We were lucky to catch up with Bryn Casey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bryn, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

As far as my artistic learning experience across my lifetime I do feel that one of the most important aspects of learning has been finding the right information to learn. I was raised by my Mom, who had some art exposure. She does have artwork that is published in a book and she also created some artwork throughout my childhood like watercolor paintings. Her work is wonderful and would probably be categorized as outsider art because she never got any formal art education. My Dad was actually an elementary art teacher for almost 3 decades. He taught my brother and I some fundamental aspects of drawing like perspective and things like the proportions of the face, etc.

I watched ton of Bob Ross. I went to art school for a fine art degree at MSU Denver and I learned a lot from some very knowledgeable professors, graduating in 2015. But I came out of college with very little newly learned knowledge of how to draw or understand drawing. I did learn some super useful but simple techniques on how to get good results crosshatching. I learned that it’s perfectly acceptable to use projections to get accurate likenesses. I learned how to properly use mediums with my acrylics. etc. Not to talk badly about my time in college, I’d do it all over again multiple times. It was SO worth it.

Since the recent increase in internet learning. Especially since Covid, there has been a huge amassing of knowledge that is being shared from artistic professionals all over the world. Since 2020, I’ve learned more about drawing and how to properly execute a drawing or painting than I had in all the years of my life including my college education. Artists like Stan Prokopenko, Dorian Iten, Stephen Bauman, John Fenerov and Tiffanie Mang offer free education through their instagrams and for very little money also offer a ton of very useful art education information.

So long story short, where you look for your education is super important. All the knowledge I gained from my pre-college and college education was without a doubt a great foundation and my college experience was well worth going and I’d never advocate not going to college. Go to college. But on top of that, look for more. Someone out there may be able to explain things to you better than someone else can.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I initially went to college at MSU Denver for art, then I got into graphic design. I graduated with a BFA in Fine Art and Communications Design. I work full time remotely as a graphic designer for an Aerospace company and I moonlight and weekend as an artist. I am almost always working on something, whether that’s something I’m designing or drawing. My nights usually end with me signing another portrait drawing or painting that takes me a couple hours after an 8 hour day of design work. I live and work in Longmont with my rescue dog, Bucky.

I take freelance work in design and I’m always open for art commissions. I’d love to some day be able to work full time on my art and then have my graphic design work be my night and weekend work as my art is my true passion. I have to force myself to stop to sleep for example sometimes. Portraiture is my latest love in my art practice. I feel that is because of a few reasons.

I’m sort of a purist. So while most portraiture artists project or trace their likeness, which is perfectly fine, I choose not to. I don’t grid or use any “tools” to help my likenesses get accurate. I rely on only my hand and visually measuring the reference with my pencil for example. This improves my skills more than using grids or projection tools. Second, portraits are a very accurate measurement of execution of a drawing or painting. You know right away if they look right or don’t even without seeing the reference but a fish is a fish or a tree is a tree and no one would know different unless they see the reference. Third they are a great exercise in practicing the fundamental steps needed to execute any successful drawing. Contour lines, Terminator lines. Edges, Values. That’s all you need!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Sure. Um so in 2020, my wife left me. I guess I should have seen it coming but I didn’t. This traumatic experience shattered me but it also gave me the ability to see that I’d been dealing with lifelong issues associated with PTSD and trauma. When I was a little kid, not yet 3, my parents started to divorce. During that time, I was injured on a playground pretty brutally. My face and nose got torn somewhat off by an old swing that I walked in front of. I was just 3 I think. Then over the years of my life I had some things like surgeries on other parts of my body that added to my internal trauma. My childhood wasn’t awful. I was never abused but when you’re a kid with unknown mental health issues, things can be a little difficult sometimes.

I met my former wife about a month before I got attacked and beaten up by a few people just out looking for a person to beat up. I was 22. This event sent my stacking of ptsd and trauma into a new mode. Over the next decade, I became more and more of a fearful, anxiety ridden individual that would rather push away life and happiness. I was only focused on what was wrong with me, what was wrong with what was in front of me, and what could go wrong than just being in the moment and being happy about what I had.

After my divorce I was very lost. I had completely lost myself in my marriage. There really was no longer Bryn. I was very lucky to be sent to a wonderful somatic experience therapist from my former sister in law and I learned that I needed to find out who I was again and what made me happy in life. I pretty quickly realized art is part of the core of who I am.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

In fall 2020 I started over and decided to relearn how to draw and paint from the beginning again. I found Dorian Iten on youtube teaching how to draw an egg. I drew eggs for weeks. Now I draw and paint my heart out. It’s my expression of myself. I drew 100 portraits in 2021.

It’s not about anything other than the experience of making the art for me. When I finish a drawing, the process is more important to me than the final result. Learning, improving, relearning, improving some more. That’s what I make art for. If someone else likes what I make along the way. Awesome!  

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bryncasey.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bryncasey_art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bryncasey
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryn-casey-25224395
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bryncasey_art

Image Credits
All images are copyright Bryn Casey.