Fred's portrait by Kim Blair


Fred Hatt
(14"x11" wax pastel on gessoed w.c. paper)

Fred Hatt is a visual artist and photographer based in New York City. It's because of Fred that I started working with wax pastel.

I absolutely love chalk pastel work, but discovered early on in my artistic journey that the dust created while working with traditional pastel was not good for my health.

When I was researching pastel portraiture I happened upon Fred's work using water soluble wax based pastel. His portraiture/figurative work, created from this medium, was the inspiration for me deciding to experiment with this type of pastel for my portrait work.
Previously I'd used this type of pastel in mixed media painting, but until I saw Fred's work it had not occurred to me that it could be used for portraiture.
This highly pigmented medium allows me to create colourful portraits.

Fred's style of working with wax pastel is dynamic and unique.  His line work, which is captivating and sensual is complemented by his masterful use of colour.

Now, after nearly two years, I have painted 100 portraits.


Thanks for the inspiration Fred!

Check him out on instagram 







*If you received this blog post via email subscription the video will not be visible in your email. Please go directly to my art blog by clicking on the following link for kimblairartist.blogspot.com in order to view the short 2 minute video of the creation of this portrait.