drawing life

Tram, 2008, by Fred Hatt

Faces are so complex I find it hard to draw them small.  Working at about twice life size gives enough room for my hand to delineate the shapes I see, using the blunt crayons that are my favored tool.  The enlarged scale makes the images imposing even when seen from a distance.

This is Tram, one of the older professional artists’ models working in New York.  His aquiline nose and great white beard make for a picture of gravitas, but he can also have a more impish quality.  Here are two quicker sketches of Tram:

Tram Profile, 2009, by Fred Hatt

Tram Face Front, 2009, by Fred Hatt

Here are some other large-scale portrait drawings in aquarelle crayon on paper, all done in 2009.  Fellow artist Iurro, wearing a fedora:

Iurro, 2009, by Fred Hatt

A simplified study in lines and highlights of a face with very strongly defined features:

Tony, 2009, by Fred Hatt

A 20-minute profile sketch.  The ear and eye are almost two separate characters here:

Colin, 2009, by Fred Hatt

The loveliness of youth:

Danielle, 2009, by Fred Hatt

And the beauty of maturity:

John W., 2009, by Fred Hatt

Remembering the past:

Elizabeth, 2009, by Fred Hatt

Imagining the future:

Donna, 2009, by Fred Hatt

The structure of this face was so strong that the drawing came right together, and I had time to study the complexities of color:

Michael W., 2009, by Fred Hatt

All of these are 70 cm x 50 cm (19.7? x 27.5?), except Danielle, which is 35 cm x 50 cm.  All are Caran d’Ache aquarelle crayon on Fabriano Elle Erre paper.  Other large-scale portraits of mine can be seen here and here and here.