Article By: Amelia Rose
Originally Published In the June/July 2020 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
As much as I love putting American artists in the spotlight, it never hurts to give the international artists some much-needed love too. So, this month’s artist profile comes to us from across the pond. Ryan Quickfall has been an artist since he was a child, though back then, it was more a source of entertainment. Okay, it’s still kind of a source of enjoyment today, but it now it also functions as his business. In his early days of creating art is was about entertaining himself, today it has become a want, even a need to create all the time, and now it is a full -time job. Ryan has been fully selfemployed for the past 6 or 7 years. Although even long before that, as a kid, he used his art to make money, by designing and selling t-shirts, though he says, they were pretty poor. (haha). It wasn’t until something clicked with him when he was older that he decided to start creating art seriously.
One of his very first commissions came from Gary Inman of Sideburns Magazine, and his career snowballed from there. It also became his gateway into the world of motorcycle art and he has been working with motorcycles since. He gathers his creative inspiration from the people he has met through his work, as well as from the opportunities he has to travel. He finds himself inspired by anyone who is doing their own thing and has pushed themselves to learn and to make a career from it. However, the motivational force that continually pushed him is the need to progress his skills and share the ideas in his head with the rest of the world.
For his preferred mediums, Ryan tends to lean towards the classic brush and ink. From there, if it’s a piece for print, an editorial, or a t-shirt, he’ll scan it and color it digitally. Working with a digital medium often speeds up the process and makes it easier/cleaner for the artist to transfer, share, and edit their a Article By: Amelia “Killer” Rose work. If Ryan happens to be working on a canvas, helmet, or paper, the whole process will be done by hand. Sketching work- transfer to paper- then finishing colors with spray paint, acrylic, and enamel paint. Ryan has been interested in Motorcycles from a very young age. When he was younger, he used to mess around with them in the fields behind his house. Once he was 21, he got his full motorcycle license, and it all became serious after that. That was 15 years ago now, and his love for both motorcycles and art is stronger than ever. Though it was never a conscious decision, it was just a rightplace- right-time kind of thing, which can often be the best kind of thing
As for what sets him apart as an artist, he tries to create characters and scenarios within his work that are entirely unique to him. He also does his best to establish a good client base early on as he works constantly, be it commissions or personal projects. When asked where Ryan feels his art is going, he said that though you’re never able to know what’s around the corner, he feels positive about the direction his art is headed in. His foot is firmly down on the gas and has no intention of letting up yet! Through his art, he has had the opportunity to travel across the world with his best friend and has met some fantastic people through his travels. Be it famous, inspiring, or just good people, and the one thing they all have in common: they’re all hard-working and good-natured. Oh, and Motorcycles!
Some of his favorite memories over the past years come from blasting around California and cutting up the canyon roads with no-one else around, shooting eastward through the blazing desert heat to meet Otto from Biltwell, and riding the roads out from Temecula dodging fallen avocados! He has also had the incredible opportunity to paint walls in London through his friends at Rebels Alliance (check them out!). There, as he painted, he was watched by hundreds of people. All the while in his head he was thinking, “Shit, I have no idea what I’m doing!” But where there’s a will, there’s a way! Today you can find Ryan just outside of Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England. He recently moved his studio of 5 years back home, which is an exciting new chapter for him. As I write this, we are all currently under the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, which isn’t any fun for the wrf 250 that he’s got sitting in the garage waiting to be ridden. Hopefully, things will pick up soon so we can all be out riding again! For the future, there’s no solid plan in his mind but he has several ideas that will turn into projects once time allows. Eventually, he’d like to do a few more international shows, some solo shows where he can showcase his talents, as well as some collaborations with other brands.
