Born in 1982, an only child, Bryan Michael McCormick was raised in Jeannette Pennsylvania. He busied himself by drawing and creating with his hands. His interest in art began at a young age, while reading Calvin and Hobbes comics, which he would meticulously copy.
After becoming a wheelchair user, following a skiing accident, in 2001, Bryan vowed to always pursue his dreams. Soon after his injury, he started practicing figure drawing, which he had always wanted to master. Then he made a commitment to challenge his abilities by attending figure drawing sessions at Carnegie Mellon University. Today he continues to attend figure sessions throughout Pittsburgh to maintain a practice of lifelong learning.
Drawing was followed by painting, and in 2011 Bryan began studying watercolors. Oil painting came soon after that.
Bryan learned to paint by painting every single day and by studying the design and composition of old masters. A proud member of the Carnegie Museum of Art, he makes regular visits and meticulously studies composition and paint application, creating small paintings and sketches on site. He also spends countless hours studying books on art at the library, creating innumerable sketches to master design and composition.
Some of his favorite painters to study include Turner, Whistler, Isaac Levitan, Edward Seago, Charles-Francois Daubigny, Ivan Pokhitonov, and Penleigh Boyd.
Bryan primarily paints with the Zorn palette, a limited color palette, which results in low chroma paintings focusing primarily on light, value, and composition. The result is paintings full of color harmony and strong value contrasts.
Bryan continues to paint and draw every single day—painting with oils first thing in the morning, sketching in line for groceries, sketching meals, and painting watercolors into the early hours of the morning.
Bryan loves to share the knowledge he has gleaned from thousands of hours of painting and drawing by teaching private lessons in his home studio.
Bryan has participated in numerous juried exhibitions and was awarded an honorable mention at the 2022 quick draw competition at Plein air Easton, the largest and most esteemed outdoor painting competition in the United States.
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Mark Rengers Gallery, Sewickley Pennsylvania
AFFILIATIONS
Pittsburgh Society of Artists, Juried Member
Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, Juried Member
American Impressionist Society, Associate Member
SELECT JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2025 Aqueous Open, Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Latrobe, PA
2025 Biota Invitational, Pittsburgh Center For The Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
2025 Pittsburgh Society Of Artists, Annual Juried Exhibition, Weirton, WV
2025 Pittsburgh Society Of Artists, Artists Choice Exhibition, Greensburg, PA
2025 Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, Waterworks, Pittsburgh, PA
2024 Atithi, Inward Bound, Pittsburgh, PA
2024 Southwestern Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, Annual Regional Juried Art Exhibition, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Ligonier, PA
2024 Southwestern Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, Annual Regional Juried Art Exhibition, Bedford, PA
2024 Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, Face in the Mirror, Virtual
2023 Southwestern Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, Annual Regional Juried Art Exhibition, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Ligonier, PA
2023 Biennial, Greensburg Art Center, Greensburg, PA