Steve Hanks

I chose the artist Steve Hanks to create a response post about because I had not heard the name before and was curious.  The images I found were very interesting and consistent.  He uses watercolor which was shocking with the amount of detail and preciseness that his works entail.  Hanks paintings usually consist of female figures either in the bedroom or by a reflection of some sort like a pond or the ocean.  Hanks grew up by the ocean and seems to take that into account for much of his artwork.
I read that Hanks calls his work emotional realism which I love.  It describes his paintings perfectly because it makes you feel as if there is a story to be told by each scene he creates.  Hanks stated hat he would not be at the skill level he is today if he had not spent so much time drawing.  I take a lot of inspiration from this because I have mostly gone straight to painting without an extensive drawing past.
I love the colors Hanks uses.  These colors are earthy with hints of pastel.  The images are so warm and inviting.  They are so realistic and incredibly impressive as I stated earlier because of the medium.  One of my favorite aspects of Steve Hanks' paintings is how he usually leaves the faces of the subjects a semi mystery.  It leaves me guessing to what they look like head on or maybe what their expression would reveal.  Hanks uses his wife and children as models for some of his paintings.  I can tell he really cares about them by the way they are depicted and it shows he wants to remember those moments forever.