iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I picked up two of my original art pieces that had been custom framed. I had never seen, something I made, professionally framed. It took my breath away... like I was seeing them for the first time as an Observor instead of a Creator. #oilpainting #framedart #fineart #arizonaartist #southwestart

Desert Fragility. A 9x12 oil painting of a Native American ceremonial bowl on a bed of turquoise fabric, surrounded by a desert tree bean pod, a brittle brush flower and a cholla. It is matted with tan, the same color as the center of the bowl, and framed with a distressed burlwood frame.

Cosmic Cowboy is an 11x14 oil painting inspired by the musician Charles Ellsworth and his album Cosmic Cannon Fodder. It is framed in a distressed blue wooden frame, matted with earthly red and shows a medium length mirrored cowboy with a cosmos for a face beneath his straw cowboy hat.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

#musicchallenge #SeptemberMusicChallenge #ChurchofRock #RyansMonthlyConfessional It's been a while. I figured I would add my own spin to the Music Challenge Mayhem of BlueSky, because why not? I have had a Spotify Channel for a long time called Church of Rock, hence Ryan's Monthly Confessional.

A music challenge calendar. Each challenge is listed on the day. My spotify channel is called Church of Rock, so staying in that theme this music challenge is called Ryan's Monthly Confessional.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Today's opening session on the new piece. Working Title: Poison Ivy Oil on 11x14 canvas panel 6 hours into project.

Reference photo is 5.75 x 6.75 inches. I drew a 1/2 inch grid, and blew that up to a 1 inch grid on the 11x14 canvas. Made slight adjustments on width of left leaves to leave more room for framing.

For the base layer, I put down a mixture of Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, and Sap Green heavily thinned with mineral spirits. I wanted this base layer to be less warm, less inviting, with hints of decay and sickness. This entire piece is to be colored with emotional color theory. It is a surreal piece, not going for realism here.

The background has three distinct color areas: Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Cadmium Yellow Medium for the aura around the hand. This Yellow is meant to exude cowardice or even infection. In the center, behind the heart of the plant is a mixture of Viridian Green, Sap Green and just a hint of Cadmium Yellow Medium to exude envy, resentment. Finally the outer areas are Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Pthalo Blue, Cadmium Red Deep and Alzarian Crimson to depict mystery, and unknown motivations.

Upon beginning the foreground, it became immediately clear that the background was too dark. I have a tendency to start too dark in every painting, and I end up lightening the backgrounds. I'm also not too sure about the fire, or spark element to the
Yellow aura. As I lightening the background, this should be more of a sickly glow rather than bright vibrancy.

The blues in the leaves are a color string on the IMR System personality test. The philodendrun, a white wizard varietal, is depicting a color string of Blue: the Tragic Roamtic.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

He has almost a thousand on his patreon. That is where all the tutorials come from. A lot also use the same props. Here's that coffee cup..... and then again with the same bucket.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Nice. It's a good exercise. I had been painting, like ever in my life, for I think two days when I did these. Paint Coach is a pretty awesome resource.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Did some #oilpainting today. First, the three images show the #paintcoach method which is to paint in three main stages. Simplify. Shape. Sharpen. The final image is my final #oilout step on this completed painting. GUACAMOLE 5x7 oil on linen panel DESERT FRAGILITY 9x12 oil on canvas panel

For the Simplify Step, squint your eyes, look for big shapes, and be sure your positioning is correct. Do not worry about details at this phase. Just large shapes of color.

The Shape Step is going through each shape and establishing smaller shapes to define form through value relationships. Here you add those darkest dark values. You paint the top planes of the tomato in a lighter value color, building to the highlight. You look for a darkest dark, a mid value, and a lightest light for each main part of the onion. You keep your brushstrokes in the direction of the onion skin. You establish shadow values to add depth to the avocado.

Sharpen can go on forever. You decide how far you want to refine each element. Here I added the shadow and highlight values on the seed as well, and blended those edges. I also added very think paint left raised on the canvas to represent the soft flesh of the avocado ripped from splitting it open and stuck to the seed.

A final oilout layer 3 parts Galkyd Lite 1 part Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits applied thinly with a 1 inch flat brush. This brings all of the values back with a unifying glossy sheen that also adds a protective layer between the oil paint and the varnish protective coat.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Remember that movie Leave the World Behind? You know, the one produced by the Obamas.... Might be time for a rewatch folks. #deathtoamerica

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

If you've been following along with the evolution of #cosmiccowboy I decided I needed to be able to say I was more scared of the piece being inaccurate than possibly making it worse. Embrace the journey. It's about joy. #oilpainting ##arizonaartist ##learnpainting #surrealism #dontbetooscared

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Working on a #paintcoach landscape tutorial. I have completed the SIMPLIFY step of Paint Coach's three step Method, but the house is far too tall. Still trying to do some more practice exercises and paintings, before returning to my own originals. #oilpainting #arizonaartist #fineart #landscape

On the left is a tutorial landscape reference photo from Chris Fortunado's (Paint Coach) Fundamentals of Oilpainting course. On the right is my 9x12 canvas panel oil painting. At this stage I have completed the SIMPLIFY step of Paint Coach's Method.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

He is a really good teacher. I started out with several of his free YouTube challenges.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Added a little lemon study. Setting up some tutorial paintings for my days off. I'm pretty happy with #PaintCoach as an online option for learning how to paint btw.

A 30-45 (forgot timer) lemon study in oil paint. Foreground is orange, background is gray. Lemon is set at a 3/4 tilt and is depicted with a range of vales created from Cadmium lemon, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Ultramarine Blue, Alzarian Crimson and Titanium White.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Today I worked on some landscape studies. I have backed off of my own work to take some stock in my classes, my progress, and where I feel like I need some more fundamental practice. Details in Alt Txt. #oilpainting #paintcoach #landscapepainting #arizonaartist #newartist #fineart #learnpainting

Other than two other small studies, this is my first landscape painting. I am following along with Paint Coach's Method of Oil Painting course. It is a scene from Italy with a small vineyard nestled between a hill and s small but dense forest next to a pond. The reflection of the trees radiates across the water of the shallow pond.

Here, I was testing out lightening the leaves on the front plane of the most light toward tree. I think it was a good instinct, but I lost the correct value and overdid it. The front tree, instead if shimmering in the sun looks more like a christmas tree.

This second study was just about capturing shapes and values on a small landscape with an oversized brush. The pallet was Ultramarine Blue, Alzarian Crimson, Cadmium Lemon and Titanium White.

The study shows a little red house beyond a fence in disrepair next to s pond beneath a shade tree. Mountains rise beyond a growing field behind what could even be a barn nestled at the end if a field.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Hey, did you use agave as your model for these blossoms?

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Had my final Basics of Oil Painting class on Wednesday night. Two of us were brave enough to tackle the "live model" still life. #oilpainting #learnpainting #stilllife #arizonaartist #fineart #mesaartscenter

Lee painting a model of a still life, painting from life instead of a photo.

Most of the other students worked on a picture from home.

The still life from this side is two bottles, sunflowers, an old coffee pot, and a couple of pears.

My painting just after blocking in simple shapes.

My final oil painting for my first live art class. 2 hours from still life model, no photo.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Today's oilpainting Cider House Rules 9x12 " oil on canvas Approx 6 hours brushtime #oilpainting #arizonaartist #paintcoach #stilllife #learnpainting

A painting inspired by the still life portion of Chris Forza's "Paint Coach Method of Oil Painting course.

Painting depicts a wooden bucket of apples that has been knocked over on a table allowing three apples to roll out. One is still deep in the bucket.

This is the first full practice of The Method. SIMPLIFY. SHAPE. SHARPEN.

This is the second of my Paint Coach paintings. If you've been following along the sunflowers 18x24 was also from one of his courses.

I'm impressed with my growth in terms of speed after taking my Mesa Center for the Arts class. This painting was much easier for me to keep up with the video class, than the previous. Much less pausing than Sunflowers.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Shadowbox reference photo for my new still life oilpainting. Thinking about a 9x12 canvas panel for this one. Banana Nightstand? Trust No One with Robert's Bananas? Bananas in Gloom? Artistic Education? I'll change the title by the end of the process anyway? #oilpainting #stilllife #artist

A bundle of bananas on a pile of books with a half peeled, much more ripe, singular banana half way down the stack. The books are The Oil Painter's Color Handbook and The Art of Still Life by Todd M. Casey, Drawing Techniques, Curepedia by Simon Price and About Time: Poems by David Duchovny.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Arrived today. Booked to Canada to see RUSH on Dec 10. The midterms will be a reality by then. The next 8 months will be a reality by then. Very likely, I wont come home.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

#oilpainting #arizonaartist #southwesternartist #stilllifepainting #realism #learnpainting #art #fineart Dem Apples 5x7" oil on canvas December 2025 11 hours brushtime Had been painting approximately 2 weeks. Pears on Black Velvet 5x7" oil on canvas February 2026 4 hours. 1 sitting.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Today's oil painting. 4 hour session Pears on Velvet 5x7" oil on canvas panel February 2026 #oilpainting #arizonaartist #southwestartist #stilllifepainting #art #painting #fineart #paintdaily

I took the reference photo in a homemade shadowbox. It features a red pear, a Bartlett, and a Bosch pear on black velvet before a textured reddish brown cloth background.

The painting is an oil on 5x7 inch canvas panel. I used Ultramarine Blue, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Titanium White, Cadmium Red Deep and Light, Cadmium Green Light, Sap Green, and Lamp Black. I attempted the front where the velvet folds by tapping in texture of both Titanium White and Lamp Black with a mop brush.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Class pushes me. A lot of it is in preparation: time spent on the drawing maybe. But Im very careful, not slow, not methodical, but precise. Class forces me to rush to keep up. Just finished 5/8 weeks. Nothing I do in class is as good as what I do at home. #oilpainting #spheres #arizonaartist #art

A sphere I painted on about my fifth day painting.

This sphere is better than all of my pearls from class. But this practice took me three hours.

I think here is where I went wrong. The yellow Ochre color is on the shadow side of the reverse highlight. It is misplaced on the highlight side.

Lady next to me had a much easier time rendering her pearls

This is how far I got on my string of pearls in 3 hours. You can tell I was nowhere near as precise in the way I played in color, and blending once again, got out of control.

I do like where I was headed with the gem.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Let's talk EBT fraud. This customer does this once a week. Over 100 cases. Bought with someone else's EBT through Safeway Drive up and Go so he doesn't get caught for fraud. He picks up all of this is a Land Rover from North Scottsdale to supply his vending machine business. But immigrants....

Three shopping carts of soda for vending machines bought fraudulently through EBT.

Once a week.

But we need to have UCE concentration camps to get rid of who again? How many people got thrown off EBT/ SNAP again?

We're DOGE?

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples. -Stephen Crane #oilpainting #azartist

Futility

5x7" oil on canvas panel

February 2026

In "The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane, a man is going to die in a dinghy on the ocean, and he deeply wishes he could throw things at God, Nature, Fate.

These rocks were meant to be simple and unrealistically bright. I started painting as therapy for a ravaged soul. This painting "felt" good.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

I have been painting for 3 months today. Purchased first art materials, ever, and started my painting journey on November 22, 2025. Here are my 6 paintings, all oil on canvas or canvas panel #oilpainting #arizonaartist #southwestartist #fineart #stilllife #realism #surrealism #painting #art

Sunflowers and Coffee 18x24" (Jan 26)
Brittle Winter 8x10" (Feb 26)
Cosmic Cowboy 11x14" (Feb 26)
Desert Fragility 9x12" (Jan 26)
Lynch: Cadmium Red Deep 5x7" (Dec 25)
Dem Apples 5x7" (Dec 25)

Please register at www.ryanclarkcreates

Website launches soon.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

If you have been following along with #cosmiccowboy, here is a video trying to capture it sans glares. I'm not calling it done, but I'm iffy of my current ability to escalate it. Fifth Painting Cosmic Cowboy 9x12 inch oil on canvas panel #oilpainting #surrealism #arizonaartist #southwestpainter

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

This week at Mesa Arts Center we worked on clouds. I felt like I started out well, but just got blend happy. At home, I've been trying to improve on cosmic nebula and stars. This was the first practice on canvas working out what will be the face of #cosmiccowboy #oilpainting #arizonaartist #clouds

This is a picture from Mesa Arts Center this week. Fifth week, and we were working on clouds. The reference picture is in the TV at the back of the photo. My clouds started off in dark purples and blues. This is before getting blending-itis

After I went to town with a big mop style blending brush I was left with cotton candy puffs with no shape.

I have a tendency to think of class as practice time, but Im always disappointed when I don't have more of a completed piece at the end. Especially these last two weeks.

Reference picture of a nebula that I am using for the face of my "Cosmic Cowboy" painting in progress. The actual nebula is bright with bright white and yellow before fading into oranges, magenta and blues that swirl outward like a cosmic hurricane.

My actual nebula looks a lot more like flames spiraling outward. I do like the blues and white as it fades and curls to the bottom.

This is a 5x7 inch canvas panel. The dimensions of the Cowboy face are slightly smaller. I think, if I had kept the nebula smaller in scale, this was very close to what I'm going for.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Added a second layer this morning. I do not think I will add another, when dry, I think this is done. This is my fourth completed painting. More info in Alt Text Brittle Winter Oil on 9x12 canvas panel February 2026 #oilpainting #realism #paintdaily #learnpainting #glazing

This was 2 of 2 offerings for my third Basics of Oil Painting class. I did the first choice in class (a large green pitcher with three oranges) in class on canvas paper, but I took this one also to do at home.

It is a brittle mellowed leaf, mostly flat, but with one "leaf" of the Maple Tree Leaf is bent away from view. There is a curl at the very top of the "top leaf".

The leaf is placed in a painted salt jar.

The background is Ultramarine Blue with some scrubbed in Lamp Black. The foreground is a soft baby blue.

Brittle Winter
9x12 Oil on canvas panel
February 2026

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Today in the studio I mixed up a lightly pigmented Cadmium Yellow Glaze to apply to the leaf. I'm hoping for the glaze to brighten the lights, deepen the darks. Then, because I'm aging in an Open Boat in corporate America, I continued painting some rocks to throw. #oilpainting #arizonaartist #art

Still life of a brittle dried leaf in a painted salt cylinder on a baby blue table with a deep Ultramarine Blue and Lamp Black background.

Pre Glaze.

When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples.

Stephen Crane, Open Boat

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

This is my second practice of painting cosmic clouds and nebula in space. I'm trying to practice on multimedia paper before moving back to Cosmic Cowboy canvas. It is definitely a blending game. Here, I can see exactly where I should've stopped. #oilpainting #learnpainting #cosmicart #azartist

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Practicing the Cosmic part.... Flipping the stars was a fail on this run. #oilpainting #cosmospainting #cosmic #surrealism

I started with a base layer of flat black. Put on thin, left to dry for two hours.

This is a practice on media paper, the lamp black dried quickly.

I then scrubbed on a very thin layer of Ultramarine Blue. Adter that I doodle a little detail with a mix of Titanium White and Cadmium Lemon. I blended away with a Filbert brush. I added a few blending in sections of Pthalo Blue and Alzarian Crimson. Then tried to flip the stars with a fan brush.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

#cinema hits different when you start paying attention to #composition. I love #oilpainting, but today I watched two movies: one I'd seen before, one I hadn't. I'd seen neither since reading this book. #Frankenstein #Sinners

Victor meets Elizabeth shot from del Toro's Frankenstein. Composed like an oil painting.

Elizabeth with fan.

Film Still or Oil Painting?

Symmetrical players lit with fog and perfection of green and soft light.

The composition of this scene is Haley Mills The Parent Trap legendary.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Laying some plans for an oil painting down the road. #who'sgotnext #oilpainting #bestlaidplans #mechanicalheart #aorticaenyrism #regrets #paintingistherapy Story in Alt Text.

A realistic model of a human heart. The plan is to replace the upper left quadrant (the aortic arch area) with gears and machinery.

I survived an aortic aenyrism in October of 2020. My aortic arch was replaced by a mechanical one. I low-key tick, like the crocodile from Peter Pan.

An artistic rendering of gears in two major colors presented in perspective, that is flipped, would be a close fit to the upper left quadrant.

It will make a great reference for the drawing for my eventual painting.

When I was a kid, my step dad had a Weimeraner (sp) named Duchess. She got Parvo. And my step dad took me, the dog and a rifle to the desert to show me how to be a man.

Years later, my very first malamute, rescued from a kennel, was dying. When my step dad tragically died, I inherited that .308 rifle.

I took my dog into the woods.
I no longer own guns.

There are things we do, or, that are done to us, that take bites out of our souls.

The blue valve and tube above the left chamber if the heart.....

It exploded.

I am 52. Some of the bites, have been deep.

I am trying to fill those bites....

With paint.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

If you are into #supportindependentartists, experimental #storytelling, #indiemusic, #Arizona, #azartists, #southwesternarts, #horror, #ghosts torres, #oilpainting, #vinylrecords or influenced anyway #resist ing this #criminalregime through the #arts, you should definitely be following. Stay Tuned.

My first independently produced compilation of Arizona inspired ghost stories, Spirits of Jerome. Jerome and Bisbee Arizona like to argue about which town is more haunted. I wrote a book giving the reason for my vote.

The forward is written by long time Arizona folk singer, Stephen Ashbrook. Please look up his music.

My first record celebrating Arizona Indie Music. This project put 4 great AZ bands, into a celebrated rec I rding studio with The Bob Hoag to record one original sing. These are presented on Burlington Record Pressing Vinyl in 3 colors. You will be AMAZED these artists are Indie. (And some, no longer are).

This second record featured 6 bands. 3 per side. 45 RPM. The Hookworm Records project put TEN AZ bands, on vinyl, with a PREMIER recording engineer to do ONE ORIGINAL SONG. It was ambitious. I am intensely proud of it.

Now, I oil paint.
Here I am featured with my first commissioned painting, Desert Fragility. 9x12 canvas panel oil painting of a glued together fragmented ceremonial native american bowl presented with a branch of cholla, a wildflower and a desert willow bean pod.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

My Safeway decided to allow this guy to stay at work. Jerseys were allowed today. What football mascot is this Safeway? Is it even jersey material? I think I'll where my artifa jersey to work, and when you send me home........ Union. On speed dial.

Safeway cashier in Awatukee Foothills Arizona wearing an Hawaiian shirt decorated with bald eagles carrying AR-15's on Superbowl Sunday.

My Anti Fascist, Anti Racist Kind Cowboy jersey.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

#oilpainting #surrealism #art #artist #southwestartist #paintdaily #cosmiccowboy #fineart Cosmic Cowboy Oil on 9x12 canvas panel 5 hours brushtime Work in Progress More details in Alt Text

In the early 2000's I was an English Teacher. Charles Ellsworth turned up in my Sophomore Honors class. Then he appeared in my Junior CP class. Finally, he was in my Senior English class.

He played soccer and football, and I had a hard time convincing him to join my Speech & Debate team (he never did), but we had some great conversations in my classes over the years.

Now, he lives in Brooklyn and has several albums. You should check him out, he's wonderful. He writes poetry I wish I'd written. His new record is called Cosmic Cannon Fodder.

This painting is a gift for my friend.

This is my first surreal piece, and as soon as I lay in the face you will understand.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

My friend Charles Ellsworth says we should be the cowboy we want to see in the world. I agree.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Tonight was Still Life techniques at Oil Painting class. Class really pushes me to try to finish a piece in 2.5 hours. I am really enjoying that aspect, having to do the drawing fast, having to mix as you go, but working so much wet into wet is challenging for me. #oilpainting #stilllife #swartist

12x16 inch oil on canvas paper

Deep Cadmium Red background, sandstone rock base (which I had just begun at the end of class) with a green pitcher and three oranges.

I'm happy with the blending. The piece was called whimsical in class. Really working at developing my direct painting skills.

Most folks in class chose the same reference photo. This lady's pictured on the left, is really good. Whereas mine has all these sweeping strokes of color, her's almost seems chiseled out, with precise, overlapping small strokes.

I really feel comfortable in this class. It's a great mix of folks, of all different skill levels, and it is awesome to compare with other students and see what they did that might inform your piece.

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Ryan Clark @ryanbclark.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Got going on this piece again today. Put in a solid painting session this morning of about 3.5 hours. Work in Progress Cosmic Cowboy Oil on 9x12 canvas panel #oilpainting #paintdaily #art #southwestartist #artist #surrealism #charlesellsworthmusic #rocklocal #wip

Oil painting on 9x12 inch canvas panel. Pallet; Cadmium Orange, Titanium White, Cobalt Blue, Pthalo Green, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red Light, Cadmium Lemon and Lamp Black.

Based on the Charles Ellsworth 'Cosmic Cannon Fodder' album cover.

Work In Progress.

Only the hat band is left to cover the canvas.

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