Ryan's Academy

Thomist Society Logo

2012-02-07T15:33:00.000-06:00

TSA - Pig Perverts

2011-12-12T21:23:00.005-06:00

Dr. Dempsey - Aristotle's truest exegete

2011-08-09T07:35:00.003-06:00

This is an illustration of Dr. Dempsey, the post-doctoral fellow who hosted this Summer's reading group of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Dr. Dempsey is currently working on a book about the Ethics.

C is for Cookies!

2011-05-09T17:57:00.003-06:00

Anjali had teased me about eating too many cookies so I drew this picture of myself as the Cookie Monster.

Khavid, the Slothful Tauren

2011-03-28T09:08:00.005-06:00

A caricature of my roommate Khavid as a tree-sloth playing World of Warcraft on his laptop computer. The Goodall Wooten Dormitory is in the background. Khavid is unemployed.

Time Paradox UPA poster

2011-03-25T18:51:00.007-06:00

I illustrated this black and white silhouette of the Grim Reaper for the forthcoming University of Texas Undergraduate Philosophy Association debate between Prof. Dever and Prof. Koons on the metaphysics of time, "Time Paradox".

Artwork of Me from Caricature Convention

2011-01-18T20:47:00.005-06:00

Here are some drawings which were made of me at the caricature convention.

Caricature Convention 2011

2011-01-18T19:11:00.010-06:00

Here are some caricatures which I completed at this year's CrippleCon caricature convention. The first image is of myself drawing feverishly during an art competition. The following are images of drawings which I completed for friends at the convention.

Amelia - La Liberté Guidant le Peuple

2010-12-14T20:34:00.015-06:00

After this semester's schoolwork I have completed an astonishing caricature for Amelia. She is depicted as Marianne, the embodiment of French Republicanism, in the pose of La Liberté from the painting Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix. In her right arm (left) Amelia clutches the coat of the French Existentialist novelist Albert Camus. In her left hand (right) Amelia hoists a silver candlestick, which glows with masonic imagery, stolen from the altar at the rear. The setting is the Cathedral of Lyon where the Bishop Myriel, a character in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables, generously offers Amelia this silver candlestick in exchange for a promise a moral and honest life. Pink, blue and gold light streams through the brilliant Gothic stained glass windows, as medievalism is allegorically synthesized with modern French Republicanism in a stupendous exhibition of Amelia's charm, literary interests, and personal brilliance.

Restoration of James's Caricature

2010-11-13T15:32:00.007-06:00

After learning how to use Adobe Photoshop, I have spent the past week restoring and correcting the mistakes of a poorly scanned image of James's caricature. I will give James a new print of it on his 23rd Birthday.

Here is the former post of James's caricature

Lance as Napoleon Crossing the Alps

2010-08-24T20:34:00.005-06:00

Lance commissioned this caricature of himself as Napoleon Bonaparte crossing the Alps.

Alexis de Tocqueville Summer Reading Group

2010-08-09T22:13:00.008-06:00

This is a caricature of five of the members in the Jefferson Center's Summer 2010 Alexis de Tocqueville reading group. I am included at the top right.

Teresa the Internet Fox

2010-02-16T21:19:00.009-06:00

Teresa is a philosophy student at UT Austin. She is a wily young woman with fiery red hair, whose whose identity is fragmented into a medley of cyberspace personas. In this caricature I aimed to accentuate her pointed nose, large ear, chin, black-rimmed glasses and wry smile. I depicted her as a red fox to better match her hair, and with her laptop to her side with which she is simultaneously in and out of cyberspace.

Artwork of me

2010-01-20T16:28:00.012-06:00

Here is a collection of artwork completed at the recent caricature convention featuring my likeness.

CrippleCon Artwork

2010-01-18T12:37:00.019-06:00

Here are some drawings which I completed for other caricature

artists at this year's CrippleCon caricature convention:

James "Thomas Moore" Griffin

2009-10-14T20:28:00.034-06:00

Cardinal Griffin, the hammer of heretics, the light of the orient, and the arbiter of Christendom.

Here are some pictures which I used for reference in the background details This is the completed drawing in colour and black and white ink.Here are some prepatory sketches in which I planned the form of the composition.James is devout young historically and theologically attentive Baroque gentleman, whose historism has led him to irreversibly indulge in the culture and character of superior times. It is often imagined that the study of history, rather than a mere assembly of chronology and data, is meant to shape ones character- producing a sympathy with the past and those customs and concerns associated with their times. James's intellectual adventurism has lead him unto a path into the premodern era of higher culture and more splendid devotion, from which few can suitably follow and he cannot be expected to return unchanged. In this composition, I attempted to portray James as he truly is, situated in the era of the baroque Ancien Regime, rather than interned in our present circumstances which are wholly alien to him. As such, James is depicted in a heroic stance of conquerors and kings. James is a cardinal, soldier, and law-giver. With one hand he gives order and harmony to Asia. With the other, he attentively grasps the hilt of his sword as he pivots his body towards the West and his perpetual devotion to the Catholic faith. Although the composition is devided in two, representing James's divided intellectual and ethnic heritage, their remains a continuity of devotion and fidelity which follows from the kowtowing Asian businessman at the far right unto the adoration of the splendid Eucharist at the far left. Let all who see this know, that James hast cast out the demons of modernity unto the outer darkness, and restored harmony, filiality, and devotion to the world! Praise Jahmes.

Don Pablo Miguel Alberto Vazquez, Baron of the Panamas, San Antonio, and Gran Columbia!

2009-10-01T22:22:00.027-06:00

"Imagination Rules the World!" -Napoleon BonapartePhotographed and smaller scanned image of completed pictureCompleted black and white ink drawingPablo's black and white body without colour or backgroundPrepatory pencil sketch of Pablo's reclining pose with ink sketch of background details.Coronation of Napoleon painting overlayed upon Goethe image used for referencePablo is a politically and philosophically astute gentleman, dandy , romantic, socialite, and messianic populist revolutionary. To meet Pablo is to be struck by his intense admiration of the great populist Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as his commitment to lessening the burden of capitalism and securing the hearts of the people through a cult of personality. As native of Panama and a student in Texas, Pablo might be thought to be a man of two worlds. Yet Pablo's only true home lies in an undiluted vision of the future, in which the popular enthusiasm of bonapartism finds its truest expression in the majesty of European costume, pageantry, and royalty. In this caricature, I attempted to capture the visionary romanticism of Goethe, the dandyism of Oscar Wilde, and the monumental presence of a popular leader whose ideals and inspiration descends from the heavens rather than the city of man.

Peter: Long Live the Fighters!

2009-09-08T12:14:00.010-06:00

"God created Arrakis to train the faithful..."

Peter is an arabist history senior at the University of Texas. He is a good friend and my most recent roommate. Both he and I are fans of Frank Herbert's Dune novels and the David Lynch adaptation(1984). I attempted to exagerrate his brow, mouth and cranial width. I cast Peter in the costume of T.E. Lawrence from the David Lean film "Lawrence of Arabia"(1962) atop a camel. In the backgroud I drew Shai-Hulud, the trademark sand worm of the planet Arrakis a.k.a. Dune, with a host of Fremen on its topside.

Kyle-cature

2009-08-04T17:11:00.010-06:00

This concept came upon me unexpectedly. I quickly created this image to satirize the large eyes and small mouth depicted on the caricature featured above.Kyle is a quick-witted, erudite dialectician, who carefully studied and specializes in all aspects of 20th century analytic philsophy. He has a beautiful and charming girlfriend (who is pictured farther down) and, after graduating with a B.A. in philosophy from UT, is now enrolled in the UT Law School. In Kyle's picture, I attempted to accentuate his cheek bones, eyes, and inclined forehead, whilst minimizing his mouth and cranial verticality.

Some Recent Doodles

2009-03-02T23:11:00.008-06:00

Here are some recent pen and paper drawings which I have done for friends at school.

More couples

2008-08-24T08:01:00.005-06:00

Here are some more couples drawings. Some are better than others.

Lynn

2008-08-18T18:05:00.007-06:00

I just finished this at home drawing of one of our first year artists. She was particularly challenging to draw because I wanted to exagerrate her cheeks and nose without making her look old or fat of which she is neither. I hope it came out well.

More Couples and Tay!

2008-08-14T19:59:00.006-06:00

Here are some mediocre park sketches and a sweet drawing that I did of Taylor!

Francesca

2008-08-13T21:05:00.004-06:00

I drew this for a first year artist at worked named Francesca.

Back from Germany

2008-08-06T22:18:00.008-06:00

I have been back in Texas from Germany for the Past two weeks. I am picking up caricatures again. I have done a few good sketches since I returned from Germany. Here is a picture of cute couple that I drew at La Tienda, and full colour body of my US History Professor from Texas State! Derek also drew a super cool drawing of me.

Sarah

2008-04-09T21:56:00.004-06:00

Here's a picture that I did for another friend of mine at school. I think I may have overcoloured this one. I'm not completely satisfied with it.

1st week of 4th Season

2008-03-16T23:08:00.009-06:00

Caye An

2008-03-13T23:53:00.005-06:00

Caye an is another nice girl at my school who requested that I draw her a caricature. The color is alittle off but, I think it turned out well.

Julia

2008-03-11T14:11:00.009-06:00

Julia is a very nice Philosophy student at UT who offered to knit me some mittens in exchange for a caricature.

Kristmas Katelyn

2007-12-21T02:08:00.001-06:00

I haven't drawn a caricature since school started. I wanted to draw Katelyn again for her Christmas present. This one's pretty tame, but given my tendency to frighten Katelyn with my previous drawings of her, I think she'll like it.

Katelyn in Kolor!

2007-08-23T09:18:00.001-06:00

I had practiced drawing Lauren and Katelyn for their visit in June, but when they came to the park I was too nervous to draw a proper cariacture(the drawing was embarassingly aweful) so I decided to redo it at home. I put it off all summer, but I finally got around to finishing it last night.

Last Post of '07 Season

2007-08-22T21:20:00.000-06:00

This couple was exceedingly nice. They asked to be Zeus and
Aphrodite without prompting. I wasn't sure what to do for the Goddess of Love so
I made her a bit naked. Scandalous, I know...

This guy was a big Superman fan. He had ridden the Superman coaster
quite a few times and had Superman earrings. He had very well defined muscles so
I played on that. When I finished he fell out of his chair laughing. He couldn't
get over how "awesome" he thought it was. I liked it too

This family was from England and although they weren't as talkative
as my Irish families, I did get them to tell me a little bit about that old
Island across the pond. The girl was very nice and pretty. She said we didn't
speak funny, but everyone here thought her accent was cute.

This couple didn't know what to get. They were
thinking of doing a Muscle man Bikini Babe body, so I stopped them and suggested
they do "Julius Caesar and Cleopatra". I had to explain to them how Cleopatra
VII snuck into her palace concealed in a rug or else they wouldn't have
understood.

I drew a family of 3 kids each individually. This
one was the most fun with the enormous exaggerated hair. The hair is simplified
so as not to take too long with the detailed curls. Curly hair is difficult,
because of the necessity of simplification.

The Last Judgement: FTX 2007 Group Picture

2007-08-13T18:35:00.000-06:00

After hours of planning and prelimminary sketches I'm finally finished with this years Group Picture. I drew my inspiration from Raphael's 'The Academy of Athens' and Michelangelo's 'the Last Judgement'. It contains 26 artists from Sea World and Fiesta Texas. Included are(from left to right):
Robert: Velociraptor fleeing Angel's Spermatoza
Brendan: Tall lanky guy dusting off Nicky's book with a broomstick
Nicky: Short girl with enormous Harry Potter Book
Jackie: Tall girl with Beautiful hair and an airbrush compressor
Karen: Short Black/Asian girl chilling on the back of Christina/horse
Tyler: Riding Christina/horse and spraying Angel/Sperm with disenfectant
Taylor: Noble Optimus Prime battling Decepticons
Angel: Spermatoza fleeing from disenfectant attempting to seed Robert
Katelyn: The Lady of Ladyships w/Halo
Christina: Horse who's recently lost alot of weight
Mel: Virgin Mary
Ryan Haecker: Plato debating while thinking of her Ladyship
Flanigan: Jesus/Zeus casting judgement
Ryan Otto: Jean Paul Sartre Debating while thinking of a nice Vegan Salad
Lindsey: Virgin Mary #2
Lauren: Pushing Sam wearing a nurse's hat and some nice new shoes
Jeff: Giraffe eating Otto's nice salad
Sam: Battling the incredible Hulk
Kelcie: Evil Megatron shooting Optimus Prime
Patrick: The Incredible Hulk battling Sam Lotfi
Derek: Boxer fighting Jaime
Ryan Foerster: Holding up musical harmica w/o shirt and lots of hair
Randy: Spartan helping Pat/Hulk
Kevin: Spartan with HighButt held aloft by Randy's Spear
Jaime: Caporeira fighting Derek

the Fall of Rome

2007-08-13T10:45:00.000-06:00

Sam Lotfi has been planning this one for awhile. I think he's implying that I'm long winded and an admirer of antiquity.

This appeared on the Rockville board. I don't think everyone appreciates Katelyn as much as I do.

This nice fellow wanted to be doing Karate but I kept making jokes about how much he looked like Jesus. So he asked if he could be Jesus doing Karate.

This couple wanted it in B/W. When she saw it she couldn't stop laughing or telling me how amazing it was. She really liked it.

This drunk couple was very appreciative and talkative. She insisted upon a Snake in the picture.

Bald men and Bodies

2007-08-07T09:42:00.000-06:00

This First couple came to me with their Grandkids. I was thinking, 'Oh no I have to draw more toddlers'. Then he asked me if I'd seen 300 and if I could draw him with 'Huge Muscles'. It was really fun and attracted alot of attention.

This couple had seen the 300 drawing and waited for an hour for their sketch. He wanted me to decide what kind of body to give them. He required that he be smoking and she be skinny.

More Cartooon pictures!

2007-07-30T18:19:00.000-06:00

Herr Otto

2007-07-30T18:02:00.000-06:00

The coolest cat at Fiesta has just moved to Cali. He will be missed :(
You can find his work here at: http://www.fromtheseat.blogspot.com/

Customers, Couples and Co-workers

2007-07-10T09:13:00.000-06:00

Here's a few more pictures I've done recently. The First is of Niki, a noob caricature artist who's proven immensely fun to draw. Ryan Otto tried one, but mine so far outdid his that he gave up on it. The second is a pretty portraitcature that I pulled off when I was trying to exagerate the size of her eyes and lips.

Here's a dbl color body I drew for a couple from INDIA!! They were really nice (apparently Indian people speak english in addition to their local dialect) and I got the guy on the left to talk to me about Hindi Scripture and Sanskrit Epic Poems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata

The second to last is one I did of Derek, no one's really done proper caricature of him (Christina's was pretty imaginative) so I thought I'd give it a try. I might try it again though cause I'm not sure It's got the best likeness.

Brendan, Kevin, Lauren, and some Cuticatures!

2007-06-21T23:15:00.000-06:00

I was stuck doing some pretty lame "cuticatures" for a while. I've been trying to experiment more with my park sketches lately. I did get some good employee drawings done. Don't forget to take a look at the FTX wall before you leave (there are three pictures of me if you look hard enough).

Taylor, Troy, and Alexander!

2007-06-06T21:53:00.001-06:00

I drew a nice picture of Taylor for a change (I refuse to publish it) and she loved it but Christina made fun of me for going soft on her so I decided that I needed to mess Taylor up. If you're wondering she makes this face when she's drawing. Airbrush/Comic book artist Troy visited us from Busch Gardens (where he's not allowed to exagerrate lol) and he insisted on getting his picture drawn. I was honored to oblige. And while I usually abhore drawing bodies for babies, I got a kick out of this one for a 3 month old boy named Alexander. When the mother asked what kind of body should she do, I immediately said "he should be Alexander the Great!" . The picture is titled 'Megos Alexandros' which is what the Greeks called this kid from Macedon who conquered the known world by the age of 25!

Karen Sketch with thick lines

2007-05-23T16:18:00.000-06:00

I've been working on my line quality and colouring techniques to improve my sketch. Check out my earlier picture of Karen for a comparison.

Kountdown Komplete: I drew some Katelyn!

2007-05-20T08:13:00.001-06:00

The Kountdown concluded with a visit from Katelyn and Lauren. I expected a breif visit with them but they stayed around for the better part of two hours to get a series of demos drawn(they were horrible pictures). They visited us many times afterwards and even Flanigan got his chance to draw these two Kaman's alumni.

Some new Park Art

2007-05-20T07:57:00.000-06:00

'07 Park Sketches

2007-04-23T10:02:00.000-06:00

Some of these are better than others. They're not my best work cause I do 'em pretty fast but some of them turn out good enough for publication.

The first one here is of Edmund, a portrait artist at Sea World. I saw Jeff draw an exceedingly lame caricature of him so I decided to take him to the academy. Edmund agreed that mine was alot better. He wants to come work at Fiesta but I let him know that there's a waiting list 'cause all the Sea World'ers want to work here.

Christina Trading card

2007-04-18T16:32:00.002-06:00

I just finished my picture of Christina's caricature. She really does have an upturned nose.

'07 Staff Caricatures

2007-04-09T19:50:00.000-06:00

Here are some new pics of the '07 Fiesta Staff that I've done of late. They inlude Dana Wiggins Heather Wizbecki and Karen Belcher

Ryan Otto's trading card

2007-03-01T12:26:00.000-06:00

Here's b/w pen drawing that I'm planning to digitally color for Ryan Otto's Six flags trading card. I've never used Adobe illustrator to color something so it might not happen. I'm planning on basing the card off a scene from the movie "Se7en" cause I like to joke that Otto looks like mass murderer.

Looney Lauren trading card

2007-02-20T19:43:00.000-06:00

Here's a colour picture I made of Lauren. I'm gonna try to make it into a trading card of sorts by Friday. Wish me luck.

Myself

2007-02-07T22:43:00.000-06:00

Caricature of my sister

2007-02-06T12:36:00.000-06:00

Off Season Caricatures

2007-02-04T18:24:00.000-06:00

Here's a collection of drawings I've been doing with my new Easel. Check out the pictures I've done of some of my favorite ladies including loony Lauren and the lovely Lady Katelyn. Leave some comments so I know you care.

Season '06 Caricatures

2007-02-04T16:40:00.000-06:00