How To Paint Like Erin Hanson

Q: I empathize yous are deeply inspired by van Gogh. Do y'all have whatever less known Impressionist inspirations?

I dearest the Canadian impressionists The Group of Seven. I have also been inspired by Japanese brush paintings (which I ofttimes emulated in higher), and some of my other favorite artists are Georgia O'Keeffe, Edgar Payne, and Andrew Wyeth.

I go my daily inspiration direct from nature, however. The beauty of an early dawn illuminating a National Park, quiet and calm in the off-season, is ane of my favorite inspirations. I as well love painting California wine country and rugged coastal landscapes. I am inspired by the shifting light and colors during the golden hours, the abstruse shapes of unique tree formations, and glorious skies bursting with color. Impressionism is a great style to capture the feeling I get when I am out of doors: the loose brush strokes, impasto pigment awarding, and vibrant colors perfectly express my love for landscapes.

Erin Hanson, Sedona Vista, 2020

Q: Which electric current (living) artists inspire you lot?

Are y'all familiar with Jim Lee? He is an amazing comic book artist (Batman, for case.) His pictures have such motion and sense of merely coming alive, like he merely painted information technology on the spur of the moment, and information technology came out perfectly. I got into comic book drawing when I was in higher, and I like to recollect that my mode of Open Impressionism carries on some of that sense of immediacy, make clean lines, and strong compositions.

Erin Hanson, Aspen Forest, 2020

Q: What is your preferred medium? Do you experiment with others?

I but paint in oils right now. Of class when I was younger I expert with any medium I could go my easily on: pen and ink, charcoal, watercolor, watercolor pencils, pastels, oil pastels, and acrylics. When I was a teenager, I worked nights and weekends at a mural studio, and we created behemothic forty-ft acrylic paintings that were hung in restaurants and casinos around the world.

My favorite medium has always been oil, however. In fact, I began painting in oils when I was 8 years one-time. I beloved carrying on the tradition of the early impressionists and other masters by using the medium of oil. At that place is something very satisfying about the texture, aroma and hues of organic oil paint.

Erin Hanson, Coastal Sherbet, 2019

Q: Your landscapes are wonderful. Have you done whatsoever portrait or nevertheless life painting?

I take painted many portraits and nonetheless lifes, but my principal focus has always been landscapes. My love for hiking, backpacking, and stone climbing keeps me outside in beautiful locations, and I notice more inspiration in the natural globe than anywhere else.

Here is a link showing a series of floral yet lifes I did a few years dorsum, for a Mother's Day exhibition I had in my gallery:

https://www.erinhanson.com/Portfolio?col=The_Floral_Show_2019

Erin Hanson, Irises in Vase, 2019

Erin Hanson, Sunflowers, 2019

Erin Hanson, Floral Medley, 2018

Q: Exercise you take a preferred make of paint and brushes?

Winsor and Newton Artist Oils and Blockx are 2 of my favorite brands of oil, and I use a variety of brushes to capture unlike textures.

Q: Practice you lot accept whatsoever advice for aspiring artists?

I e'er tell aspiring artists that the best way to create your own manner of painting and learn how to overcome the barriers in painting is very uncomplicated: create (and finish!) one painting every week. These do non need to be large paintings, but the act of actually finishing one painting a week (yes, 50 paintings per year) will teach yous more about painting that you lot could ever acquire from an instructor. You should aim to complete a few hundred paintings before you lot start to worry about what your "style" is.

My second piece of advice is: do lots of art festivals. This is how artists learn how to sell and market their paintings. I believe there is a market for whatsoever style and bailiwick affair; it is simply a thing of connecting up with art lovers who are looking for that type of fine art. Doing lots of fine art festivals will make you into a competent businessperson, likewise as an accomplished artist, and you will exist able to offset making a full time living as an creative person.

Q: Do you have whatever business advice for those looking to go professional?

I accept put together a series of articles I accept written to assistance artists figure out how to make a living as a professional artist. Yous have to learn all sorts of aspects of running a business, like designing a website, creating promo pieces, book publishing, financial planning, impress making, framing, promotion and marketing, etc. If y'all are willing to larn and eager to work hard, I am sure you volition be able to brand a living as an creative person.

https://www.erinhanson.com/resources

Q: What is your favorite art book?

Composition of Outdoor Painting by Edgar Payne. This beautifully written book contains everything an artist needs to improve their skill and create their own style of painting.

Q: What practice you enjoy outside of painting?

I love to listen to sound books (which I e'er exercise while painting), and I love hiking and exploring National Parks. I have a daughter who is 20-months old, and so of course I spend a lot of my free fourth dimension with her. She loves to draw and pigment as well, and she holds a pen just similar an adult and creates little detailed squiggles. It is the cutest thing in the world when she wants to pigment on her easel right side by side to me while I paint.

Erin Hanson, Aspen Groves, 2018

Erin Hanson, Monsoon Sky, 2019

Q: Practice you ever feel trapped in your own success? (i.e. The need to pigment in the aforementioned style yous are known for.)

Luckily, I am fortunate to pigment in a style of painting that is uniquely my own creation. I honey to paint in Open Impressionism: the bold, loose castor strokes are expressive and alive. Since I have ever painted the style I want to pigment (and not the manner I thought someone else wanted me to paint), I take never lost the joy in creation. I e'er button myself to go better and meliorate, capturing new effects of light and striving to make my paintings more evocative and emotional.