Iowa-based artist Shannon Mayhew creates beautiful hyperrealistic portraits that depict all sorts of domestic and wild animals. Her works are not only impressive due to the subjects and level of detail they contain but also due to the fact that Mayhew is a self-taught artist.
Despite not having any formal art education, Mayhew is able to perfectly capture all the features of bucks, horses, roosters, and other animals and draw them in a photograph-like quality. And she does it by using just pencils.
In a recent post on Bored Panda, Mayhew explained that she started to draw animals when she was a child. Getting support from her grandma, who was also an artist, Mayhew started honing her skills further and got more familiar with different drawing techniques.
“I checked out book after book from the library that taught you different drawing techniques,” she shared. “I taught myself how to draw, although I do credit my grandma for my artistic abilities.”
Mayhew puts in a lot of effort and time in order to make her works look so realistic. According to her, it takes her between 32 to 63 hours to complete a piece depending on the size and complexity. Check out more of her animal portraits below.
