Emer McCourt

A later blooming artist, I discovered my passion for drawing animals in 2020 and have been drawing my animals, your animals and all animals that capture my imagination since. 

Sweet, swift, naughty, pesky, cheeky, noisy, sleepy…the animal kingdom provides endless possibilities for my vine charcoal drawings…a lifelong animal lover & “artsy” I set out to learn to draw properly in order to improve my painting skills.  However, once I discovered the use of charcoal in a “painterly” way I enjoyed it so much that it became my primary medium.  I am a mostly self-taught artist and passionate about my work.  

Animals unapologetically do their thing. Uninhibited and unselfconscious in every way, they are my absolutely favorite subject matter. Whether it is a hungry little fledgling demanding food from Mama bird or a pesky chipmunk waiting for a perfect moment to nibble on someones garden, their expressions are 100%  authentic – I love to explore their antics and their expressions and charcoal lends a lovely expressive warmth to each drawing. 

I am intrigued by the theory that you can improve at anything if you spend enough time and effort on it. I hope my art and my story encourages others to find their thing and pursue it as enthusiastically as possible. My professional background is in marketing and I feel so fortunate to be on this artistic journey where I  get to share a little beauty and joy with my animal drawings.

In addition to my original drawings and portrait commissions, I have developed a small line of printed merchandise and notecards with a selection of my drawings. A different side of creativity & one I enjoy – every product goes through many iterations until I can answer that it is something I would love to receive in the mail or as a gift & then it is ready for sale!

In recent years, I have developed a Charcoal Drawing Workshop that I have taught several times at the Slow River Studio in Topsfield, MA.  Teaching others about the wonders of charcoal is a joy & I am always happy to do more teaching.

I am originally from Dublin, Ireland and live on Boston’s North Shore with family and, of course, several pets.