Shay is a full-time artist living and working in South Devon, England. He goes by the alias Shaymus for his artistic activities, a moniker that he has had for as long as he can remember. He has since moved on to concentrate on creating realistic portraiture artwork of dogs, wildlife, and people, having recently graduated from university with a BA (Hons) in Illustration. He considers himself fortunate to have clients from all over the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, and others.
He is primarily commissioned to sketch dogs and cats, but he is also commissioned to draw other animals such as birds, horses, and other wildlife on occasion. He’s always interested in seeing what people want to commission from me next, regardless of the subject!
He only expected to receive human portrait commissions when he recently started his own portrait art business. “I was the most comfortable with drawing people as that’s what I have always done, but I soon came to realize how much people love their pets,” says Shay. He began to obtain a greater number of contracts for animal portraits, primarily dogs and cats.
He primarily works in layers, beginning with a soft initial layer and progressing to intricate pencil strokes. He frequently develops bespoke soft gradient backdrops, which let the subjects stand out even more. Depending on the complexity of the portrait, he can spend 2 to 3 weeks on it alone. He frequently records a short reel time lapse throughout the commission so that the customer and my social media followers can observe the process behind the portrait production. He’s discovered that this is a wonderful approach to engaging with people since they enjoy seeing how an artwork begins and then finishes. With all of the skills he’s learned through commissioning pet artworks, he’s had the thrilling opportunity to create realistic animal portraiture, which he plans to print shortly.
He has many more fascinating animal projects lined up for this year, including a stunning Leopard titled ‘Serene,’ which is one of his favorite wildlife pieces he has already created.
