My art space and creative process are a decadent affair in my mind! I imagine myself as Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun painting Marie Antoinette; The reality is, my art space is a seven-foot long table where I draw, sketch, paint and craft. My family and I have dinner at this rectangular table.  Above, a cork board hangs with my color wheel, and things I’ve drawn. My family portrait and mementos hang in the center. These remind me of the love and care I have for my family, and the beauty of life.

I create during my daughter’s afternoon nap and when she goes to bed at night. Music plays as I sit in a comfortable chair at the table, but if I work outside I stand in front of my easel. Before painting I sketch to study shadows, angles and proportions. Working off photographs: I print a color copy first, print a black and white copy to see the high and low lights, and use my computer to zoom in and out to see detail. Once I feel confident about the compositions structure I get my paintbrushes out, and use a plastic cutting board as a palette. Acrylic paint dries quickly so my four-hour work sessions motivate me to work fast. To get the proportions right I use the envelope method to sketch my composition on canvas, this helps to bring out dominant angles and shapes. First, I work on mid to light tones and finish up with darker pigments. Currently, I am working on a portrait of my daughter. I am sketching now and you can visit my website at creatingsteele.com to see my progress. Thanks for listening.