Bradford Ross

Brad studied Visual Communications/Illustration at Montgomery College, in Rockville Maryland, and then at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore Maryland, where he graduated with a BFA in 1991.   Between 1994 and 1995 he took evening and summer classes at the Schuler School of Fine Art in Baltimore. Through that  classical atelier he experienced a taste of the way all artists learned their craft prior to the twentieth century.  The Schuler School is also where he had his first real lesson painting outdoors.  Over the years he has gained priceless drawing and painting knowledge by taking workshops with great artists like Carolyn Anderson, Tim Bell, George Strickland, Abigail McBride, Teresa Oaxaca and Paul Allen Taylor as well as through independent study and research.

His early professional work focused on still life painting in the  classical tradition but even then the genres of portrait, figure and plein air landscape remained avenues for regular study, skill-building and personal enjoyment.  Attending open studios to draw the human figure from life has been an important part of his life and artistic training for more than three decades, first at MICA's Alumni Studio Night and The Charcoal Club in Baltimore and  now the Academy Art Museum in Easton.  

 In 2012 he registered for his first quick draw competition at Plein Air Easton. Since then he has participated in many quick draws  as well as local and regional plein air events, winning prizes in Chestertown's quick draws three times, Best in Show and Artist Choice Awards at Paint Berlin, Best Use of Light in Artists Paint OC.   In 2019 he was very honored to have been juried into Plein Air Easton's 15th anniversary competition.

Brad has been teaching classes at the Academy Art Museum in Easton Maryland since 2016 and is a popular painting, portrait and figure drawing instructor.  He is currently not teaching classes in order to focus on his own work but is planning on resuming classes at the beginning of 2025.