Congratulations to Nikita Budkov for placing as a finalist in the 5th Edition!

Who are you?

I am a Russian-born artist, but I live and work in California. I think I always identified myself as an artist, and I am grateful to my collectors that today I am also a professional one.

Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process behind "A Hidden Place"?

One of my favourite art movements is the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and this painting is heavily inspired by those artists’ dedication to details, fairytale tropes, and a romantic atmosphere. “A Hidden Place” doesn’t have one narrative, but as many as you may think of. I also like the idea of how the maiden in the painting turned her face away, unlike the cat who stares at the viewer.

Can you discuss the importance of music to your paintings?

Music takes a very important part in my career as an artist. I love listening to many beautiful songs and symphonies, and I find it amusing to title my artwork after these compositions. I used to play the guitar before, but I ceased any music-making in favour of creating fine art.

Your work spans subject matter, from portraits to landscape to still life, is there a specific subject matter that draws you in the most? Why or why not?

Thank you for noticing this! I believe a good artist should be able to paint anything. As a traditionally-trained portrait artist, I never was taught landscape plein air painting. Last year I did a lot of these, and absolutely fell in love with being outdoors. But I realize that to get more recognizable I need to stick with only one genre for the most part. Many more portraits and figurative paintings are coming soon, and they are what I do the best. As for still lives – every good portrait artist can paint good still lives. I like to come up with interesting subjects for them, not just apples and oranges.

What do you hope to communicate with your works?

Beauty and storytelling. My best works of art are the subjects I love most. People can feel that.

Can you talk about your biggest learning experience during the process of painting your works?

 Plein air painting has been my biggest learning experience ever since going to school. I always was more of a guy who liked to learn everything by himself.

Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?

I think being a part of ARC Salon has been one of those successes. I’ve shown in Barcelona’s MEAM and New York’s Sotheby’s.

Also, being a part of California Art Club’s exhibitions granted one of my paintings an opportunity to be encrypted and sent to the Moon in a time capsule via NASA as a part of the Lunar Codex mission. A truly cosmic, out of this world experience!

Lastly, I like to ask everyone what advice they would give to their fellow artists/photographers, what is your advice?

To learn more from nature would be the best advice possible.

To view more of Nikita Budkov’s work

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