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Stephen Hanson – Welcome Home

Background

I’ve harbored a deep love for art since my early years and knew I aspired to be an artist. Various artists, including Arthur Rackham, Brian Froud, Alan Lee, Chuck Close, and Frank Frazetta, served as my early inspirations. My fascination primarily revolved around fantasy and realism, captivated by the imaginative and realistic elements they infused into their creations.

After receiving a distinction in graphic design and illustration from Batley Art College, I embarked on my career by joining a greeting card company. However, my true passion lay in films, particularly those featuring special effects, such as Ray Harryhausen’s Sinbad movies. These films exerted a profound influence on me and broadened my horizons regarding potential careers in the film industry. I eagerly absorbed knowledge about their production processes and the artists responsible for the magic.

Illustration and Corporate Work

I dedicated all my spare time to developing my portfolio and, after a couple of years, commenced work at Cosgrove Hall Productions in Manchester. Over four years, I contributed as a visual development artist to projects like The BFG, Dangermouse, and Count Duckula. Subsequently, I had the privilege to work on various films, including Balto, The Corpse Bride, Despicable Me, Flushed Away, Arthur Christmas, and Adventures with Pirates. Additionally, I participated in several TV commercial projects and provided illustrations for children’s books like:

Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven
Kes Gray’s Nelly the Monster Sitter
Alongside creating both the written content and illustrations for Froobie Pink and the Night Noises.

Several years ago, Sky Blue Gallery in Bristol extended an invitation to exhibit some of my personal work. The event enjoyed considerable success and, crucially, awakened me to the prospects within the realm of fine art publishing. Consequently, my wife Lisa and I established IN THE RED PRESS with the singular objective of introducing my digital paintings to the gallery world. As a self-published artist, I retain control over my creative direction, ensuring the highest quality in our final prints.

While my affection for animation and literature persists, I occasionally engage in freelance work. Nonetheless, the fine art arena grants me the freedom to pursue personal projects, which I find tremendously exhilarating.

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Stephen Hanson – Welcome Home

Watch Stephen Hanson’ visit to Limited 2 Art: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXclBoDqsew

What is a Giclée Print? – pronounced ‘zhee-klay’

So, a giclée print is a high quality fine art reproduction. Archival pigment inks are sprayed on to an archival fine art paper or canvas.
Because of this, Jack Duganne coined the term ‘Giclée’, since it’s a French word meaning ‘a spray or a squirt of liquid’. The term ‘giclée print’ is used to describe the giclée printing process. Accordingly, images are created from the high-resolution digital capture of original artwork. Then they are printed using archival quality inks onto archival fine art substrates. Hence, canvas and fine art papers are used to achieve giclée prints with exceptional stability and lightfastness.