Although teachers often cited his artistic ability, Steve Hanks' main interest while growing up around southern California was sports. As a young teenager, Hanks pursued surfing and tennis with passion. He eventually tired of a steady diet of competitive tennis, but continued to surf, finding a spiritual connection with the ocean. "Surfing had a strong influence on me," he says. "The ocean often appears in my work. Living away from it has created a longing that enhances the power and emotions when I paint ocean scenes now."

Although it was apparent early on that he had talent and received A's in all of his art classes, by his senior year he was ready to branch out on his own and stopped doing the required assignments which lowered his final grade to a C in the class. Steve comments, "During my senior year I did a One Man Show at my high school and sold a number of pieces to other teachers. Besides, this was the psychedelic 60' and I was working with a company that was selling posters of my art of the Beatles and The Doors nationwide."

After high school Hanks enrolled in summer session commercial art courses at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. "The only way I could convince my parents to let me go was to say I was going into commercial art," he says. "I didn't even know what that meant!" He did well in his commercial art classes, but it was a life drawing class that captured his interest. He focused his energy on the study of anatomy and figure drawing and transferred into the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. He graduated in the 1972 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and then moved back to New Mexico in search of a home art gallery.

Initially, he drew in pencil and painted in oils. His paintings were impressionistic while his drawings were more realistic. Eventually, an allergic reaction to oils forced him to experiment with watercolors. Eventually he was able to develop a style with watercolor that resembled the complete look of an oil painting while still painting with a traditional transparent watercolor technique. Deeply affected by the emotions, shifting attitudes and music of the 1960s, the music of 60s, the music of 60s icon Bob Dylan often accompanies Hanks as he paints in his studio today.

Steve Hanks' paintings are much more than endearing images of women and children. Along with conveying a specific message through his paintings, Hanks also explores memories and emotions. "All art is an escape to somewhere you want to be or a feeling you want to have," Hanks adds. "People see different things in my paintings because we all have different backgrounds and feelings."

Hank's highly collected nudes convey an introspective solitude that prompts the viewer to think about his or her own life and path. Steve remarks, "Women occupy a special niche in my sensitivity. They express more storytelling ability. There's more magic in them."

Art jurors began recognizing the quality of Steve Hanks work in 1973. He won the Arts for the Parks Marine Art Award of Excellence in 1990 and 1994, and has been one of the Arts for the Parks top 100 artists since 1989. In 1991, Steve received the National Watercolor Society Merit Award and the National Academy of Western Art awarded him the Gold Medal in 1992. Since 1993, he has been one of U.S. Art Magazine's to ten American artist. In 1999 Pacific Rim show in Seattle, WA awarded Steve as Artist of the Year. He was one of five winners selected to the U.S. Art Hall of Fame 2000. He was named as one of the top 25 selling artists in the June, 2002 issue of Decor magazine. The 7th Annual Andre Agassi Grand Slam for Children chose Steve as their Feature Artist in 2002. In 2005 the Weems International Artfest featured Steve as one of the showcase guest artists and was awarded for "Outstanding Contributions to The Culture of New Mexico. In 2006 he was the featured artist in Watercolor Magazine. Recently, in 2008 Steve was featured artist in Art of The West and American Artist Watercolor.

Steve Hanks is now World Renowned due to his numerous one man shows at Leslie Levy Gallery in Scottsdale AZ, E.S. Lawrence Gallery in Aspen CO and his appearance in many invitational shows throughout the U.S., Canada and even Hong Kong. In addition, his fine art prints that have been published and distributed throughout the world by Hadley House, Bentley Publishing and The Greenwich Workshop.