Welcome to Shaymus Art

Realistic Animal Portraiture & Fine Art | Shipping Worldwide
COMMISSION A PORTRAIT
PORTRAITURE GALLERY
ORIGINALS & PRINTS
ART TUTORIALS

If you’re looking for a bespoke portrait artwork of your pet(s), I would love to create one for you! All portraits are hand drawn using pastels with personality, realism and originality in mind. Capturing a true likeness is of upmost importance to me. Please visit my commissions page to find out more.

On this website you will also find my original wildlife artworks & limited edition prints for sale.

If you’re an artist yourself looking to improve & expand your skills, I also produce art lessons which can be found on the tutorials page. There, I share my techniques, methods, materials & knowledge.

Meet The Artist


My name is Shay and I live & work as a full-time portrait artist in south Devon, England. For my artwork endeavours, I go by the alias Shaymus which is a nickname that has stuck with me for as long as I can remember! Graduating from university with a BA (Hons) 2:1 in Illustration, I’ve since moved on to specialise in creating realistic portraiture artwork of pets, wildlife & people, lucky enough to have clients come from many areas of the world including the USA, UK, Canada, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand & more. I am mostly commissioned to draw dogs & cats, occasionally I am commissioned to create artworks of other animals such as birds, horses or other wildlife. What ever the subject matter, I’m always excited & love to hear what people request to have commissioned from me next.

Another love of mine is creating other types of artworks, such as scenery paintings, seascapes and illustrative portraiture. I have also found a love for creating helpful art tutorials, you can find these located in this website’s menu if you’re interested. Finding the time to do everything I want to has proven to be a challenge! My passion with art is to find the aesthetic beauty in everything that surrounds us, living with the scenic south Devon & Cornwall landscape around me is a huge bonus and great love of mine. You will find all my latest activity on all my social media and on this website if you would like to keep up with my latest works. A huge thank you if you do, it is very much appreciated!

Recent Testimonials

Amanda, USA

“Shaymus is unbelievably talented, nice, and humble! I found him after looking at many artists online, and decided to go with him seeing that he has one of the most realistic /amazing techniques and reasonable pricing I have seen. Communication with him was on point since day 1. He really made the process so enjoyable and easy that I was even sad that the process ended! The final result was even more spectacular in person! My portraits were wrapped and shipped extremely well in such beautiful packaging as well. It even came with their mini portraits as authenticity cards. Very very professional, well thought-out and the best pet portrait artist out there!! I will be coming back for the rest of my cats. Thank you so much Shaymus, you are very much appreciated!“

Katie, USA

“Shaymus is an absolutely amazing artist. I am just blown away by his detail and artistry! His communication was excellent. The shipping was super fast! When he realised this was being sent to me in the US, he took the extra time to package my portrait carefully to ensure it would get to me safely. He just exceeded my expectations and loved this buying experience. And my pet portrait is BRILLIANT!! I love it so much! I am so happy with how it turned out, I purchased another one!”

Kat, UK

“From inception to completion (including much-needed help with the frame selection), I had complete confidence in the evolution process of a sketch into a perfectly detailed portrait of my son’s late, beloved dog, Homer. Shaymus, who kept me fully informed throughout the process, has captured Homer’s warmth, devotion, sweet natured spirit and given him life, the detail is so beautiful, you almost feel you could reach out and touch him. I would like to extend a warm thank you to Shaymus and would highly recommend this exceptionally gifted artist.”

Lottie, UK

“I just want to say thank you so much for how truly beautiful it is! I can not get my head around how perfectly you have captured him and it honestly looks like I’m going to reach out and be able to feel him there! … Myself and all owners of one of your portraits are so lucky to be able to have something you’ve managed to capture so well! I just want to say Thank you so much for bringing my best pal a lil closer back to me!“

VIEW ALL TESTIMONIALS

Limited-Edition ‘Serene’ Giclée Print’s now for sale!

My first ever print release, ‘Serene’ prints are limited to only 10 copies. Each print is made using archival inks on premium German Etching paper. The paper has an excellent texture that makes the print look & feel like an original drawing. Please click the photo to view more information / purchase.

Instagram Feed

Here is the finished portrait! Slightly obsessed with how the white fur stands out against the grey background, I hope you like it! Commission for a lovely client in USA 🇺🇸, soft pastel 30x40cm Pleased to share a work in progress of this lovely white cat I recently completed 😊 Here is the finished portrait, I really enjoy all the neutral tones paired with the grey background. It helps make those bright eyes stand out even more! This is actually 1/2 cat portrait’s commissioned from the USA 🇺🇸. Soft pastel, 30x40cm 🐱 A work in progress, these light green eyes were too fun to draw 😍 I look forward to sharing the finished result! Andddd here is happy face #2! I really loved the posing in this double portrait, along with the light blue background choice by the client. It was definitely a satisfying artwork to complete, I just love that it looks as though they're taking a selfie on a sunny day out 😄. Commissioned all the way from the USA 🇺🇸, Soft pastel, 35x45cm. I'm very happy to share the first happy face of a double portrait I recently completed. I love the challenge of drawing long, flowing fur, I hope you like it so far 😊 Here is the finished portrait, I had such fun bringing this one to paper 😄 I will be sharing the process video soon. 30x40cm, soft pastels. A work in progress of another gorgeous German Shepherd, obsessed with the all black fur 🙌 Paired with a beautiful off-white background to make the whole piece stand out. Looking forward to sharing the finished result! Finished portrait drawing of this very handsome German Shepherd! 30x40cm soft pastels.