Hot August Night - Original Painting

"Hot August Night" 24" X 30" X 2"  Mixed Media on fine art paper laminated to a wood panel. Framed and ready to hang

Hot August Night explores the intricate dynamics of the relationship between men and women, capturing a subtle moment of courtship within an abstract urban setting. The composition relies on intersecting planes and angular geometry to arrange two figures whose gestures and expressions hint at the ritual of attraction and connection. The woman, calm and composed with arms crossed around a cigarette, faces slightly away, while the man stands close behind her, similarly holding a cigarette—both embodying a poised tension that reflects nuanced interaction.

The title, "Hot August Night," nods to Neil Diamond’s iconic album, invoking a mood of intimacy and warmth that permeates the scene. The urban atmosphere and the fractured, modernist aesthetic owe much to the artist’s time in Rome, Italy—a city whose rich architectural heritage and vivacious street life inspired both the visual language and the decision to place the painting within this storied backdrop.

This work balances a lyrical exploration of human connection with an architectural sensibility, using geometry to articulate the rhythms of attraction and social ritual. Through the fractured planes and urban setting, Hot August Night reveals how moments of courting unfold amid the timeless pulse of city life, shaped by the artist’s deep engagement with Rome’s unique blend of tradition and modernity.

My mixed media paintings consist of acrylic paint and digital collage. They are painted on museum quality archival paper and then laminated to a cradled wood panel, varnished, waxed and then framed in a black floater frame. Each piece begins as a digital study on an iPad where the basic composition and coloring is determined before the hand painted original is started.

Frank Trocino is an award-winning American-born artist and former architect currently residing in Santa Fe, NM. His work primarily explores themes of people and architecture.

This painting is also available as a canvas print 

About the Artist

Frank Trocino is a retired architect turned painter currently residing in Santa Fe New Mexico. His path to Santa Fe began in New York, then to Oregon as a young child through College. From there he lived in Italy, Los Angeles, the Middle East, Portland, and Austin. Franks work can be seen in galleries, hotels, and the homes of private collectors internationally. He is a mixed media artist using acrylic paint, ink and collage and his subject matter is primarily couples and buildings.