Featured Artist

Mark Ryan

The desire to paint and draw began in my early twenties. I found myself trading a mind-numbing career in manual labor for design and art classes at Highline Community College.
Early in my creative education, a professor required a daily sketch in a dedicated sketch book, that experience instilled the need to sketch and draw (even when I should have been doing something
else). More than thirty years later, a sketchbook remains a daily companion.
I have worked as a freelance commercial artist for over two decades. My work includes architectural renderings, book illustrations, caricatures, cartoons, illustrated maps, murals, pen-and-ink and digital illustrations, watercolor paintings, and acrylic paintings on canvas.
Urban Sketching
I’ve been a part of the Urban Sketchers groups here in Seattle and Tacoma since their beginnings. Great fun, friendships, and a lot of learning came from becoming part of those groups.
My creative process
When looking at a scene or subject to draw or paint, finding a focal point that tells an interesting story is my goal. I try to achieve that by being selectively bold with lights, darks and color.

• Contrast will get their attention; good fundamentals will keep their interest.

• Less is more and simplifying a subject has never caused me grief.

I am 66 years old and live in the Fairwood neighborhood of Renton with my wife of 39 years. I like my brew dark, that goes for coffee and beer. Along with drawing and painting, I enjoy traveling
to new places, cooking a good meal. Nothing is as meditative as the opportunity to draw and paint. Time stops for me.