“When I was young, I had things figured out. The most important thing in the world was to draw pictures and make stories. So now my career consists of this; and my goal as an author-illustrator is retaining the mindset & wishes I had when I was 7 years old.”

When I was in first grade, we had a “Young Authors Week” at my school, and although I don’t remember a lot of it, I do remember we spent the whole week just writing and drawing. So I was convinced after that – I had no more use for math or geography – I only wanted to write and draw.”

“I have been nostalgic my whole life, and I think that plays a huge part in why I never really grew up, and my childhood goals are my same goals now”.

“I studied art my whole life, but it wasn’t until the tail end of college that I had an epiphony, and remembered the best way to be happy is to remember what I loved when I was little. After that, I did everything I could to learn the ropes of the children’s publishing industry”.

“My approach in creating picture books is to be honest and have true intentions, and hope that kids will see that in the art & in the writing. I never wanted to be viewed as just another grown-up trying to make things for kids, I am really just a kid who snuck his way into the grown-up world.”

“I keep my drawing style simple & obtainable. I think it can be exciting for kids to read books that they feel they could have made. Artistically, I was always intimidated by beautiful picture books that looked like they belonged under glass, and I never felt that was the type of artist I was meant to be. I classify my style as “whimsical”, because my style is simple and my themes are typically more innocent, if not a tad cynical & ironic.”

Continue to Ryan’s Promo Photos