Oil
18" x 24"
Sterling Hoffmann has been drawing and painting since childhood when art was his way of recording the magical world around him. Although his childhood drawings and watercolor paintings won many awards, including a scholarship for a summer semester at the San Francisco Academy of Art, it took him many years before deciding to pursue an art career. In 2002, he graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in Graphic Design with an emphasis in Animation.
Today Sterling enjoys drawing and painting en Plein air (on location) while using the skills he developed as an animation student. Sterling enjoys the thrill of discovering the natural composition that he finds in his surroundings and sharing it with others when he teaches. He believes in a strong drawing foundation as well as understanding color theory and the importance of mastering value. He looks for the balance of edges, light and darks and saturation of color to gray tones.
You'll know it when you have painted the perfect painting, there are no formulas just observation and inspiration." – Sterling
Awards
- • Sonoma Salute to the Arts 2006 (2nd Place)
- • California Art Club Wild Things Show (2007 Juror’s Choice Award)
- • Laguna Plein Air Painters Association Best of Plein Air (2008 – 2nd Place)
- • Carmel Art Festival Plein Air Event 2008 (Emerging Artist) and (Honorable Mention)
- • Carmel Art Festival 2009 – (Best Quick Draw) and (Honorable Mention)
- • Estes Park “Painting the Parks‚” Plein Air Competition and Show 2009 (Best of Show)
- • Carmel Art Festival Plein Air Event 2011 (Honorable Mention)
- • Frank Bette Center for the Arts 2011 (PAPO Award)
- • Estes Park “Painting the Parks” Plein Air Competition and Show 2011 (Best Quick Draw)
- • Dana Gallery “Icons of the West” Wyoming 2011 (Honorable Mention)
- • Sebastopol Center for the Arts "Not Just a Landscape" 2013 (Merit Award)
- • Shelter Cove Plein Air at the Lost Coast 2014 (Best of Show)
- Carmel Art Festival 2017 (Mayor's choice award)
Publications
- • Sterling has been featured as an Artist to Watch in Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine – October issue 2009
- • (Outdoor Painter) Plein Air Magazine Newsletter September 7th 2011
- • American Art Collector Magazine April 2015 - issue 114
Shows juried by Sterling
- • “Prairies to Peaks" Cheyenne, WY – 2011
Gallery Representation
- • Carmel Fine Art Gallery, Carmel by the Sea
- • Nightingale Antiques, Sebastopol CA
Education
- • San Francisco Academy of Art summer semester 1986
- • Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design / Emphasis of Animation with a minor in industrial design, San Jose State 2002
