$90.00Original price was: $90.00.$75.00Current price is: $75.00.
Each quantity will equal a 30min session that can be taken separately or all at once (depending on availability). Example: Qty 2 = 1hr = $78 (with launch discount)
*Visiting or live in Hawaii? Please scroll down for more info!
Personalized mentoring, portfolio critiques, and tailored design guidance to uncover what’s weakening your work, find solutions, and elevate it to the master level.
You can draw, paint, or shoot, but you know something is missing in your work. Your images feel flat, chaotic, or uninspired, and you can’t quite pinpoint why. Reading books and watching videos is essential, but sometimes you hit this creative wall where you need personalized guidance. You understand the theory, but you aren’t sure how to apply dynamic symmetry, visual hierarchy, or lighting techniques to your specific medium, gear, or artistic goals.
Rules give you rigid instructions. Diagnostic critiques give you total clarity. That’s where one-on-one mentorship changes everything.
Whether you are struggling with a blank canvas, stuck on an unfinished painting, or trying to organize a chaotic street photograph, my one-on-one mentoring provides clear, personalized feedback to elevate your art to the master level. The mentoring is tailored entirely to your needs, and together we can review your portfolio, troubleshoot your visual mistakes, establish clear action steps, and build the confidence you need to create remarkable art.
Stop asking, *”Why does my work look amateur or uninspired?”*—and get direct, expert analysis showing you exactly how to restructure your visual hierarchy, lock in dynamic symmetry, and command viewer attention.
If you spend years struggling alone in your studio without feedback, you end up repeating the same mistakes over and over. Working 1-on-1 accelerates your growth by giving you immediate, expert diagnostic feedback.
Whether you want to master Alla Prima oil painting, lock in dynamic symmetry on street photography shoots, or edit cinematic video, 1-on-1 mentoring replaces second-guessing with total clarity.
Neil Diamond, Sympathy Grades,
and Why Art School Fails Us
In high school, our art teacher played Neil Diamond records every day and let us draw whatever we wanted as long as we didn’t complain. It was great for a lazy student, but it didn’t help any of us grow as artists.
Later in college, I accidentally enrolled in an advanced illustration course without taking the prerequisite. On day one, students were holding up pencils to measure a wooden mannequin—a technique for measuring proportions that I was oblivious to. I felt like an idiot. I just drew what I saw and pushed through each assignment. When the instructor saw a mediocre portrait I drew of Jack Nicholson, he realized I hadn’t taken the basic class. Rather than kicking me out, or worrying about teaching me the foundational mechanics I was missing, he felt sorry for me and handed me a “sympathy B.”
In another design class, I created a piece unifying four circular images into a large master composition. The teacher admitted it was the best work in the class—and then failed me because I didn’t follow her rigid, step-by-step instructions.
Teachers often care about their students, but polite encouragement and rigid grading don’t help you master your craft.
Real growth doesn’t come from participation trophies, Neil Diamond records, or arbitrary assignment rules. It comes from honest diagnostic feedback, clear design principles, and personalized guidance tailored to your exact artistic vision.
Who Is Mentorship For?
• Intermediate & Advanced Artists who feel stuck on a plateau and want expert eyes on their portfolio. • Creators Launching a New Project, Book, or Exhibition who want to ensure their visual design is locked in before publishing or painting. • Self-Taught Artists who want to skip years of trial and error and get straight to master-level composition principles.
Choose Your Mentoring Experience
1. Recorded Video Composition Critique
(Most Popular & Convenient)
No live scheduling required! Receive a personalized 15–20 minute screen-recorded video critique analyzing your specific artwork.
• On-Screen Analysis & Draw-Overs: I record my screen while opening your high-resolution images, drawing dynamic symmetry overlays, diagnosing compositional flaws, and showing you step-by-step how to restructure the image for maximum impact. • Keep & Rewatch Forever: Receive a downloadable HD MP4 video file you can watch repeatedly in your studio whenever you hit a creative wall. • Fast Turnaround: Delivered directly to your inbox within 48–72 hours of submitting your artwork.
2. Virtual Mentoring (Worldwide)
Connect directly from anywhere in the world using Zoom, Skype, Phone, or WhatsApp. Sessions include:
• Live Screen Sharing & Audio Call: Review high-resolution files, analyze compositions on-screen using digital grid overlays, or walk through software workflows in real time. • Direct Phone & Messaging: Prefer a simpler setup? Skip the video apps entirely—we can conduct sessions over a direct phone call or WhatsApp while sharing images and critiques via text or email threads. • Custom References & Reading: Receive recommended articles, videos, or diagrams aligned directly with your current artistic goals. • Tailored “Homework” Assignments: Get practical field or studio exercises to complete between sessions to measure your progress.
3. In-Person Waikiki Mentoring (Visiting or Living in Hawaii?)
Visiting or living in Hawaii? We can meet in person for a walk-around mentoring session right in Waikiki (available exclusively within the Waikiki area). Combine real-world street/landscape instruction or portfolio reviews in paradise!
What We Can Focus On (By Medium)
Every artist is at a different stage in their journey. Together, we’ll identify the exact skills that will accelerate your growth, then build a custom strategy tailored to your goals. I’ve helped photographers, filmmakers, painters, sculptors, product designers, and architects elevate their craft—here are some of the key areas we can focus on:
1. Photography (Street, Fine Art, Studio & Portraiture)
• Composition & Design: Dynamic symmetry grids, decisive moment, visual weight, Gestalt psychology, and edge control. • Camera Mechanics & Lighting: Manual mode, natural light, speedlights, light modifiers, long exposures, and model posing. • Post-Processing & Style: Photoshop editing, skin retouching, color theory, and developing a cohesive personal portfolio.
2. Drawing & Oil Painting (Alla Prima & Imaginative)
• Designing the Composition: Laying out canvases with dynamic symmetry, figure drawing, and rendering. • Painting Techniques: Alla Prima/impasto execution, mediums, brush and palette knife control, color mixing, values, edges, and texture. • Approach & Process: Drawing from imagination, transferring art to canvas, digitizing artwork, and portfolio refinement.
3 Cinematography & Video Production
• Visual Storytelling: Dynamic camera movement, framing with dynamic symmetry, and composing each scene with cinematic appeal. • Post-Processing: Music video editing, basic cutting workflows (Final Cut Pro), and creating professional videos with minimal gear. • See more examples HERE
Pricing & How It Works
Special Launch Pricing: $75 / 30-Minute Session(Regularly $95)
• Flexible Scheduling: Each unit purchased equals a 30-minute mentoring session. Book a single 30-minute diagnostic session or purchase multiple units for an extended deep-dive or in-person session (e.g., Quantity 2 = 60 minutes).
• Limited Availability: Sessions are kept strictly limited each month to ensure every artist receives deep, dedicated focus and portfolio preparation.
Simple 3-Step Booking Process:
1. Select Your Mentoring Session Length: At checkout, choose your desired session length (1 unit = 30 mins, 2 units = 60 mins, etc.). 2. Send an email to tavis@ipoxstudios.com – Tell me a little about yourself and include details below:
• What mentoring option do you prefer? (Recorded video critique, Virtual Mentoring, or In-person)
• Submit Your Artwork – For a video critique, attach up to three of your high-resolution image(s). For a portfolio review, send a link to wherever you post your work (website or Instagram). • Tell me a little about your artwork and what specific topics or challenges you’d like to focus on? 3. Schedule Your Time: we will coordinate via email to set a date and time that fits both our schedules. (Sessions are scheduled between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM Hawaii Standard Time / HST). *For Virtual Mentoring : Be sure to download Zoom or Skype and become familiar with it before the session. This way we can easily share my screen and cover your art in real-time.
Example Email
“Hi Tavis! I prefer the video critique because my schedule is really busy. I included three of my newest photos, and I’m also including my Instagram below for more context. I’m a landscape photographer based in New York. I’d like our session to focus on improving my composition and making my portfolio stronger. I have questions about applying dynamic symmetry in the field and using manual mode. Thanks! — Bob (www.bobsart.com | IG: @bobsartiscool)”
Book Now! Session within 24hrs of purchase depending on availability and your needs.
*Scheduling & Timezone Note: Mentoring calls are scheduled between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM HST (Honolulu Time). Once your order is placed, you’ll receive an email within 24 hours to confirm your session time. Have questions before booking? Email tavis@ipoxstudios.com.
One-on-One Mentoring
$90.00Original price was: $90.00.$75.00Current price is: $75.00.Each quantity will equal a 30min session that can be taken separately or all at once (depending on availability).
Example: Qty 2 = 1hr = $78 (with launch discount)
*Visiting or live in Hawaii? Please scroll down for more info!
Description
One-On-One Composition
Mentoring & Critiques
Personalized mentoring, portfolio critiques, and tailored design guidance to uncover what’s weakening your work, find solutions, and elevate it to the master level.
You can draw, paint, or shoot, but you know something is missing in your work. Your images feel flat, chaotic, or uninspired, and you can’t quite pinpoint why. Reading books and watching videos is essential, but sometimes you hit this creative wall where you need personalized guidance. You understand the theory, but you aren’t sure how to apply dynamic symmetry, visual hierarchy, or lighting techniques to your specific medium, gear, or artistic goals.
Rules give you rigid instructions. Diagnostic critiques give you total clarity. That’s where one-on-one mentorship changes everything.
Whether you are struggling with a blank canvas, stuck on an unfinished painting, or trying to organize a chaotic street photograph, my one-on-one mentoring provides clear, personalized feedback to elevate your art to the master level. The mentoring is tailored entirely to your needs, and together we can review your portfolio, troubleshoot your visual mistakes, establish clear action steps, and build the confidence you need to create remarkable art.
Stop asking, *”Why does my work look amateur or uninspired?”*—and get direct, expert analysis showing you exactly how to restructure your visual hierarchy, lock in dynamic symmetry, and command viewer attention.
If you spend years struggling alone in your studio without feedback, you end up repeating the same mistakes over and over. Working 1-on-1 accelerates your growth by giving you immediate, expert diagnostic feedback.
Whether you want to master Alla Prima oil painting, lock in dynamic symmetry on street photography shoots, or edit cinematic video, 1-on-1 mentoring replaces second-guessing with total clarity.
Neil Diamond, Sympathy Grades,
and Why Art School Fails Us
In high school, our art teacher played Neil Diamond records every day and let us draw whatever we wanted as long as we didn’t complain. It was great for a lazy student, but it didn’t help any of us grow as artists.
Later in college, I accidentally enrolled in an advanced illustration course without taking the prerequisite. On day one, students were holding up pencils to measure a wooden mannequin—a technique for measuring proportions that I was oblivious to. I felt like an idiot. I just drew what I saw and pushed through each assignment. When the instructor saw a mediocre portrait I drew of Jack Nicholson, he realized I hadn’t taken the basic class. Rather than kicking me out, or worrying about teaching me the foundational mechanics I was missing, he felt sorry for me and handed me a “sympathy B.”
In another design class, I created a piece unifying four circular images into a large master composition. The teacher admitted it was the best work in the class—and then failed me because I didn’t follow her rigid, step-by-step instructions.
Teachers often care about their students, but polite encouragement and rigid grading don’t help you master your craft.
Real growth doesn’t come from participation trophies, Neil Diamond records, or arbitrary assignment rules. It comes from honest diagnostic feedback, clear design principles, and personalized guidance tailored to your exact artistic vision.
Who Is Mentorship For?
• Intermediate & Advanced Artists who feel stuck on a plateau and want expert eyes on their portfolio.
• Creators Launching a New Project, Book, or Exhibition who want to ensure their visual design is locked in before publishing or painting.
• Self-Taught Artists who want to skip years of trial and error and get straight to master-level composition principles.
Choose Your Mentoring Experience
1. Recorded Video Composition Critique
(Most Popular & Convenient)
No live scheduling required! Receive a personalized 15–20 minute screen-recorded video critique analyzing your specific artwork.
• On-Screen Analysis & Draw-Overs: I record my screen while opening your high-resolution images, drawing dynamic symmetry overlays, diagnosing compositional flaws, and showing you step-by-step how to restructure the image for maximum impact.
• Keep & Rewatch Forever: Receive a downloadable HD MP4 video file you can watch repeatedly in your studio whenever you hit a creative wall.
• Fast Turnaround: Delivered directly to your inbox within 48–72 hours of submitting your artwork.
2. Virtual Mentoring (Worldwide)
Connect directly from anywhere in the world using Zoom, Skype, Phone, or WhatsApp. Sessions include:
• Live Screen Sharing & Audio Call: Review high-resolution files, analyze compositions on-screen using digital grid overlays, or walk through software workflows in real time.
• Direct Phone & Messaging: Prefer a simpler setup? Skip the video apps entirely—we can conduct sessions over a direct phone call or WhatsApp while sharing images and critiques via text or email threads.
• Custom References & Reading: Receive recommended articles, videos, or diagrams aligned directly with your current artistic goals.
• Tailored “Homework” Assignments: Get practical field or studio exercises to complete between sessions to measure your progress.
3. In-Person Waikiki Mentoring (Visiting or Living in Hawaii?)
Visiting or living in Hawaii? We can meet in person for a walk-around mentoring session right in Waikiki (available exclusively within the Waikiki area). Combine real-world street/landscape instruction or portfolio reviews in paradise!
What We Can Focus On (By Medium)
Every artist is at a different stage in their journey. Together, we’ll identify the exact skills that will accelerate your growth, then build a custom strategy tailored to your goals. I’ve helped photographers, filmmakers, painters, sculptors, product designers, and architects elevate their craft—here are some of the key areas we can focus on:
1. Photography (Street, Fine Art, Studio & Portraiture)
• Composition & Design: Dynamic symmetry grids, decisive moment, visual weight, Gestalt psychology, and edge control.
• Camera Mechanics & Lighting: Manual mode, natural light, speedlights, light modifiers, long exposures, and model posing.
• Post-Processing & Style: Photoshop editing, skin retouching, color theory, and developing a cohesive personal portfolio.
2. Drawing & Oil Painting (Alla Prima & Imaginative)
• Designing the Composition: Laying out canvases with dynamic symmetry, figure drawing, and rendering.
• Painting Techniques: Alla Prima/impasto execution, mediums, brush and palette knife control, color mixing, values, edges, and texture.
• Approach & Process: Drawing from imagination, transferring art to canvas, digitizing artwork, and portfolio refinement.
3 Cinematography & Video Production
• Visual Storytelling: Dynamic camera movement, framing with dynamic symmetry, and composing each scene with cinematic appeal.
• Post-Processing: Music video editing, basic cutting workflows (Final Cut Pro), and creating professional videos with minimal gear.
• See more examples HERE
Pricing & How It Works
Special Launch Pricing: $75 / 30-Minute Session (Regularly $95)
• Flexible Scheduling: Each unit purchased equals a 30-minute mentoring session. Book a single 30-minute diagnostic session or purchase multiple units for an extended deep-dive or in-person session (e.g., Quantity 2 = 60 minutes).
• Limited Availability: Sessions are kept strictly limited each month to ensure every artist receives deep, dedicated focus and portfolio preparation.
Simple 3-Step Booking Process:
1. Select Your Mentoring Session Length: At checkout, choose your desired session length (1 unit = 30 mins, 2 units = 60 mins, etc.).
2. Send an email to tavis@ipoxstudios.com – Tell me a little about yourself and include details below:
• What mentoring option do you prefer? (Recorded video critique, Virtual Mentoring, or In-person)
• Submit Your Artwork – For a video critique, attach up to three of your high-resolution image(s). For a portfolio review, send a link to wherever you post your work (website or Instagram).
• Tell me a little about your artwork and what specific topics or challenges you’d like to focus on?
3. Schedule Your Time: we will coordinate via email to set a date and time that fits both our schedules. (Sessions are scheduled between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM Hawaii Standard Time / HST).
*For Virtual Mentoring : Be sure to download Zoom or Skype and become familiar with it before the session. This way we can easily share my screen and cover your art in real-time.
Example Email
“Hi Tavis! I prefer the video critique because my schedule is really busy. I included three of my newest photos, and I’m also including my Instagram below for more context. I’m a landscape photographer based in New York. I’d like our session to focus on improving my composition and making my portfolio stronger. I have questions about applying dynamic symmetry in the field and using manual mode. Thanks! — Bob (www.bobsart.com | IG: @bobsartiscool)”
Book Now! Session within 24hrs of purchase depending on availability and your needs.
*Scheduling & Timezone Note: Mentoring calls are scheduled between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM HST (Honolulu Time). Once your order is placed, you’ll receive an email within 24 hours to confirm your session time. Have questions before booking? Email tavis@ipoxstudios.com.