Ryan S. Brown (b. 1977) was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. Always intrigued by the visual world, Ryan’s artistic interests began early. His decision to pursue art as a profession was made in high school. This pursuit led him to Brigham Young University where he studied Illustration, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2003. While finishing his studies at BYU, Ryan became aware of the deficiencies in his University education. Because his interests were in the academic and naturalist traditions of the nineteenth century, it became necessary for him to get the fundamental drawing and painting training not offered at the university.
This led him to the Florence Academy of Art. It was here that Ryan finally found the training he always hoped existed. The organized, intense, and concise training of the Florence Academy provided Ryan with what he considers the beginning of his understanding of the craft of art. This training not only gave Ryan a deep understanding and love of drawing, but also developed in him a strong self-discipline and work ethic, as well as an insatiable appetite for learning. It is this work ethic and constant learning that is the driving force behind Ryan’s art. “It is important to me to create beauty. The most beautiful things to me are God’s creations: the human figure, the natural landscape, etc. It is my goal to imitate nature as closely as possible in order to bring to the viewers beauty as I see it and those aspects of our natural world that are most appealing to me.”
Ryan’s work will also be published by The Artist’s Magazine in an upcoming book entitled “Strokes of Genius”. Ryan was the top award winner of the John F. and Anna Lee Stacey scholarship in 2004 and he also received third place in the Art Renewal Scholarship competition in 2005.
Ryan was a part-time instructor of drawing and painting at Brigham Young University, and is currently teaching part-time at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art. Ryan directs the Classical Drawing Academy out of his studio where he teaches classical methods of drawing to a growing number of students searching for traditional methods not found in universities.
Ryan was featured May 2008 Southwest Art Magazine as an Artist to Watch. Also, in the July 2006 issue of American Art Collector magazine, Ryan was honored by American Artist magazine and the Forbes Collection by being one of a small group of fine artists chosen to show at Forbes Gallery, New York City, in 2007. In 2008, he founded an art academy in Florence, Italy: Painting in Florence, which teaches visiting students over ten day sessions on the Fall. For more information visit www.paintinginflorence.com.
