A large, freely drawn ink portrait of a man in a distinctive hat — a rounded hat with a broad brim that reads as a fedora or bowler. The hat dominates the composition: its wide rounded crown, the brim creating a strong horizontal shadow across the upper face, the overall geometry immediately readable as a specific type of hat and a specific kind of person who chooses to wear it.
The face below the brim is in half shadow from the hat — the eyes described with limited marks, the nose prominent, the mouth briefly indicated. The expression is one of absorption or mild displeasure — the brows slightly contracted, the gaze downward. This person is not attending to being drawn.
The jacket at the shoulders and the collar open at the neck ground the figure in a specific social context. The ink marks describing the collar and lapel are among the most confident in the series: single lines placing each element exactly where it belongs.
This portrait, like The Working Man (883), captures a type encountered rather than a subject who sat for sustained drawing. The hat, the posture, the inward gaze — these belong to a specific person seen in a specific moment, drawn quickly from life.