipate what people will want to buy. I’ll bring greeting cards, prints of original artwork, nature photos and Christmas Cards and see what happens. Barbel …
Last Thursday I had hoped to use today as a splurge day instead of painting. I was going to take the day off, do something fun, go to the spa. Turns out, my sister in law Carole was unexpectedly scheduled for surgery this morning. Carole lives and works in Santa Monica, we live by Disneyland. In order to get to …
I love a one brush day. I’m talking painting now. If I get done painting for the day and I go to wash up my brushes and realize there is only one dirty brush I know it was a spectacular painting day. I do have to find the right brush to begin with but after that it’s really cool not …
I picked up the digital copies of my newest painting from the photographer today. He did a great job and worked quick. I took him two other paintings that had never been photographed and he finished digital files for those. I sent the files to my son Dan so he could cut them up and get them ready for the …
Well the blog radio show didn’t happen today as planned. The host was ill. The show is rescheduled for next Monday September 24 at 6 pm EST. My friend Greg called me and disguised his voice like he was from the radio show and fooled me into thinking someone else was going to do the interview. Funny. “Grandma’s Girls” – …
It’s Saturday morning I’m planning on painting all day, unless it gets so hot I can’t sit out in the sun room. I usually don’t notice the weather when I paint but it’s been really hot and I don’t have air conditioning out in my painting room. I hope to get lost in my painting today, not noticing the heat, …
By: Wildlife Art by: Laura Curtin 30″ x 24″ | Oil on Canvas “I really wanted to paint something I’ve never painted before. I thought and thought about it and the tortoise came to mind. The picture I had in mind was a ground level painting with the tortoise and desert flowers. My search for the perfect photo led me …
Monday September 17th 2012 at 3pm ET I am going to be interviewed on blog radio Monday September 17, at 3pm ET. Please listen and tell me what you think. This will be a first radio show appearance for me since I was 5. I hope I don’t sound like a nervous artist. I have another show set up for …
I’ve been painting 28 years. When I first painted wildlife I had time to promote my work. I entered art contests, joined wildlife groups, made contacts and participated in art shows. It was hard work but I did make progress commercially. After a while I spent more and more time working in my tax office and less time promoting art. …
I finished my new painting today. I had to call it quits. Enough is enough. I kept track this time 114 hours on the new painting and I didn’t sign it yet. (So you can’t see it yet.) If you paint or do projects you probably know what I mean. The details of the painting never end. A few years …
This is Chloe! Isn’t she beautiful! I received my sponsor package from Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary this week along with a picture of Chloe a rescued American Bob Cat. Inspiration for Wildlife Art by: Laura Curtin According to the Sanctuary, Chloe arrived at Forever Wild on June 21, 2009 at an approximate age of 8 weeks old. She was …
I love painting animals. They are all so unique and beautiful. I get and idea in my mind and it fills up my head until I have a painting. I will search photo purchase sites and purchase just the right line in the animal, just the right type of background, every angle meets my approval. I know what the painting …
Have you read the saying, “The worst day fishing, surfing, (insert your passion here), is better than the best day working? That’s the way I feel about Thursday morning painting class. I’ve been going to Barbel’s Art Studio in Huntington Beach on Thursday mornings for more than 20 years. We’ve lost a few students over the years and gained new …
Saturday I painted 7 hours and today, Sunday, an additional 5 so I have a good start on the new painting. If you look at my Etsy site you’ll see I’ve painted many different animals, felines, primates, canines, birds and the lone elephant. I wanted to paint something totally different this time. So I decided to paint a desert tortoise. …
I joined facebook in 2009 not knowing very much about it. After stumbling around for awhile I got the hang of posts, friends and likes. In 2010 I posted my paintings in an album on facebook and shared them with my friends. The positive response to the paintings was really overwhelming. I am always hoping people will like my work …
I took this weekend off from working. No painting, no etsy, no blogging, no taxes. Actually that last sentence is a lie. Saturday morning I updated esty listings and it’s Sunday night and I’m writing this blog. But I didn’t paint and I didn’t do anybody’s taxes. I will do both of those things tomorrow. It seems like I’ve been …
Sometimes I’m surprised when I set out to paint something and it comes out just like I hope it will. I decided to add water drops to the fern in the front of the painting and the drops would fall off the plant into the river and bounce back up. I’ve painted waves, lakes, oceans, water in a vase but …
My brother David owns “The Bookman” a used bookstore in Orange California. I can sit for hours on the floor in front of the animal section and look through the picture books they have in stock. The smokey misty feel of this tiger painting comes from a type of photo I’ve seen in one of those books. Whenever you see those …
I like to hold my paintings up to a mirror when I feel there is something off in the way the animal looks, like the eyes not looking in the same direction or the stripes not going around it’s body. I found I can see what was is bothering me that way but try holding a 30 x40 painting in …
