Ryan Jensen

Ryan Jensen, born in the San Francisco Bay Area, moved around a bit growing up. But his earliest memories are of family and include his father, a painter, and his mother, a graphic designer, arched together over a drafting board in their in-home studio; or his father’s paint-covered hands on the steering wheel as he drove his son to school. On the mornings Ryan’s father left early for work, there would be a sticky-note sketch on the kitchen table, usually a comical depiction that always made Ryan laugh. Jensen began to sketch as a child and never stopped. Somewhere, “deep down,” he knew he wanted to be a professional artist one day, but throughout adolescence and young adulthood there were many other things that captured his interest.

At age twenty-one, Jensen chose to pursue a career in the United States Marine Corps and subsequently served eight years. With three, combat tours to both Iraq and Afghanistan, he gained crucial, life experiences that helped him “see the world through a different lens.” After Jensen was honorably discharged, he returned to school.

Majoring in Fine Arts, in a painting class, he began to work with color for the first time. Jensen realized that his life-long, drawing background had set a great foundation for him as a painter. But it was his “deep down” desire to paint, rooted in family life experiences, that surfaced in the remembered words of his father: words about the importance of warm and cool light and broad brushwork. Now, the first things people notice about Ryan Jensen’s paintings are the way he handles light and his brushwork.

When Ryan is not painting, he cherishes time with his family. His passions include training, fishing, hunting, connecting with nature, and cooking on grill. Jensen makes his home in Sunny Blue Lake, California.

www.ryanjensenartwork.com