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Ryan Wise hails from the fruit capital of the Pacific Northwest, Yakima, Washington. The youngest son of artists, Ryan grew up with a deep passion for making and sharing art. He attended Boise State University where he earned both his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and his graduate teaching certification. His undergraduate emphasis was in Painting and Art History. He continues his studio art practice and exhibits award winning paintings regionally and nationally. When not sharing his love of art, Ryan likes to woodwork, camp and spend time with his wife, daughter and their two rescue dogs.
As a kid, I often explored the sagebrush covered hills near the farmlands where I grew up in central Washington.The more time I spent there the more I thought about all the life there -- past and present -- living unnoticed by our human constructed world. I thought about the beauty of it and the unforgiving danger of what nature can bring. Wild spaces have a way of making you feel humble and more human. As an artist, I am guided by my initial exposure to wild spaces and want to capture more than the landscape, but that feeling of a place. I include vivid detail because it tells the story of being in that space. By painting every detail, it makes the viewer look for the artist’s hand and then to take more time to notice and appreciate small details. What goes into a painting? I’m currently painting scenes of hard to reach places. I gather reference photos on extended backpacking journeys in the mountains. While there I’ll spend hours searching for unique views not seen by most visitors. After a trip, I will have hundreds of photos. Of those, I will only use about three as reference photos for future paintings. Once I have selected my painting I decide how big I want to make it and then apply a grid to it. The squares that comprise the grid are about 1-2 inches depending on the size of the painting. Then grid by grid, I paint using the photo as a basic reference and adding elements that make the scene feel lively to capture the feelings and awe experienced in that space. https://www.ryanwiseart.com |
