Featured Illustrator
Welcome! Oregon SCBWI is proud to feature one Illustrator member each month. Below you’ll find information about this month's artist and links to their portfolio. We encourage you to take a few minutes to learn about this Oregon Illustrator and to enjoy their artwork. If you would like to be featured, contact Robin at: oregon-ic@scbwi.org or Jordan at: oregon-ic2@scbwi.org
Ryan Bear
RYAN BEAR
Hi everyone, my name is Ryan Bear. I currently reside in Portland, OR with my wife, son, dog, rabbit and various arthropod companions. I’ve been drawing since I was little. I went to school for 3d animation. Got sick of being on a computer and dove into ink/watercolor. Did a lot of commission work for families and freelance in various capacities for companies as well. Took a stab at storyboarding. Came back to animation but from the 2d side doing motion graphics/cel animation. Then returned back to illustration. I’ve seesawed back and forth between traditional and digital the whole time. Throughout this whole process I’ve always been interested in picture books, dipping in and out of it. Building various portfolios and creating a few book dummies along the way. I have a lot of stories I would love to tell but I also really enjoy illustrating other people's work as well.
Thoughts and Tips from Ryan
The biggest take away I’ve come to hold is that we’re all on our own path. Which is a cliche but bears repeating. Here are some facets to this truth I’ve reflected on over the years.
-It’s easy to look back with hind sight and think you should have done this or that. But know that in that moment it’s the decision you wanted to make or maybe needed to make. Sometimes we aren’t ready, we may need more time or experience to get to where we want to be. You still may not be ready and need more time/experience.
-Don’t just look at your creative career in the short term. All the different things you do will feed into what you're working on next. I’ve jumped around quite a bit in various creative fields and mediums. Which can make you feel crazy after devoting a chunk of time and effort to ultimately just drop it. All these things build on each other and inform the next thing. You can also say with certainty it's not the path you were meant to do. Many people hold regrets about never trying a thing.
-Don’t feel ashamed if your art isn’t your full time job. It can be a side thing till it's ready to be a full time thing. Or you may discover you like it better being a side thing. I still currently work at Fedex as a courier. I definitely felt ashamed about it for a long time because I didn’t have the prestige of saying I’m a “full time artist”. Having another job however can allow you to do your creative pursuit without the pressure of money. You don’t have to take awful jobs to pay the bills. You also gather lots of life experience which will certainly inform your art and make you a more authentic artist.
Follow the path that is meant for you. Lean into it. It may be a straight shot, or it may be a long winding one. They all are correct. You're not alone. We’re all going through it. Keep making your art, the world needs it.
Ryan's Illustrations
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