Figure Painting Online with the Teaching Studios of Art

I’ll be teaching an online figure painting workshop with the Teaching Studios of Art in December.

Online Workshop held over two Sundays
DECEMBER 5TH & DECEMBER 12TH
12 PM - 2 PM; 3 PM - 6PM EST

A workshop designed for artists of all levels of experience

In this online Figure Painting workshop, participants will study after specific masterworks in order to gain a better grasp of light and form as it pertains to a strategically organized painting practice. Conceptual and technical demonstrations will provide insight, and artists will receive direct feedback on their work. The goal of the workshop is to help artists cultivate a skill set that will make for a more mindful, efficient, and enjoyable painting process.

Five essential concepts will be taught:

1. Gesture and rhythm of the pose
2. Basic proportions and geometry of the figure
3. Blocking-in using anatomy and a specific understanding of light and shadow
4. Modeling form
5. Finishing and refining touches

The sessions and bonus material will be recorded and made available for viewing for up to a month after the event.

$250 - click link for more information & registration

MANIFEST (second time around) & The New Mexico Art League

This post is coming in a bit late for the MANIFEST | NUDE exhibition, but I did have two works hanging in the Cincinnati gallery a couple of months ago. My drawing Push & Pull was exhibited in MANIFEST’s SCHISM show in 2015. It’s been a while, but I’m honored to have had work exhibited with them once again. I’ve entered another piece into their coming show PERCEPTUAL. Fingers Crossed.

The painting of Dante (that was recently exhibited with MANIFEST) and another figure painting from my time in France in 2019 is now being shown in the New Mexico Art League’s Faculty show.

2021 - 2022 Teaching Calendar

As an attempt to get myself a little more organized and make my upcoming classes a little easier for students to find, I’ve added a calendar page: Click here to see my 2021-2022 teaching schedule.

Check back to find out about new classes - hopefully, I’ll be adding more soon.

In person again, at long last...

Though I did run a very low key figure painting workshop at the beginning of the year, I’m happy to offer some more substantial in-person intensives during the coming months:

Drills | May 10-21 | 2 weeks | $800 | Painting & Drawing skill building session
Enrollment deadline: Monday, May 3

Figure Painting | August 2- 20 | 3 weeks* | $1200 | Long pose figure painting
Enrollment deadline: Sunday, Aug 1

*Part time (daily, 1 week & 2 week) options available when registering for the course if you are interested, but can’t commit to all three weeks

Classes will be held at the Ryder Studio here in Santa Fe, New Mexico (Monday - Friday, 9:30am-5pm)

Follow the class links above or http://www.mtobiashall.com/workshops-1 for more info. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.

Online with the Teaching Studios of Art

Over the past several months I’ve been fortunate to have a great online teaching gig with the Teaching Studios of Art. Classes will continue - visit https://www.teachingstudios.com for more info. There are a number of great courses and talented teachers offering classes there (in person, if you’re on Long Island…or online if you’re not). As of now, I’m offering Figure Drawing, Figure Painting & Alla Prima Techniques - each is a six session class meeting once/week. So far, it’s been a lot of fun. I find these online classes to be a great opportunity for us to study the masters. Everything we cover in class can be used when back in the life room.

75 of 100 Landscapes 2020 | Paintings for sale

My current count is at 75 paintings - I was maintaining my stride through July, but the project has had to take a back seat to a number of other priorities since then. My goal is still to reach 100, but I’ve decided to grant myself a little more flexibility with the self-imposed January 1st deadline.

The real joy has been getting out and spending time in this amazing landscape (occasionally, I’ll even return home with a painting I’m feeling proud of). So… for now, I’ve decided to sift through the 75 and just showcase my unsold favorites > see them here

Going Online with Studio Escalier - Summer & now Autumn

Excited to announce that I’ll be teaching an online figure drawing class with Studio Escalier (the Summer class is wrapping up, but there is still an Autumn section beginning on September 13). It was unfortunate that my Paris class was canceled this summer (due to obvious reasons), but this opportunity is an alternative I’m looking forward to. For more information and registration regarding the class, follow this link or contact me with any questions you might have.

Half way there

(plenty of work for sale) http://www.mtobiashall.com/100-landscapes-1

I’m halfway through my 100 Landscapes project - basically, something I’ve been doing on the side… an excuse to spend time meditating on this awe inspiring Land of Enchantment. I was hoping that I’d be able to do a number of studies from France this summer as well, but I guess the global pandemic had other plans. For now, I’ll keep chipping away at these quick sketches and savoring the fresh high desert air. I’m not sure if, or how, the project will evolve over the next months (I’m definitely feeling an urge to work bigger and to take some of the landscapes further). Regardless, I’ll continue to updated my progress.

(For those of you who have already bought a piece, I should be getting some aluminum panels so I can mount the paintings soon - thanks for your patience with me!)

Turbulence (Part 2)

I’m happy to say that the Turbulence Project raised over $1000, and the proceeds have been donated to various organizations that are fighting to end racism and to lift us all through awareness, community and activism:

Black Lives Matter
Black Visions Collective
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
NAACPLDF (NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund)
G.L.I.T.S (Gays and Lesbians Living In a Transgender Society)
Advancement Project
Campaign Zero/We the Protestors
Black Table Arts
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
Sybrina Fulton Campaign

But it goes without saying that this fight for a better and more just world will take a lot more of our collective awareness and action. With conscious effort, we can all engage and contribute to a more beautiful whole.

I will leave the project open, painting and posting clouds from time to time in honor of all who continue to face racism, discrimination, and violent injustice on a daily basis.

My most sincere thanks to those of you that helped me raise the funds and also to those of you who are making an effort for positive cultural evolution.

Turbulence

In the studio, my teachers pushed me to acknowledge my weaknesses and to work on them - to forge them into strengths. It’s obvious that we have been collectively torn open over the past weeks with the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. We are a culture severely struggling to come to terms with the reality of this tragic rhythm of senseless violence and racism. We should be and can be better than this.

Now is the time for us to be aware & educated. It’s an opportunity for us to engage with compassion and empathy. We are all capable of contributing in some form to realize our potential strengths - in the global community and as individuals.

Over the next week, I will be painting a series of clouds to honor the memory of George, Ahmaud, Breonna - just to name a few of the many recent victims - and the countless others who face racism on a daily basis. Each 5” x 5” painting will be for sale at $100 (plus shipping cost), and all of the proceeds will be donated to support the Victims, the Protestors, and other Organizations. If you do participate by buying a painting, you can help me choose the destination of your donation (see Black Lives Matter for a full list of options).

I will post images of the cloud paintings - on Instagram (@mtobiashall) & here on my site - as the week unfurls. Please don’t hesitate to message me if you have any questions.

Regardless of your participation, I truly hope that everyone of us will engage in this moment with educated awareness, and compassionate effort.

Black Lives Matter
Black Visions Collective
NAACP

Online Mentorship

Given our current climate of lockdown and social distancing, I thought I would open up a channel for private painting & drawing lessons through online mentorship, instruction and critique. Each of us is on a different part of the creative path, so each session would be customizable to meet the desired goals of the individual artist.

This is an opportunity to get personal feedback on work in progress, or to discuss drawing/painting conceptual strategies and exercises that could strengthen your own artistic practice (i.e. light & form, movement, perspective, composition)

• Prior to meeting, images to be uploaded via Dropbox

• Meetings to be conducted through the Zoom video conferencing application

• $75/single hour session or $325 for a set of five hourly sessions (at $65/session)

• Register via my Online Mentorship page

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with questions regarding mentorship and scheduling. I hope to work with you!

NYC

Entering into March, I had the pleasure of participating in a drawing competition at the Salmagundi Club in NYC. It was such a brief weekend, but an absolute joy to go draw with a number of incredible artists. I was lucky enough to take 3rd place in the competition. My most sincere congratulations to Dan Thompson (1st) and to Tyler Berry (2nd) for their beautiful drawings and well deserved honors. I extend my congratulations to all the participants as well - some old friends, some new ones.

(I hope to be able to find more excuses to visit New York soon)

Spring 2020 in Santa Fe

Some recent teaching/workshop developments in Santa Fe:

Evening Sessions (at the Ryder Studio) - Tuesdays & Wednesdays (6-9pm)
- Paint or draw one figure pose over a four week block (8 sessions total)
- Includes instructor demonstrations and one on one feedback
- Dates: Feb 18,19,25,26, Mar 3,4,10,11
- $350 for 8 sessions | $55 per class

Spring Figure Painting (at the Ryder Studio) - March 16-20 (9:30am - 5 pm)
- Week long figure painting intensive
- Includes instructor demonstrations and one on one feedback
- $450

More information & registration on my workshops page.

Summer is Coming

It’s already time to register for my figure drawing program in Paris. Instead of two three week sections (as was scheduled in previous summers), I will be teaching one four week intensive workshop.

Session dates are July 27 - August 21 2020

Application deadline of March 1st is approaching quickly!

More information and the online application can be found at Studioescalier.com.

A (Small) 2020 Project

As a small side project for 2020, I thought I’d challenge myself by making a commitment to doing 100 landscape painting sketches. Painting outdoors has become a favorite part of my overall painting practice over the past year, and I’ve noticed that its slightly more visceral and spontaneous requirements have positively affected other aspects of my creative experience.

As further incentive, I thought I’d make the studies available to purchase here on my website. I’d like to keep the paintings as consistent as possible (oil on linen, mounted on panel, 5”x7”ish, $250 ($2020 seemed a bit much) + tax & shipping).

Another thought I had was that a painting could be bought in advance (I’ll be numbering each of the 100 paintings, so for instance, some adventurous spirit might want to call dibs on #47 prior to my painting it. I’ve seen this done before on other blogs/websites… and I really like the idea).

It will be fun to see what happens… I should get to work.

Happy New Year!

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Figure Painting in Santa Fe, NM | 2020

Excited to announce that I’ll be starting off the new year by teaching a figure painting workshop at the Ryder Studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The two week class will run from January 6-17. More information about the class and registration can be found in my Workshops page. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have more questions!

I Heart NY

Last night in NYC. I’m so fortunate to have been able to spend four wonderful years here. I depart filled with gratitude for every moment - this experience will surely continue to resonate throughout the future chapters of my life.

It’s difficult to walk away, but I’m thrilled for what is next (…and a little time in France will soften the blow).

Studio Escalier - Summer figure drawing in Paris | Registration deadline extended

Just a quick post to further promote my summer 2019 Studio Escalier figure drawing class) in Paris. The application and course information can be found online at Studioescalier.com. Let me know if you have questions.

6-week Program: 15 July – 23 August 2019 
Section One: 15 July – 2 August 2019 
Section Two: 5 August – 23 August 2019

Registration is open until the remaining seats fill.

Fresh Air

Since this past summer, I’ve really gotten into painting outdoors. After spending a number of introspective winter months working on a relatively big studio project, I needed a change of pace - something quick and visceral. These numerous rapid sketches have become a truly joyful part of my practice.

…and I’d like to begin selling them, as well. Soon, I’ll have a page up of select works for sale through this site. For now, more painting to do.

Santa Fe

Had a wonderful figure painting workshop at The Ryder Studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico - a really great way to begin the new year. Our model Arzélie was incredibly inspiring and the students were a joy to work with. Many thanks to each and all who were a part of this experience.

I hope to have a few more workshops in the meantime, but on the horizon is my Summer in Paris figure drawing class(es) with Studio Escalier - Info & application is online (Priority deadline is February 1st).