I Draw Intricately Patterned Animals

by Patrick Penrose Published Nov 11, 2025

I do intricate drawings of animals made up of layers of botanical and geometric pattern art. My work is very detailed and involved. Each of the animal drawings can take upwards of fifty hours to complete, and some of the final details are so delicate that I have to draw in between breaths to keep my hands steady.

I start by looking at the beautiful animal and letting myself see the shapes already present in their body and coloring. I love seeing how the same forms recur throughout nature. The way the grain of a fox’s fur will often form a perfect crocus flower shape at the corners of their eyes. I then fill the shapes in with successive layers of pattern drawing.

My real challenge and my main drawing ideas are in finding the perfect point of balance between realism and abstraction. I try to use shapes and patterns that capture the animal’s form and texture but also capture something about its spirit. For example, in my cool drawing “Arctic Fox,” I used motifs inspired by pine cones, Fair Isle sweaters, and frost crystals; while in “Otter,” I used lots of sweeping and spiraling lines that reminded me of an otter’s graceful movements through water and playful personality. When everything comes together, drawing feels less like constructing an illusion and more like revealing a hidden world that has been there all along, in which foxes are made out of flowers.

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