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2013/01/25

Working Big – Part 2: Weaving with Bodies

Filed under: Figure Drawing: Developed Work — Tags: Abstract, Art Modeling, Collaborations, Color, Crayons, Dance, Experimental Performance, Figures, Movement Drawing, Nudes, Philosophy, Process, Sketch, Technique, Watercolor — fred @ 17:32

Explorer, 2010, aquarelle crayon on black gessoed canvas, 72″ x 72″, by Fred Hatt

In last month’s post, “Working Big – Part 1”, I shared a selection of large figure drawings done at or near life-size. Over the last decade I’ve also been doing large-scale drawings with multiple overlapping figures.

In the Drawing Life post “Time and Line”, I wrote about how I arrived at this approach, and how it relates to my earliest creative impulses. I wrote:

The cubists were trying to move beyond the limitations of the pictorial or photographic view by showing their subject from multiple angles simultaneously, suggesting the third spatial dimension not by the traditional way of projection or perspective, but by fragmentation. In these drawings, I’m fragmenting the fourth dimension, time, to bring it onto the plane and into the frame.

On my portfolio site I describe these drawings as “chaos compositions”, and briefly describe the process as follows:

Chaos Compositions emerge from a two-phase process: first generating a chaotic field through a response to movement, followed by working to reveal order hidden within this chaos.

I work on the floor, crawling over the large sheet and covering it with overlapping sketches of movement or quick poses taken by a model-collaborator. Once the drawing reaches a certain density, like a tangle of threads, I begin to work on carving a structure out of this undifferentiated energy field. I bring some of the layers of drawing forward by adding depth and weight to the forms, and push others into the background or into abstraction. I alternate between crawling on the drawing, where individual lines can be followed like paths, and standing back to get a sense of overall form and balance.

What is expressed in these works is not a concept or a personal feeling, but something unconceived, a spirit that emerges from the moment, from the interaction of artist and model and environment.

Several chaos compositions are included in the gallery “Time and Motion Drawings” on my portfolio site.

Still more posts about this process are linked in connection with some of the drawings below. As you can see, I’ve written fairly extensively about this way of working, and you can follow those links to read all about it if you wish. Here I’ll just share a selection of these pieces, with some unstructured thoughts about what these odd drawings mean to me.

End in Ice, 2012, watercolor on paper, 38″ x 50″, by Fred Hatt

Each model embodies a certain particular essence, a range of qualities that express the way his or her self and structure exist in the world.

Follower, 2006, aquarelle crayon on black gessoed canvas, 72″ x 72″, by Fred Hatt

The curves of the body in all its different attitudes become waves in a field of energy. My drawing surface becomes a sensitive membrane that receives these vibrations.

Colt, 2011, aquarelle crayon on paper, 37″ x 48″, by Fred Hatt

Each piece is a portrait of one model. These are not different bodies sharing a setting, but different moments exposed on the same emulsion.

Ruminate, 2011, aquarelle crayon on paper, 36″ x 60″, by Fred Hatt

To look at these drawings is not to look at a picture, but to fall into a vortex, a field of chaotic forces.

Biome, 2011, aquarelle crayon on paper, 37″ x 48″, by Fred Hatt

By finding and following the lines that define the overlapping bodies and faces, we find our way through the maze of the drawing. For me this experience is metaphorical, for in the field of forces that is the world, it is our own bodies and identities that ground us and give us continuity.

Contain, 2011, aquarelle crayon on paper, 36″ x 66″, by Fred Hatt

I want the viewer of these drawings to get some flavor of the experience I have when drawing them, an experience of surrendering to complexity but discovering clarity in the body and its life force.

Verso, 2008, aquarelle crayon on paper, 48″ x 60″, by Fred Hatt

The chaotic nature of the world is inherent to its beauty. Geological and biological forms, clouds and galaxies, grow out of the infinite complexity of interacting energies and interdependent beings.

Hold, 2011, aquarelle crayon on paper, 37″ x 48″, by Fred Hatt

To grasp the universe is to lose the self in the moment. It is an experience I seek again and again, with a crayon in my hand.

Twists, 2010, aquarelle crayon on paper, 48″ x 50″, by Fred Hatt

(The image above is deconstructed into its component figures in the post “Reverse Engineering a Drawing”)

Awakening, 2011, aquarelle crayon on paper, 37″ x 48″, by Fred Hatt

I don’t tell my models how to move, but let them find their own poses. I am not concerned with realistic rendering, but with the qualities of the curves and the forms of energy they seem to call up from the potent void of negative space. I am attempting to see beyond the surface of things.

Hero, 2010, aquarelle crayon on paper, 48″ x 60″, by Fred Hatt

(The drawing above is included in the post “Finishing Touches”, where I explore the development of the negative spaces in several chaos compositions.)

Water Cycle, 2011, aquarelle crayon on paper, 37″ x 48″, by Fred Hatt

When I am drawing, I am close to the large paper and cannot see the overall pattern. I am down in it, exploring whatever passage I have found for the moment. Later, looking at the drawing from a distance, I see it abstractly, as veins of color in a crystal, or as objects in a whirlwind. Then the eye discovers a face or part of a body, and that is an opening into the image, which can be traveled like a path through the woods, or like a strand of thought through the din of the chattering mind.

Gaze Angle, 2009, aquarelle crayon on paper, 48″ x 60″, by Fred Hatt

(The phases of development of the piece above are detailed in the post “Composing on the Fly”.)

End in Fire, 2012, watercolor, oil pastel, and aquarelle crayon on paper, 38″ x 50″, by Fred Hatt

These works, even more than my other drawings, are products of close collaboration with great models who share their own creative expression in the work. The models who posed for the large drawings in this post are Kuan, Pedro, Stephanie, Jillian, Madelyn, Neil, Milvia, Jeremiah, Kristin, and Jessi.

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2012/12/31

My 2012 in Images

Filed under: Autobiography,Photography: The Seasons — Tags: Art Modeling, Artist Dream, Blacklight, Body Paint, Brushwood, Collaborations, Crayons, Dance, Exhibits, Experimental Performance, Kristin Hatleberg, Landscape, Movement Drawing, NYC, Sketch, Urban Landscape — fred @ 23:24

Drawing, 2012, by Fred Hatt

As the calendar rolls over, I looked back through my photos from the year 2012, to remember what I saw and did and made, and I chose some images that stick with me – images that haven’t previously appeared on Drawing Life.

Northampton Tree, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Early in 2012, I made several short trips, visiting my brother Frank in Western Massachusetts, my friends April and Paul in Connecticut, and my friend Alex in upstate New York, giving me a chance to experience quieter, more open environments than my usual habitat of urban hustle and bustle. (In the photo above you can see Frank in profile in the lower left corner.)

Goshen Morning, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

I love to look at trees in the winter, when their elaborate branching networks are exposed. Branching patterns are among the fundamental organic forms, seen not just in trees but also in blood vessels and nerves, in lightning, in river deltas, in anything that involves permeating flow.

Fallen Tree in Winter Stream, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Look at the branching toes of an emu, and watch how the huge bird moves, contemplating its kinship to its ancient ancestors, the dinosaurs.

Emu Foot, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Look at the nobility of this strong animal, an alpaca, with its enormous crystalline eyes.

Alpaca, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Here’s another mammalian profile – mine – in a self-portrait photo taken in one of the projection booths at the Museum of Modern Art. I work as a freelance film projectionist, a proud member of the Projectionists’ Union Local 306.

Fred in the booth, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

I live in an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn. The neighborhood has recently seen a huge influx of hipsters and yuppies, but the old traditions are still maintained – like the tradition of throwing one’s sneakers to hang from the overhead wiring.

Shoes on the Wire, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Religious displays and holiday symbols are shown everywhere, an expression of identity, values, and sentiment.

Saint and Savior, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

“Ghost Bikes“, painted white and bedecked with flowers, are placed as monuments to bicyclists killed by drivers by the friends of the deceased. This one has a plaque above it (not shown here) that indicates it has been there since 2005.

Ghost Bike, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Often my eye is captured by simple street scenes. For a fleeting moment, the arrangement of colors and elements become something wonderful. A ready camera and quick reflexes can sometimes grab one of those moments for more leisurely aesthetic contemplation.

Girl and Flowers, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Houston Street at Night, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

“If you see something, say something” is the slogan in public service advertisements encouraging citizens to report suspicious things to authorities. Big city people see so many odd things all the time they get pretty blasé – it’s all just “something, something.” At least that’s how it appears in these partially stripped-away stickers on the stair risers.

Something Something, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

I went to a party on the rooftop of some friends who live on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, and I was able to take two shots showing the skyline of Lower Manhattan behind that of Downtown Brooklyn, in the afternoon and at twilight.

View from Flatbush Avenue, by Day and by Dusk, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Later I went to the one-year birthday party for the twins of my friends Yuliya and Yevgeniy (portrait drawings of the twins are at the bottom of this post). They were staying at a friend’s place on a placid, mirrorlike lake.

Mirror Lake, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

In June I came back from work late one evening to see a house in my neighborhood engulfed in flames.

House Fire, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Firefighters in Smoke, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Later in the summer I visited my parents in the town in Oklahoma where I grew up. I went to look at the house I lived in when I was in my 20’s, and found it like this, a charred shell. I don’t know the story behind this.

Burned House on East Maple, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

In the middle of the summer I went to Sirius Rising, a festival in Western New York where I have long taught workshops and done art and body painting. I found this extravagant caterpillar crawling across my painting drop cloth.

Horned Caterpillar, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Here’s one of my body paintings from the festival.

Flaming Rose, 2012, bodypaint and photo by Fred Hatt

And here’s a sketch of the branches of the crabapple tree under which I sat to paint on people.

Foliage, 2012, by Fred Hatt

Later in the summer, my friend the dancer Kristin Hatleberg had been granted studio time in the city to pursue a project with dancers exploring different ways of capturing the experience of movement, through words, through photography and video, and through drawing, and then responding to those other media again through movement. Just my type of thing!

Fred Drawing Kristin Dancing, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt (tripod and intervalometer)

In the fall I visited Alex in the Catskills again. We went to Kaaterskill Falls and took pictures of the waterfalls, of people and dogs playing in the falls, and of each other.

Alex with Camera, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Fred with Camera, 2012, photo by Alex Kahan

I also found some beautiful things to photograph on a trip to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, with my friend Corinna and her little daughter Autumn.

Red, Black and Green, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Lotus Leaves, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

This fall was the season of Hurricane Sandy, a gigantic “superstorm” that wrecked the East coastline of the U.S. with surging flood waters. I took this picture of a tree in my neighborhood as it was being whipped by Sandy’s turbulent winds.

Storm Winds, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

My own neighborhood suffered no severe damage, but the next morning most of the leaves of the trees were on the ground.

After the Storm, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Things like wooden fences were down too. Lower Manhattan had no electricity for most of a week and many low-lying areas (including many parts of the city full of artists’ studios and art galleries) were flooded. I was lucky to live on slightly higher ground.

Broken Fence, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Here’s the house on my block that burned in June (see pictures above). The wrecked frame of the house had been shrouded in a blue tarp. Sandy shredded that tarp up pretty good.

Tattered Tarp on Burned House, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Many Subway lines were flooded. Transit Authority workers put in a heroic effort to get the trains back running as quickly as possible after the storm, because public transit really is the essential life blood of the city. For about a week, I had to walk a mile to catch an alternative train into Manhattan, because my local line under the river was submerged. The alternative line crosses the Williamsburg Bridge, and waiting for the train I captured this urban sunset vision.

Williamsburg Bridge Trains, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

The hurricane was followed a few days later by a nor’easter, an autumn lashing of wet snow and cold rain. I took this picture with on-camera flash, so the snowflakes near the camera look like big, out-of-focus white blobs.

Wet Snow, 2012, photo by Fred Hatt

Much of my artwork from 2012 has already appeared on Drawing Life. I noticed in looking through my images from the year that I did a lot of body painting and some light painting photography this year – enough to warrant their own posts some time soon. As the new year comes in, I think it’s appropriate to finish this post with an image from “Gaia Rebirth“, a collaborative performance by a collective of musicians and dancers called the Artist Dream Family, for which I did some blacklight body painting early in December. May 2013 be a year of rebirth and renewal for us all!

Gaia Rebirth, 2012, performance by the Artist Dream Family, bodypaint and photo by Fred Hatt

The dancers seen in this photo are, from left to right, Pia Monique Murray, Goussy Celestin, and Zen Marie Holmes.

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2012/12/19

Working Big – Part 1

Filed under: Figure Drawing: Developed Work — Tags: Abstract, Anatomy, Art Modeling, Collaborations, Crayons, Dance, Figures, Movement Drawing, Nudes, Process, Sketch, Technique, Watercolor — fred @ 00:48

Nocturne, 2009, 48″ x 60″, by Fred Hatt

Many figurative artists carry on an ongoing practice in group life drawing sessions, as I do, but when they have a chance to work with a model in their own studio, they choose to do work that is much more planned, composed, and developed. I tend to get less planned and more experimental when I work in my own studio. It provides an opportunity for spontaneity and direct creative collaboration with the model that just isn’t possible in the group setting, and above all, it makes it possible to work on a bigger scale. In a classroom shared with other artists, it just wouldn’t do for me to take over half the floor with an enormous drawing.

The crayon drawing above, like all the other large scale drawings in this post, was made without planning or preliminary sketches, going directly to work on a four by five foot sheet of black paper, and the figure is approximately life-size. (The model is Museworthy‘s Claudia.) This way of working doesn’t guarantee a good result – in fact, there’s a high failure rate. The real disasters won’t be shared here. When it does work, though, the resulting drawings can have a lively quality that too much thinking and planning tends to stifle.

In quick sketching, working much smaller, my way of approximating proportions is to rely on the rhythm of the movements of the hand. A torso, for example, might be thought of as a musical measure, consisting of a quarter note for the curve of the breast, a series of sixteenth notes for the ribs, and a half note for the abdomen. (That’s an explanatory metaphor – in practice I never think of visual rhythms in quite such precise terms.) The smaller the drawing gets, the more difficult it is to use this rhythmic sense, because the movements used to make the lines become so small. It is easier to feel the fluctuations of movement with the forearm than it is with the fingers, and it is easier still with the whole arm and shoulder. Sometimes, as in the sketchbook page below, I try shifting the scale of my sketches as an exercise, and for me, working small is challenging!

Michael quick poses, 2012, 17″ x 14″, by Fred Hatt

I’ve done many portraits around twice life-size. The human face is a complex cluster of forms, and when the drawing or painting is small, we are forced to simplify by the bluntness of our instruments. You just can’t facet a diamond with a sledgehammer. Upsizing the subject makes it possible to capture much more meaningful detail with our clumsy fingers and dull tools.

Marilyn, 2011, 19″ x 25″, by Fred Hatt

The remainder of this post consists of large scale figure drawings made in my own studio on papers ranging in size from about 30″ x 48″ (76 x 122 cm) to 60″ x 60″ (152 x 152 cm). In past posts I’ve found that these large drawings, especially the complex ones with multiple overlapping figures, lose a lot of their impact and even legibility at the size I use for pictures on the blog. I’ve made these images slightly larger than what I usually use here, but I haven’t made them much larger because I don’t want to give away online pictures of sufficiently high resolution to let someone make book-quality prints. I hope these reproductions will give you a sense of what the originals are like, and if you want to see them in their full glory, you’ll have to visit my studio or an exhibit of my work!

Feet, 2007, 48″ x 60″, by Fred Hatt

I often make my larger work in pairs. The larger-than-life-scale crayon drawings above and below were done in the same session. Both are 48″ x 60″. These are on my portfolio site, and the digital images have been popular recently on Tumblr and Pinterest.

Back and Hand, 2007, 48″ x 60″, by Fred Hatt

You might think it would be hard to maintain proportions, painting in watercolors directly from life, without preliminary measurements or sketches, on a piece of paper too large to see all at once from working distance. In fact, when making the figures smaller than life-size, proportion has been a problem for me. It gets much easier when the figures are life-size, since I have a very good sense of how long an arm is, how big a hand is, and so on.

Mountain and Valley, 2012, 38″ x 50″, by Fred Hatt

Since I’m working directly from life, and I like the models to take interesting poses that might be challenging to hold over a long period of time, I try to work very quickly. These are essentially quick sketches, not so different from what I’d do on a much smaller piece of paper in twenty minutes or so, and they have all the roughness that implies. We’re not used to seeing the scribbly techniques of the quick sketch at this scale.

Towering, 2012, 38″ x 50″, by Fred Hatt

The drawing above was made by observing through a mirror placed on the floor, to see the figure as though from beneath. Of course this means the drawing was done upside down.

Spinal Curves, 2012, 38″ x 50″, by Fred Hatt

Most artists doing observational work at large scale use an easel, but paper or canvas of this size mounted on an easel would be like a wall between the artist and the model. For me it’s important to have open space between myself and the model, with no energetic barriers, so I do all of these big drawings on the floor.

Waxing Moon, 2010, 48″ x 30″, by Fred Hatt

The pair above and below are done in aquarelle crayon on black paper. Each piece is 48″ x 30″ – the smallest pieces in this post, besides the portrait and quick sketch examples seen near the top. These drawings were featured in an earlier post, two years ago.

Waning Moon, 2009, 48″ x 30″, by Fred Hatt

In the next pair, I’m trying to get the kind of bodily expressiveness Rodin mastered in sculpture, using direct, no-sketch watercolor painting and life-size scaling, and working with exquisite dancer-models.

Melting Glacier, 2012, 38″ x 50″, by Fred Hatt

Thawing Permafrost, 2012, 38″ x 50″, by Fred Hatt

Since I’m working on the floor, I tend to favor reclining poses, as I can see the pose while crawling on top of the drawing paper, without craning my neck. I love these unusual foreshortened views of the body, and I feel that the view of the head from above has a special subjective quality – it suggests the face we feel from within, rather than the face we present to the world.

Cool Down, 2003, 60″ x 60″, by Fred Hatt

Many of my large-scale figure drawings feature multiple, overlapping figures of the same model, incorporating the temporal dimension into the composition. You can see many examples here, and posts about the process here and here and here and here, and those drawings will be the subject of “Working Big, Part 2”, to be posted in about a month.

Double Exposure, 2007, 30″ x 60″, by Fred Hatt

Thanks to my great model/collaborators for these drawings: Claudia, Izaskun, Jeremiah, Kristin, Kuan, Pedro, and Yuko.

My work is included in the exhibit Faces of Figureworks: Self Portraits, January 5 – March 3 at Figureworks Gallery in Brooklyn, with an opening reception Friday, January 11. I’ll post further details here soon. If you’re in NYC, come see me!

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2012/12/05

Upcoming Performance and Exhibition

Filed under: My Events: Performances,Video: Body Art — Tags: Artist Dream, Body Paint, Collaborations, Exhibits, Experimental Performance, NYC, Shows — fred @ 09:06

Gaia ReBirth, Dec. 8, 2012 at the Meta Center

This weekend I’m doing body paint for multiple dancers for a performance, and in January my work is appearing in an exhibition of self-portraits by contemporary and 20th century artists. Here is the info:

GAIA REBIRTH with the ARTIST DREAM FAMILY

As we elevate our consciousness and evolve as spiritual beings, our planet is effected as well. The vibrational increase has been a catalyst for the re-awakening of feminine energy. As this planet moves out of darkness and into light and old paradigms of greed, violence and war are replaced with love , she undergoes a transformation…a rebirth. We all play a role in the Rebirth. The power is within each of us to heal ….through love. Join us as we celebrate the Spiritual Rebirth of our planet through music and dance that is uplifting to your body and soul.

The Meta Center
214 West 29th Street, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Bet 7th & 8th Ave
Dec 8,2012, 8:00pm to 10:00pm

$25 at the door
Children under 16 free entry
Healthy snacks & Refreshments will be provided.
Contact information at www.theartistdream.com

worldwindr@yahoo.com.

THE ARTIST DREAM FAMILY:
ZEN HOLMES www.zensuality.us

SERA SOLSTICE www.boldbellydance.com

PIA MONIQUE MURRAY www.pmmdc.com
HANNAH’S FIELD www.hannahsfield.com
STEVEN & GINA www.wedidj.com
EVAN WORLDWIND

SPECIAL GUEST ARTISTS:
Goussy Celestin (dancer)
Dakota HD (dancer)
Zahava (dancer) www.LoveMakingDances.com

Fred Hatt (body paint artist) www.fredhatt.com
Shekere Master – (MR MAGIC) KEVIN NATHANIEL HYLTON www.mbirasanctuary.com
Kora player – (West African Harp) SUSO SALIEU www.salieususo.fourfour.com
Trombonist — Ben Gerstein www.bengerstein.com
live Electronics — GL Diana www.gldianamusic.com
Percussionist – SAGE LOGAN

GUEST SPEAKERS

Alison Artis of Angel Artistry www.soulangelbeauty.com
H-Ankh Risingsun.

Here’s a video clip from an earlier event with most of the same musicians and dancers Pia Monique Murray and Zen Holmes, with body art by me:

And, coming soon, my work will be featured in the group exhibition Faces of Figureworks: Self Portraits, open January 5 – March 3, 2013 at Figureworks, 168 N. 6th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211. The opening reception will be Friday, January 11th, 6-9 pm. When I have more details about the show, they will appear here.

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2012/09/24

Museworthy’s Fifth

Filed under: My Work on Other Sites and in Print,Photography: Figures — Tags: Art Modeling, Claudia, Collaborations, Museworthy, Nudes, Portraits — fred @ 10:00

Museworthy, Claudia’s blog about artists and models of history and her own life as an art model, has been going for five years today. It was Museworthy that inspired me to start blogging, and Claudia was my mentor, showing me how to use the WordPress software and how to get started. The quality and variety of what she shares there, and her consistency and perserverance in publishing (often two to three posts a week!) remain an inspiration to my own writing and posting, as much as Claudia as model has been an inspiration for me and many other artists. It’s become a tradition for Claudia’s blogaversary posts to include a photo of her taken by me, so follow the link to check out this year’s effort.

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DRAWING LIFE by fred hatt

2013/01/25

Working Big – Part 2: Weaving with Bodies

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2012/12/31

My 2012 in Images

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2012/12/19

Working Big – Part 1

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2012/12/05

Upcoming Performance and Exhibition

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2012/09/24

Museworthy’s Fifth

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