Nancy E. McLean
NanMcLe3@aol.com
 

*Note:  All prices listed are for originals; contact artist for print sizes and prices.

The comment that I hear most frequently about my artwork is "you must really love animals". I guess the answer is a little obvious, since animals are what I do and what I love. I never tire of drawing them, and I find them endlessly fascinating. When I was a little girl I loved horses, and since I couldn't actually have one, I drew them. That love affair continues to this day, only it has broadened to include other four-legged creatures.

I have been drawing since I was a little girl, and my biggest ambition was to be an artist. That ambition led me to Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania, where I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts. I dabbled in painting, printmaking, and ceramics during my college years, but I kept returning to that early love of drawing which had influenced my early years. In 1992, I tried my hand at drawing with a quill pen and India ink, and I knew instantly that I had found my medium. I started with a series of drawings of dogs and expanded my repertoire to include horses, zebras, tigers, and elephants. I also began to incorporate pastels into my black and white drawings to add a punch of color. I find that pastels are ideally suited for the textures of animal fur and manes.

Someone remarked recently that I draw animal portraits. I thought that was a very apt description of my work. I tend to concentrate on the head, with special emphasis on the eyes, which I truly believe are the windows to the soul. I try to capture the individual personality of each animal as well as the particular characteristics of the species or breed. Most of my backgrounds are kept simple, often just soft, glowing colors which put the main focus on the animal itself, as if it had walked into my studio for a sitting.

My work has appeared in numerous shows such as Mill Creek Park's "Art in the Park", the Nature and Wildlife Exhibit at Geauga Park District, American Cancer Society benefits, Trumbull Area Artists show, and the TAG (Trumbull Art Gallery) annuals. Many of my drawings are in private collections, and I have done commissioned portraits of many beloved family pets. Recently, I introduced a line of full-color notecards of some of my best drawings. This line is called "Doggerel" and is featured in local gift shops and galleries.

 

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