Today we’d like to introduce you to Leigh Ryan.
Leigh, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I’m an artist and designer from the Boston area. I started really young by taking every possible art class I could (thanks Mom!) and sticking with it, but just within the last few years, I’ve fallen in love with graphic design as well.
I graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA and career-wise, I thought I’d be an art museum marketer full-time and find some creative outlets on the side. That didn’t last too long; as after a year and a half of this, I knew I had to be a designer instead. In addition to my marketing roles, I was freelance painting here and there, but I was desperate to do a lot more with art and visual design.
Deciding to be a designer was easy, but actually becoming one wasn’t. At the time of my “aha” moment (circa 2013), I had no concrete graphic design experience. I had never opened Adobe- anything or heard of online tutorial sites such as Skillshare, and I didn’t really know much about the field. I felt completely clueless about making this dream a reality, and it’s taken a few years to get there.
While working in marketing as my day job and moonlighting as a freelancer, I started taking workshops and short classes at places like the Boston Center for Adult Education and Brookline Center for Adult Education to learn how to use the Adobe Creative Suite software before working my way towards more specialized design courses at MassArt and RISD. Ultimately, I enrolled in the Graphic Design Certificate program at MassArt.
I’m now two years into the program with one year to go and recently began working full-time as a designer. I also still freelance paint and design pretty often on the side!
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I paint and draw using a variety tools, mediums and styles. I especially like painting oil impasto pieces using only a palette knife. I love using color and the feeling and texture impasto paintings have. They take on a life of their own and are absolutely the most fun and rewarding pieces to do. Usually when I paint using this technique, I’m working from life outside or referencing photos of the outdoors, and they are almost always on large canvases.
Outside of painting, I’ve recently started freelance designing branding materials, such as logos and marketing collateral, for individuals and small businesses. I love to do unique projects that call for a quirky perspective and outside-the-box thinking, and I especially love projects that call for a mix of illustration and type. I’m always looking for those opportunities with my projects.
When I paint or design, I try to capture individuality. People are often coming to me with ideas for meaningful gifts for loved ones, requests to help promote their companies, and opportunities to capture special moments, so I try to find ways to highlight what matters most my client and approach my projects in ways other artists and designers might not.
One of my favorite freelance projects from the past year was designing a logo for my friend’s wedding. They wanted to include adirondack chairs to fit the wedding theme, so I drew the chairs with a bridal veil and groom’s tie. It was such a fun design that the couple put their tie and veil on actual adirondack chairs at the reception to bring the logo to life. It was awesome!
I haven’t found my niche yet, but I’m fortunate that I can flex different creative muscles and still have a lot of room to grow. My best work comes when I have multiple projects on deck and I can bounce them off each other.
What responsibility, if any, do you think artists have to use their art to help alleviate problems faced by others? Has your art been affected by issues you’ve concerned about?
Right now there’s so much noise everywhere that it can be hard to be seen and heard. Artists and designers have to stand out but stay authentic, which is not easy. They have to keep up with rapidly changing trends and technologies, while still finding ways to shake up the conversation and connect. I think the role/purpose is the same but now artists look a lot different than they did even just a few years ago.
I haven’t taken much of a political stance artistically yet. I tend to use art as more of an escape from the day-to-day than a response to it, but I won’t rule out doing it in the future.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
A mix of my art and design work is on my Behance page. It has everything from my newest projects to some of my favorite pieces from years ago. It has the greatest scope of what I can do and what I’m most proud of.
My graphic design portfolio can be seen on my website (designcreativeleigh.com), and I post my work and process on Instagram (@designcreative_leigh), which is how Boston Voyager found me.
I’ve also participated in local shows and have had my work up in Boston-area businesses. Hopefully I will get to do a little more of that this year as well.
If you’re interested in working with me for a project, or want to learn more about my pieces, please DM me on Instagram or reach out on my website!
Contact Info:
- Website: designcreativeleigh.com
- Email: lryan560@massart.edu
- Instagram: designcreative_leigh
- Other: behance.net/lcryan88
Image Credit:
I created all of these projects between 2011-2017, and took the photos of them as well. Please let me know if you plan to use these images outside of this article.
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