Delicate but Realistic Portraits by Shannon Coyle
Shannon Coyle is a figurative artist specializing in graphite drawings of pets and children. Currently based on The Bay of Islands in Newfoundland and Labrador, Shannon draws on artistic training in drawing and painting to craft delicate but realistic portraits.
As we noted in our previous feature of Shannon’s graphite portraiture, the artist tends to work with a very soft touch, relying on blending and fine, exacting pencil marks to build up images. I find this technique works especially well for the artist’s chosen subject matter. On pets, there are places in a portrait where each individual hair seems to be visible, drawing the viewer in with great attention to detail, while in other areas individual pencil marks blend together to create a soft, whole image that’s reminiscent of the texture of a housecat’s fur.
The front page of Shannon's art website
I’m also really impressed by Shannon’s various seagull studies. The way the artist renders the structure of the birds’ feathers lies in remarkable contrast to her drawings of the uncertain, ever-changing forms of ocean surf, creating fascinating tension in each seemingly simple drawing.
