The following is an essay by John Ryan on his inspiration and artistic approach.
Having spent many years experimenting with various mediums and inventing different techniques of painting, I have arrived at the conclusion that limiting myself to a 3B pencil for sketching and the three primary colours for painting presents me with the greatest challenge. It sets the stage for a continuous production of works the outcome of which I cannot predict. For this I am truly grateful, for nothing reduces me to apathy quicker than predictability.
My paintings are an expression of the beauty of life as I see it right now and all that is positive in the continuously moving elements of the world. I sketch the flowing movement of everyday life in its ongoing activities. The subject matter is whatever is around me in the moment. People, animals, buildings, trees, plants, birds, flowers, boats, clowns, interiors, churches, anything that presents a good challenge, particularly a moving subject. In fact if it’s easy to draw I don’t engage.
I paint as a detached observer sometimes directly from the sketches I’ve made and other times intuitively from the pattern of life’s experiences. The works are in the present. Now is what’s important to me, not yesterday or tomorrow.
I limit the use of oil colour to Red, Yellow and Blue. This complicates the painting process forcing me to find clear solutions to the many problems created by a limited palette. The primary colours take me uncompromisingly to the core of the subject swiftly and undiluted. This mature and fearless approach to painting ensures there is no room given to doubt or fudging. There is nowhere to hide. The result being a strong image placed in full view clearly, decisively and up-front. This method simplifies the end product giving me a direct and vibrant finish.
Drawing plays a central role not only in the initial sketches but also in the finished works. Using a palette knife I draw directly into the paint with accuracy and looseness giving a sense of immediacy. I also divide the field into patterned and rest spaces, framing them off as the need arises to maintain a movement and balance within the composition. For me, all aspects of a painting, as in life, are of equal importance and each has its specific function which ensures balance of all the elements with uncontrolled order and unity.
I have a deep sense of spirituality and of knowing; a grounded awareness of my boundaries, of space, time and place; a comprehensive training in Draughtsmanship and Architectural Structure; an in-depth knowledge of composition, perspective, shape, pattern, tone, form, construction, design, line, light and dark; a love of colour and for spontaneity and humour in life; being in the here and now.
These are the tools I bring to work.
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