The Art of
Shanon Mary McNeil
Hello!
My name is Shanon Mary McNeil and I am an artist, animator, graphic novelist, and storyteller.
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I grew up in the Phoenix valley of Arizona and moved to Central Florida in the spring of 2023.
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From 2019-2023, I attended Huntington University's Arizona Center for Digital Media Arts, where I majored in computer animation. While there, I had the opportunity to participate in at least 6 short films, 2 of which I directed and acted as the lead animator on. Those two films, Heart Broke and Dance of Dissent, were both regional award winners, with Dance of Dissent even tying for Best in Festival at the BEA Festival of Media Arts - Student Film & Video Competition 2024.
Post-Graduation
After graduating and moving to Central Florida, I have been jumping between a few different gigs.
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For the past year and a half, I have been the lead animator for the project Fresh On Deck, an animated children's educational cartoon that teaches kid about eating healthy.
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I spend a good deal of time working on my graphic novel series, Weather Bound, as well as promotional material for the books. I have been holding booths at a handful of events per year where I talk to people about what Weather Bound is and sell my books and artworks.
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From those events, I found a new hobby and side business venture in the form of wood burn artworks. I took to the new medium quickly and have enjoyed depicting local Florida wildlife in a beautiful and natural way.
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I also did a year and half working retail and decided it was not my type of work. As of early 2026, I have been working on starting my own small business in home cleaning, something I believe I will find more rewarding.
The typical animation student may say they dream of working at Disney or Pixar, and while I somewhat agree with that sentiment, I also know that I do not currently possess the level and type of skills those studios seek.
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Besides, my heart is here in Florida with my family, the extreme storms, and the alligators.
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I do hold a dream to someday work with Steamroller Studios, an animation company based nearby in Central Florida. The work I have seen from the studio allures me, and I would love to get to be part of that.
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Until then, I am working on improving my skills and knowledge.
Inspirations
My greatest inspiration comes from nature, especially from extreme storms and clouds that reach miles high into the atmosphere.
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I love studying meteorology, staring at cumulonimbus clouds, watching storm chasers' videos, and looking at weather forecast models.
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In Arizona, I witnessed haboobs, hail, and severe storms. Since moving to Florida, it has been taken up a notch and I have now been through hurricanes, a tornado warning, and extreme lightning storms. I've also seen a supercell visibly rotating overhead, witnessed the red sparks fly from a lightning bolt just 50 feet away from me, and stared into clouds so otherworldly that your jaw just drops in awe.
Using That Passion
I take my passion for nature and extreme weather into my art in many ways.
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The graphic novel series I write and illustrate is the pinnacle of this, telling the story of a world where there's more going on behind the scenes of our weather than we're aware of. In the series, I get to bring myself and my audience to amazing places and into the danger zone of powerful storms, while also telling a sincere story of friendship, family, and balance.
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If you have viewed my gallery page, you have likely also seen how clouds and storms are prevalent in much of my original works. I constantly challenge myself to be better at drawing and understanding clouds.
