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Art comes from deep inside
 It lifts your spirits and changes your mood

Donald Ryker

artist

I see myself first and foremost as a man who loves life, and loves to express myself through art. An artist. 

So I paint. OK, so I have a some unique personal challenges which mean I cannot use my hands Many people know me as Donald Ryker, the expressionist artist who paints using his head. That’s because due to having Cerebral Palsy, I paint using a pretty clever rigged-up hard hat.

My paintings are colourful expressions of who I am, how I feel about life, and who I’ve been influenced by – Franz Mark’s freedom from traditional colors, Monet’s layers and texture, and Van Gough’s clear pigments and loose brush strokes. 

My favorite subjects are lions, birds, dogs, and peaceful landscapes.

I hope you enjoy browsing the site. You can also see original Donald Ryker paintings in person.

Artist Standing in Snow Fine Art Block Print with Artist Donald Ryker
More About Me

Donald Ryker

gallery

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Donald Ryker is a true inspiration.
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Ryker is passionate about painting and continuing to create art. It has been said that his paintings 'are masterpieces ... that could easily hang beside highly acclaimed expressionist artists' work'. Ryker's artwork will provide the collector with value they will enjoy the rest of their life.
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Every morning I wake up and walk in where Donald Ryker’s art is hanging. Seeing it reminds me of the work that went into creating it and I am inspired for the day.
View All Works
Artist Standing in Snow Fine Art Block Print with Artist Donald Ryker
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Donald Ryker, Self Portrait

Donald Ryker – self portrait

I paint because I love to.

Donald Ryker

painting

Blue Horse is one of the first horses I painted. It reminds me of the fun I had riding horses when I was little. Being up on that horse was a whole new world. I was up high, I was moving free of my wheelchair, and I was with a warm wonderful animal. Horses always connected with me even when I was still seated in my chair. It is amazing to have that huge head come down to say hi.

I chose the blue color for the calm peaceful feeling I get from it. The sky is limitless and here is sky together with the amazing animal. Tints of dark to light phthalo blue formed the horse and purple and blue glaze give more shadow. The background was originally green, and I made it much more complex by layering red and purple. I like the simplicity of the paint on the horse and the complexity of the background colors.

See My Work

Donald Ryker

faqs

I always had an interest in art and the natural world around me.

I began painting at 16 years old in high school, then picked it up again seriously in college, and ended up majoring in fine arts.

I’ve been painting ever since. You can see a video about this.

I have always had Cerebral Palsy. That affects the messaging between my mind and muscles and makes it difficult for me to use my hands. Head painting is the easiest way for me to control my brush and create what I want. I might be the only hard-hat painter in the world.

Check out some videos I made which show how I adapted and honed my skills.

My painting style is Expressionist.

In Expressionist Art it is clear what the subject of the work is, but there is also an artistic interpretation that goes beyond what you see in photography or realistic painting.

An expressionist artist is not just documenting what is seen in the world – they use color to evoke emotion and include their own creativity in their work. The viewer is invited to join in the artist’s freedom and use their eye and mind to interpret the color and shape to see what the artist has created. There is a vitality, feeling, and often a story to see.  

I like to create the world around me on my canvas and add a piece of myself.

I am inspired by natural subjects and landscapes that show movement, whether it is the setting sun, a turning head, crashing waves, the blowing mane of a lion, or the gaze of the subject looking at the viewer. I capture a moment in time that evokes feeling for me and I hope for the viewer.

An average painting from start to finish can take around 20 hours.  More complex pieces, or multi-panel works can take 60 hours, or more.

See my videos.

I spend a lot of time thinking about what I will paint next. Often something happens which inspires me. Once I have found a subject matter:

  • I select a photo for inspiration and sketch it on my canvas with charcoal

  • I choose my color palette and mix my paints from scratch by adding pigment to heavy medium. I often build my paint and glazes from a range of tints and shades of an initial color I have mixed. I always want my paintings to be vivid and it is important to me to go beyond the primary colors to use the variety and range of hues in the natural world.

  • I fill in the base colors to establish shapes and areas of light and dark. That color will influence what you see through the next layers.

  • I begin to build layers of impasto glaze, my special high texture stained glass look. 

  • After I have developed the look I want for the subject and background I emphasize the source of light using shadows and highlights.

  • Finally, I add my signature hard-hat stencil in the lower right corner.

I have a few videos on the site where you can see me in action.

Look through the online gallery here.

Or check out details for permanent viewing of original art, or temporary exhibitions, here.

If you coming to my town, give me a heads up, and you are welcome to visit my studio.

There are a few videos showing me painting or at past exhibitions you may be interested in also.

Read My Bio

Commission A Painting

Get in touch about exhibiting my work or commissioning a piece,

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I am committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should I ask you to provide certain information from which you can be identified when using this website, you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

If I change this policy I will update this page. You should check from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 22 August 2012.

What I collect

I may collect the following information:

  • your name
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  • demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
  • other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers

What I do with the information I gather

I require this information to provide you with a better service and in particular for the following reasons:

  • Internal record keeping.
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  • I may periodically send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which I think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided.
  • From time to time, I may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. I may contact you by email, phone, fax or mail. I may use the information to customise the website according to your interests.

Security

I am committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, I have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information I collect online.

How I use cookies

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I use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps me analyse data about web page traffic and improve the website. I only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help provide you with a better website by monitoring which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

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My website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that I do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, I cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways. If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing or emailing me.

I will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless I have your permission or are required by law to do so. I may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which I think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.

You may request details of personal information which I hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. 

If you believe that any information I are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please email us as soon as possible.  I will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

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I have implemented IP Anonymization, simply put, the last three digits of your IP address are set to zeros in memory shortly after being sent to the Analytics Collection Network. The full IP address is never retained, or written to disk.

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