Incredible Pencil & Pen Drawing Artists to Explore This July

At the Arts to Hearts Project, we believe drawing is more than lines on paper, it’s a language of feeling, depth, and truth. Over the years, we’ve proudly spotlighted over 30,000+ artists across the globe, celebrating their unique voices through curated exhibitions, thought-provoking publications, and genuine storytelling. With a vibrant and growing community of over 100,000+ followers, we continue to nurture creativity, embrace diversity, and create spaces where authentic expression flourishes.

This week, we’re putting the spotlight on these phenomenal pencil and pen drawing artists who have truly captured our hearts. These artists aren’t just drawing figures or forms, they’re drawing emotion, vulnerability, memory, and transformation. With the raw simplicity of graphite and ink, they explore complex inner worlds, address personal and collective narratives, and invite us into quiet moments of reflection.

Their drawings are thoughtful and intentional, sometimes soft and delicate, other times bold and unfiltered but always anchored in truth. Whether capturing the intricacies of human emotion or abstracting lived experiences, each artist on this list uses her tools to tell stories that resonate deeply.

1. Anna Wilson (@anna_wilson_art)

Born and based in London, Ontario, Anna Wilson is a drawing artist whose intricate works with fine liner pens transport viewers into beautifully imagined interiors where memory, comfort, and curiosity collide. With a background in both visual arts and psychology from Western University, Anna brings a uniquely thoughtful perspective to her artistic process, one that blends technical skill with emotional depth.

Anna’s work is rooted in reinterpreting everyday spaces and objects interiors, furniture, and animals into entirely new imagined worlds. What makes her drawings so compelling is the way she captures the essence of a place, then stretches it into something surreal yet strangely familiar. Whether it’s a cozy living room that morphs into a forest or a pet curled up in a dreamy space that couldn’t exist in real life, Anna’s pieces evoke a deep sense of comfort and wonder. She’s one of the top best pen drawing artists whose work blurs the lines between imagination and memory with elegance and heart. 

2. Lori Christensen  (@myartshare)

Lori Christensen is an American artist who uses pencil and ink to capture the wild beauty and quiet enchantment of the natural world. Her self-taught journey into art began as a therapeutic outlet to the anxiety brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. With no formal training beyond standard elementary school art, Lori turned to creative expression as a daily practice experimenting with watercolour and other mediums while sharpening her observational skills.

But it was the discovery of graphite and coloured pencils that truly sparked her passion. With them, she could render the rough bark of a sycamore, the soft fold of a pig’s inner ear, or the delicate baby hairs on an elephant revealing nature’s intricacies one stroke at a time.

 Lori’s commitment to fine-tuning her skills and sharing the process on Instagram built a loyal online community around her work and solidified her reputation as a thoughtful, disciplined artist.  Through her platform, @myartshare, Lori connects with fellow nature lovers and emerging artists, offering tools, insights, and encouragement to help others see and draw the subtle magic woven into the natural world.

3. Emma Towers-Evans (@eteportraits)

Born and based in the UK, Emma Towers-Evans is a self-taught artist known for her photorealistic pencil portraits that go beyond technical skill and delve into soul-stirring storytelling. Her graphite pieces are carefully composed, focusing on every wrinkle, strand, and gaze telling human stories with astonishing clarity.

Emma’s expertise in portraiture and her deep understanding of anatomy allow her to infuse still drawings with vibrancy and breath. While her subjects are often human figures, she doesn’t shy away from experimenting with emotional themes such as identity, isolation, love, and memory. Her commitment to capturing raw human essence has led her to work on private commissions, international exhibitions, and artist mentorship programs.

She is also passionate about educational outreach, using her online drawing school, Learn Realism, to teach techniques and process insights to budding artists. If you’re drawn to hyperreal pencil drawings that feel deeply personal, Emma is one artist to follow, because she is without question one of the most exceptional pencil drawing artists working today.

4. Rob Mackenzie (@therobmackenzie)

Rob Mackenzie is a contemporary artist whose practice is grounded in the belief that creativity heals. His drawings are delicate yet deliberate, built through quiet lines, rich textures, and the powerful simplicity of black and white. Working primarily with pencil, pen, and ink, Rob explores themes of abstraction, nature, and architecture creating works where every mark, every space, speaks. His art reflects a deep sensitivity to the world around him, capturing fleeting moments, hidden rhythms, and the subtle tension between presence and absence. Negative space plays a vital role in his compositions, inviting viewers to pause, breathe, and reflect.

Rob’s journey into drawing became even more profound after surviving a catastrophic brain hemorrhage and stroke in 2014. The event left him with right-side paralysis, aphasia, and visual impairment. A lifelong left-hander, Rob turned to drawing as a lifeline, a therapeutic practice that allowed him to process, rebuild, and reconnect. “To draw is medicine,” he says, and every line he draws is a reflection of strength and healing. His drawings are not just visual, they are immersive. Whether sketching the gentle curve of a branch, the interplay of shadows, or abstract shapes that echo memory and place, Rob uses the quiet power of pencil and pen to translate his world. His works have been exhibited in galleries across the UK and celebrated for their meditative quality and emotional depth. Through the most humble of tools—pencil and pen Rob Mackenzie draws not only what he sees, but what he feels. His art is a reminder that even in limitation, there is liberation, and in every line, there is healing making him one of the finest contemporary drawing artists of our time.”

These incredible pencil and pen drawing artists aren’t just making art they’re pouring pieces of themselves onto paper. Every stroke holds a memory, a feeling, a quiet thought too big for words. Their drawings speak in whispers and bold lines, telling stories of love, loss, strength, and becoming. This July, they’ve not only caught our eye they’ve touched our hearts.

Here at the Arts to Hearts Project, we don’t just feature artwork we listen to the soul behind it. We know how vulnerable it can feel to share your inner world. That’s why we’re here: to honour that brave enough to express it, and to share their voices with people who need to see and feel something real. If you’re someone who seeks art that makes you pause, that makes you feel seen or understood, these artists are for you. Explore their worlds, support their work, and most of all, take a moment to truly feel what they’ve so openly shared. Because at the end of the day, art isn’t just about how it looks, it’s about how it moves you. And we hope these artists move you as much as they’ve moved us.