Inspirational Art Lessons with Professor Carlos Hatton

Carlson Hatton, an art professor at Santa Monica College (SMC), and Isabella Nitti a SMC student (right) at drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025.Professor Hatton demonstrated the portrait project and taught a drawing hack using an eraser to create highlights in the portrait.(Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

Carlson Hatton, an art professor at Santa Monica College (SMC), during a drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025.

Carlson Hatton, an art professor at Santa Monica College (SMC), and Leo Cabrales (left), a SMC art student, during a drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

Carlson Hatton, an art professor at Santa Monica College (SMC), during a drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. Carlson Hatton carefully critiques students's drawing, offering constructive feedback to help them refine their work.(Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

Savanah Parkinson, a SMC art student, during a drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

Carlson Hatton, an art professor at Santa Monica College (SMC), during a drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. Hatton demonstrates a blind contour drawing technique, sketching a portrait without looking at the paper.(Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

Carlson Hatton, an art professor at Santa Monica College (SMC), during a drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. Hatton discusses the class project and gives a demonstration to guide the students.(Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

Carlson Hatton, an art professor at Santa Monica College (SMC), during a drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. Hatton professor demonstrates a blind contour drawing technique, sketching a portrait without looking at the paper.(Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

Carlson Hatton, an art professor at Santa Monica College (SMC), at drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025.Professor Hatton demonstrated the portrait project and taught the grid method for scaling up a drawing.(Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

Carlson Hatton, an art professor at Santa Monica College (SMC), during a drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. Professor Hatton is demonstrating how to make a drawing viewer to his students in drawing class.(Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

Santa Monica college art student Isabella Nitti at drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. Nitti is a 20-year-old history major who plans to transfer to SMC's IXD undergraduate program. Originally from Santa Monica, she returned to SMC after finding that her first university wasn't a good fit. She appreciates SMC's campus and favorable student-to-teacher ratio, which allows her to feel more engaged in her education. . She has learned valuable lessons about patience in drawing from Professor Hatton, who has also enhanced her understanding of perspective and negative space in her artwork. (Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

Santa Monica college art student Isabella Nitti at drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. Nitti is a 20-year-old history major who plans to transfer to SMC's IXD undergraduate program. Originally from Santa Monica, she returned to SMC after finding that her first university wasn't a good fit. She appreciates SMC's campus and favorable student-to-teacher ratio, which allows her to feel more engaged in her education. . She has learned valuable lessons about patience in drawing from Professor Hatton, who has also enhanced her understanding of perspective and negative space in her artwork. (Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

Carlson Hatton, an art professor at Santa Monica College (SMC), and Isabella Nitti a SMC student (right) at drawing class at the art department at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025.Nitti said:"The projects in Professor Hatton’s class have opened my eyes to the beauty of perspective and negative space, enriching my artistic vision and making me a more observant creator."(Masie Najafi |The Corsair)

In Professor Carlos Hatton’s classes, students explore creativity by analyzing their classmates’ work and observing methods, materials and ideas. They also showed their inspirations, and how they discovered their own creativity during the assignment's process.

Hatton has been a teacher at Santa Monica College (SMC) for 15 years. He previously attended The Cooper Union, the Ateliers in Amsterdam, and the Jan van Eyck Akademie in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Hatton, now 51-years-old, grew up in San Diego and has been an artist since he was 12. His roots originate from Sweden through his mother’s side, and his father’s family immigrated from Portugal to Hawaii. 

Hatton enjoys teaching because he can practice and share with others what he loves. However, he said there are also challenges. “Teaching can be very demanding, and at times it feels like you're pulled in many directions. This is part of the job, but it can be challenging,” Hatton said. 

Isabella Nitti, one of Hatton students at SMC who is currently a history major, said, “I think the most valuable lesson I've learned from Professor Hatton is patience and that going slow is a necessity when it comes to drawing.” The values she attributes to Hatton’s lessons can be seen in his classroom, where a large space full of art and paint, with natural light coming from the ceiling, creates a quiet and calm environment. 

Leonardo Cabrales, another student of Hatton, said he “has helped me see art as something I can grow in every day and reminded me that small progress can lead to strong work.” 

When asked about SMC, Hatton said, "I think SMC is very welcoming for students and staff. I appreciate the great diversity at SMC in terms of age, race, culture, sexual orientation and economic background.”