Ryan spent much of his career in animation, painting backgrounds or serving as a color stylist for the features Watership Down, Dick Deadeye or Duty Done, and Heavy Metal (the "So Beautiful, So Dangerous" segment). He also worked on shorts (including Prince Cinders and War Game) and TV projects (the UK Dennis the Menace, The Animals of Farthing Wood, Angelina Ballerina, and the Dr. Seuss special Daisy-Head Mayzie). He currently focuses on watercolor painting.