Chasing color and light: W. Truman Hosner’s pastels and plein air are key for former illustrator
/Vail Valley Magazine | November 21, 2023
By Shauna Farnell
When William Truman Hosner is outside painting, he slips into a subconscious state. He is hypnotized by the work of capturing sunlight as it moves across a building or hillside, on the deepening shades of blue and black across varying depths of a seascape. Working exclusively in pastels, he feels like a child finger painting. But when he’s finished, the scene looks staggeringly real, with shadows stretching under rock formations, reflections twinkling off the surface of water or casting a shimmer onto a wall.
“Most of the time when I come off the field, I can’t tell you what I’ve done for the last three hours,” Hosner said. “But afterward, I look at the painting and say, you know, this one’s not too bad.”
A Detroit native who now splits his time between his home city and Paso Robles, Calif., Hosner started his art career as a commercial illustrator. He created illustrations for major films, car companies and magazines. Having originally gathered his skills through a fine arts program at Wayne State University, he realized one day that his heart’s path was leaning toward painting.
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