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

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)

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.

Time Flies

The first year at NYAA just flew by...  I'm quite excited for round two.

In the meantime, there is still one seat available for the second section of my Studio Escalier | Summer in Paris figure drawing workshop (July 24 - August 12).  Details here!