Steve Hanks is first and foremost a figure painter whose watercolor compositions are infused with emotion and a kind of poetry formed by light and shadow. Realistic figure painting in watercolor is technically demanding and Hanks is the premier artist working in this field today. His astonishing realism comes from his skillful control of washes, edges, and layers and from 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 more than 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.