We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ryan Brown. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ryan below.

Ryan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Choosing to pursue a career as an artist was, for me, a naive decision that I made with an extreme amount of ignorance, excitement and love. Originally I chose a university that was close to where I grew up, and where my friends were also attending. While there, I was told that I was at a top university that would help me develop professional skills and I believed that narrative. Upon graduation, however, it was clear to me that I had had very little exposure to solid foundational training in drawing and painting, nor had I received any guidance whatsoever on how to be a professional artist. The road to success was clouded by a thick apparition of misinformation and chasms of poorly developed skill. I knew I needed to develop a much higher level of skill in order to create works that others would value. Knowing what I know now about the art world, I understand that skill is completely unnecessary and the art world is as far from a meritocracy as is possible. And yet, with my background in sports (perhaps one of the greatest meritocratic systems there is), I maintain a fantasy of my own creation that art should be judged and appreciated based on merit. And that merit must include a highly developed mastery of the craft of drawing and painting. It is with this idea in mind that I chose to attend the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy, to continue (or really begin) my education as a fine artist.
It wasn’t easy, and it took two attempts before I finally completed my studies. I was able to attend in 2003 for six months before I ran out of money. We were a young married couple with one daughter and a son about to be born, so we had to leave Florence and move back home, putting the education on pause. At that point I had the choice of putting all my efforts into making paintings, or getting a job like a responsible adult and painting in my spare time. I selfishly chose to put everything into painting. I also taught at two universities as an adjunct professor to pay some bills. At the end of 2006, I had progressed enough on my own to be painfully aware that I was still lacking the knowledge and skills to be working at my greatest potential, so I decided to return to Florence to finish my studies. I had been selling in galleries since 2004, so this choice would stall any momentum I had in the professional market, which a few of my galleries scolded me about. But I knew that my goals required more skill to accomplish, and I needed to be better. So now, with three kids, no money, and some terrible loans my parents had to cosign for, we moved back to Florence for the second time with an absolute faith that I would build the skills that would allow me the chance to create work at an elite level. And I got everything I was hoping for and more. I graduated winning the Presidents Award and the Painting of the Year.
While studying, I continued to sell my work through galleries. The market I had was mostly for small romantic landscapes, which I had become relatively proficient at. But I had always been interested in the figure, which is what I studied most at the Florence Academy. As luck would have it, I graduated in 2008, at the same time the market crashed in America. Returning home in the summer of 2008, full of creative energy and ambition, I jumped into large scale figurative work, which I didn’t yet have much of a market for. My unbridled ambition could not have been more poorly timed with how the art market was about to pivot. Galleries were closing and many were becoming very conservative in their marketing strategies. Social media was changing how art was seen and how artists interacted with and built audiences. And I, somewhat oblivious to it all, went right on ahead with these large scale works, many of which I still own 15 years later.
For the next 14 years from 2008-2022, I opened and directed a school, The Masters Academy of Art, where I taught the classical principles of drawing and painting that I had learned in Florence. I also taught workshops all around the country, gave lectures, taught at conferences such as The Portrait Society of America, the Plein Air Convention and the Figure Art Convention. All of these things helped sustain my career as a painter and allowed me to associate and become friends with some of the worlds best artists.

Ryan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Growing up I was not exposed to a lot of music or art, as my parents rarely listened to music and knew very little about art. But I did play a lot of sports, which taught me about discipline, practice, teamwork and how beautiful a well choreographed game could be. I also loved to read the Sunday comics and would often try to draw many of them. I had an active mind and would draw dream homes, fortresses and animals, mostly from imagination. I took an after school water color class in 5th grade and read the book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards. In junior high school I began to discover music, attending the Utah symphony regularly. Then I found Bob Dylan, which kicked open the door to discovering so many other bands, giving me a deep love of music and songwriting. In retrospect as I consider the influences that have guided me throughout my life, there is one common thread that has woven through each of the things I have loved, from sports, to music, art and film. And that is my admiration for human creativity and achievement. I think it is an innate human trait that we all appreciate great human achievements. To watch Michael Jordan play basketball, to read Tolkien, to hear Bach, to see works by Rembrandt, are all part of the same kind of appreciation for me. It has and will always amaze me that someone can do those things at such a high level and in such unique ways. Having dedicated my life to becoming the best artist I can be, I understand deeply the dedication it takes, the focus, the effort, the ability to work through frustrations and setbacks, and the unerring aim at excellence. And I feel a solidarity with others who so clearly have that same dedication.
It is this appreciation for the highly developed minds and skills of others that helps motivate me to create the best works I can. It is my aspiration to feel I have created works that allow me a place at the table of those I so admire. I have been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with some of the most gifted artists in the world. And the conversations and experiences I’ve had with them lead me to starting a podcast (The Unvarnished Podcast), so I could share those conversations with others. I have also started filming a television series (or what I hope to have picked up as a television series) called Art City in which I visit major cities and discuss the history of the city including the artists that lived and worked there in the past, and then showing the artists living and working in those cities today. The first season, which takes place in Paris, is halfway filmed and I hope to soon return to finish the second half. I have also begun organizing painting retreats with word class artists where we visit spectacular locations, staying together, eating together, painting together and inspiring one another. Our first retreat took place in Zion National Park last October. The podcast, TV Series and retreats are all an effort to share others genius with the world. It is a growing passion of mine to shine a brighter spotlight on the creative lives of others that I think are doing things that elevate society and add beauty to the world. And while my passion for making art is a constant driving force in my life, I have a growing excitement for sharing the work of others. It is my opinion that great minds in collaboration always elevate the individual efforts of each person involved. And it has created some of my most treasured moments and memories.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I have worked with a lot of clients who are just beginning to dip their toes into collecting art or have a budding interest in art, but don’t know where to begin. I think the contemporary art narrative is very elitist and, I believe, degrading to the confidence of the average person, creating an artificial barrier that makes the ‘uninitiated” feel inferior, with a sense that they just don’t understand high art. This has been a calculated effort of a massive marketing machine that elevates the absurd and salacious, and cynically diminishes representational works of true merit. The pendulum is slowly shifting back away from the absurd, but it still maintains a strong clamp on the controls of what the public sees. I believe that art is a visual language, and the most impactful art is that which communicates clearly and eloquently. It should be accessible to all who view it. I would like to continue to do my part in shining a brighter spotlight on truly great artists who are highly skilled craftsmen, and sharing their stories and their work with as large an audience as possible. I believe representational painting is a service oriented pursuit, made to inspire and uplift society. And just as so many cooking shows have made the average person feel more confident in their own kitchens, and helped many restaurants thrive as more people develop a greater appreciation for food, I believe that a television show that focuses on great art will inspire more people to not only collect it, but perhaps even have the confidence to try making it themselves.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I believe that living life as artist has done a few things for me that I truly appreciate. The first thing it did was to divorce me from the idea that most of us are raised with that we need to enter the job force, work for a company earning a regular paycheck and eventually retire. Instead, I wake up when I want, work on what projects I’m inspired to work on each day, and I feel the freedom to follow whatever inspiration hits me. Everything feels possible. Every idea is on the table for consideration. Secondly it has put me in a position where it is my job to observe and create beauty. Every good book I read, every great piece of music I listen to, every great film I watch, every museum I visit, every trail I hike, are all building blocks for my mind and sources that expand and refine my thinking. And lastly, my life as an artist has allowed me the opportunity to associate and build memories with some of the world’s greatest minds and talents, which I will forever be grateful for.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ryansbrown.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryansbrown/ , https://www.instagram.com/themastersacademyofart/ , https://www.instagram.com/unvarnishedpodcast/ , https://www.instagram.com/artcity.tv/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ryansbrownfineart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-s-brown-98aa701a/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanSBrown
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeh1lbht_EM99bCCtjHFYdQ
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryan_s_brown

Image Credits
All paintings and drawings are done by Ryan S. Brown