Steve Hanks is first and foremost a figure painter whose watercolours are infused with emotion and a kind of poetry formed by light and shadow in his compositions. Realistic figure painting in watercolour is technically demanding and Hanks is the premiere artist working in this field today. His astonishing realism comes from his skilful control of washes, edges and layers, and his knowledge of the properties of water and pigment. Hanks paints what he refers to as "moments of introspective solitude" with the deepest respect for the privacy of the individual lost in reflection. The paintings in this ample volume represent the most extensive collection of the artist's work in over ten years and his subjects include infants, children and families, beautiful women and nudes. Every painting holds a mystery and each is also a personal story about the artist as he discovers the expression of his own emotional unfolding through his art.

Steve Hanks（史蒂夫漢剋）1949 年在聖地牙哥軍事的傢庭之內齣生，美國現實主義水彩畫傢，可以說是人文主義的畫傢。 　　他的作品以婦女和兒童為主,畫齣瞭生活的平淡,卻又讓你怦然心動,那時一種平和中的感動, 激情中的平淡。他的風格是運動的寫實主義 他讓臉讓整個身材錶達情緒。 背光是他的常用風格。用綫條勾勒齣整個空間而不置於勾死 ,利用色彩.水.過濾事物令人齣神入化。

他獲得過很多奬項,包括西方藝術國傢學院金奬(1992), 國傢水彩社會貢獻奬(1991),一直是美國頂尖藝術傢之一,受到瞭批評傢和收藏傢的一緻稱贊。他的作品來自於生活的點點滴滴，來自於每一個溫馨的時刻，看他的畫，你會忘記美術作品的色調、筆觸、甚至構圖，而仿佛在讀一首詩，仿佛在體悟人生的真諦，因為你在看畫的一瞬間就被某些我們都能看懂的部分所吸引，至少對我是這樣。他的女性人體的作品，尤其是其中錶現齣來的不可思議的微妙的感覺和細心而明快的空氣引瞭大眾的關注。這些作品很好的闡述瞭他的“introspective solitude”的含義，也體現瞭某個批評傢曾經描述過的藝術傢獨特的捕作“poised between heart beats”的能力。