Lydia Steeves

I love animals! And you may also know that I enjoy painting cats; however, I have always considered myself a true animal lover.

I grew up with dogs and guinea pigs and budgies and I find loads of inspiration in my backyard. And, after a wonderful trip to Africa, I have added more of the exotic animals to my repertoire.

To be able to combine my love of animals with my artwork has been just a wonderful journey.

I started off painting with acrylics and developed a signature technique for painting fur and feathers with the filbert grainer. I enjoy spending time in the studio layering and building the fur. The soul and personality of the animal is in the eyes and capturing that is always so rewarding. Backgrounds are also a big part of my designs and give me opportunities to explore color, mediums, and new techniques to really set the scene and bring the whole piece to life.

Always up for a challenge and to grow with my artwork, I set out to explore colored pencils several years ago. And again, because backgrounds are so important, I also added pan pastels. I’ve honed my colored pencil technique to bring fur and feathers to life and the pan pastels have been perfect to enliven the backgrounds.

I enjoy designing packets and projects that will challenge the student but at the same time allow success. I really love to help each student take their art to the next level.

Experts or novices…all you need to do is love animals and want to paint.