Ritch Hanna

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Hanna has also lived in Florida, California, and Michigan before settling in Indianapolis, Indiana. Drawing and painting since he was six years old, Hanna attended Tam O’Shanter Art Classes for Gifted Youth at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh at the recommendation of his middle school art teacher. As there were limited art classes available in his Pittsburgh area high school, he enrolled in the Famous Artists Correspondence Course as a teen. While pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL, he took several studio art courses. Throughout his adult life, he has taken art classes wherever he was, including numerous drawing and painting classes at the University of California at San Diego where he also earned certificates in Creative Studies, and Professional Illustration Techniques. After moving to Indianapolis, he took several classes in Watercolor, Drawing, Painting, and Graphic Design at the Indianapolis Art Center, before enrolling at the Herron School of Art and Design. He graduated from there in December, 2010 with a B. A. in Art History and extensive studio classes in Drawing, Painting, Color Theory, 2-D and 3-D Design, Visual Communications, and Illustration. Since then, he has been actively painting in his Stutz building studio. For the past two years, he has been working almost exclusively in encaustic, or hot wax, incorporating oil bars, mixed media, image transfers and found objects in his work as well. His work explores the interplay between structure and chaos, and tries to interact with current events, other artists work, and the difficulties of getting by in the contemporary world.

EDUCATION:

2-day Encaustic: Theories and Practices Workshop w/Michael David, Provincetown, MA, 6/17
4-day Screenprinting on Encaustic Workshop w/Jeffrey Hirst, Mineral Point, WI, 5/17
4-day Comprehensive Encaustic Workshop w/Sarah Rehmer, Chicago, IL, 11/15
B. A., Art History, Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN, 2010, with studio courses in
Color Theory, Beginning Drawing, Drawing I, II, and III, Painting I, II, III and
IV, Illustration I, 2-D Design, 3-D Design, Visual Communications I & II,
Typography I & II, and Computer Based Design.
Courses in Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Drawing, Color Theory, Beginning
Watercolor, Graphic Design, Intermediate and Advanced Painting, Photography, Open Figure Drawing Studio, Indianapolis Art Center, 1988 – 2004
Courses in Drawing, Painting, and Photography, University of California at San Diego Extension, 1983/84
Certificate in Professional Illustration Techniques, UCSD, 1981
Certificate in Creative Studies, UCSD, 1979
Artist as Social and Political Critic, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL, 1973
Drawing for Non-Majors, Eckerd College, 1972
Famous Artist’s School Correspondence Course, 1969-1971
Tam O’Shanter Classes for gifted youth, 1965-1967


Portfolio:

Wax and Fire

I am very into working with wax, both hot and cold. Most of my recent work, though, has combined the use of wax with the use of a butane torch, and/or a heat gun, not only to fuse the layers of wax, but as an actual working tool, a "brush" as it were. This technique burns and reveals, and is often quite unpredictable. The results have much to do with chance.