Failed Jackson Pollock Self Portrait

I tried to take a stab at Jackson Pollock's drip painting style. I wanted to create somewhat of a self portrait. So I outlined the darkest darks of my face and went from there. Oh well ... back to the drawing board.

Lady Sings The Blues

Inspection

What started out as a charcoal sketch of a nude model at school, became a drawing. I've always been curious about the evil that a person can become, and Nazi Germany has always intrigued me.

In this sketch, a Nazi officer inspects his subject before he declares her fate. Her friend, who just moments before was in conversation with, now lies lifeless on the floor. She is humiliated as she stands, naked, scared, and trembling, wondering what is to be her fate. Is a life left starving to death in a concentration camp worth more than to face the barrel of a gun? The officer orders her to turn this way and that, torturing her mind. The mental anguish seems far worse than the fate of death. She's a Jew, and to him, death is only retribution. She's beneath him, and his own morality dictates that sooner or later, she deserves what he would have in store for her.

Regardless her outcome, this Nazi officer, if he doesn't die by the end of the war, his body will hang from a post, or he'll feel the heat of a bullet as his heart is ripped out from a firing squad.

As nation after nation decides to go to war, torturing the individuals who would rise up against them, the winner will one day face death in the same manner as the loser. During WWII, my grandfather shot and killed many German officers, but he too, well after the war was over, came to the end of the road.

This depiction of the humility of an innocent human being, brought before the slime of humanity, captures a single moment in the life of a Jewish lady in Nazi Germany. Day after day, year after year, they were brought before their captors who sought to exterminate them. The cold and heartless actions of this officer shows just how low one human being can be.

Justified, Sanctified, Filled

A man finds a cup in the ground. He picks it up and takes it into the house. He washes it off, cleans it up, and sets it aside. Then, he fills it with coffee and drinks from it. The cup is you. The man is Christ. This is Him finding you and saving you. That's justification. He washes the cup and cleans it out. That's sanctification - cleaned and set aside for service. Then, He fills you. Just because a person accepts Christ into his heart doesn't mean that he won't be fully cleaned. He may still desire to do filthy things. It takes Christ to clean all of the worldliness out of your life. Then, He can fill you with His presence, to be used in His service.

Sniper

This charcoal drawing is beautifully framed. It won 2nd place at the Artworks Art Gallery - 320 Hull Street Road - People's Choice Award. This is one of my finest pieces to date.

Completed - In Progress - shots of the I Have A Dream drawing

'I Have A Dream' - The Price of Equality

This is a charcoal drawing of the Assassination of Dr. King. Dr. King's body is just below the people pointing on the left. What's sad about this photo is that the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King was killed, cannot verify who these people are. A few years ago, a writer went back and found all of the main stunt actors and extras who were on the set of Bruce Lee's Enter The Dragon. Yet, in one of the most famous photographs, nobody can verify the names of 5 or 6 people on the balcony.

Please email if you're interested in purchasing - johnpriceart@gmail.com. This picture will not be sold unframed.

'I Have A Dream' - The Price of Equality

'I Have A Dream' - The Price of Equality

This is maybe 25-30 hours in so far.

'I Have A Dream' - The Price of Equality

There is a great amount of detail that I will not be able to capture. None of the photos I have, have clear facial features of the individuals not only on the ground, but on the balcony as well. All I can do is capture it as best as I can. If there are no visible facial features in the photo, there'll be no visible facial features in the drawing. I'm not going to use artistic liberties here, as it is my desire to recreate this historical photograph as best as I possibly can.

'I Have A Dream - The Price of Equality'

'I Have A Dream' - The Price of Equality

Here is an incomplete drawing I'm working on. It's called, 'I Have A Dream' - The Price of Equality. It's a charcoal drawing on 18x24 charcoal paper of the scene from the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was killed at that Lorraine Motel in Tennessee, where the National Civil Rights Museum is presently located. What is intriguing about this photo is that one of the men - I'm not sure which one off hand, and I'll explain that in a later posting, is Marrell McCollough, an undercover Memphis police officer. Anyway, when I get finished, this will be a recreation of that photo. I will not be using any creative liberties, I will be doing the most uninspired thing of all, I'll just be copying a photo. The photograph, from the best of my understanding, is copyrighted. This is not an attempt to violate any copyright laws either. This piece is intriguing to me because this was the price of equality. Dr. King had to be assassinated just because of his desire for equality. What a dream!!! I've always been touched by this man's life, and it's a shame that he had to go in the manner he did.

Midnight on the Road to Bree

This painting was inspired from Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'. After reading the book, the scenes from the hobbits journey to Bree stood out to me. I did take some creative liberties, as did Peter Jackson, and Ralph Bakshi, and added lanterns. I didn't see any lanterns in the story, but I thought it added to the story. I was impressed to put one of the Black Riders in the painting, off in the distance, but at the end, I decided against it. As in my other postings of my artwork, I have digitally removed and added things. Instead of someone being able to digitally remove a watermark, I decided to just change some things for online viewing. If you'd like to see the unaltered image, please email me.

The painting is 24x36, oil glaze. It took about 2 months to complete. Please email if you're interested in purchasing.
$2400.00

Landscape of John Tyler Community College II

Another landscape of John Tyler Community College in pastel.

18x24

Edits of artwork

It has come to my attention that from time to time, individuals download my artwork & shift it off as their own. What I've done is, I have photoshopped minor changes to some of my work. The pieces you see on here are slightly different than the original. Take the pastel piece of the John Tyler landscape I've posted. There's something in the right corner of the original that I photoshopped out of the piece you see here. If you'd like to see the original, you'll have to email me.

Landscape of John Tyler Community College

Study in Pastel of the John Tyler Community College landscape.

Pastel Still Life

Please email if you're interested in purchasing.

Lot's Wife

18x24 charcoal of Lot's Wife.

Basically, it's modeled after the story in the book of Genesis of Lot's wife. Lot and his family were told to leave Sodom. After fleeing the city, Lot's wife turned back to look, and she was turned into a pillar of salt. I can imagine that there was a lot of heartache in leaving the city - their family lived there, as did all of their friends. She probably heard the screams and torment, but not only that, her heart was still in the city.

The thought behind this drawing is based on that story, but years later. I imagined that, years after the salt began to dissolve and wash away - what if the bones of her body began to show through? In the background I decided to abstract fire raining from above. It's more of an abstracted memory of what happened than an actual background. This is what I came up with.

Please contact if you're interested in purchasing.
$1500.00

Teddy Bear

This is a charcoal drawing of a client's dog, 'Teddy Bear'. It's her anniversary gift to her husband. It's 11x17, and it was a lot of fun. I love doing pets.

Reflections of Reality

I had this idea of buildings dancing. I used to be a great lover of jazz years ago, and I thought, "what if the buildings were dancing to some classic jazz while the reflection of the buildings was a realistic reflection?" So that's what I did here. I love pthalo blue, it's one of my favorite blues. Here, the buildings are dancing & swaying, and the reflection is just an ordinary reflection of water.

36"x48" oil
$1200

Sniper

This was taken from a photograph during WWII of a Canadian Sniper. I don't see too many photos that just grab my attention. I see a lot of beautiful photographs from nature to portraits, but not too many that just grab me. I did some research on the photograph, but I couldn't find any. There was something so intense about it that I felt I had to capture it. For about a month I worked on this, clocking 80 hours or more. Sometimes I'd work for a few minutes, other times, hours into the night. I don't know if this sniper has killed anyone or if he's getting ready to take the shot - who knows, maybe he's sighting his next target. Whatever is going on however, he's focused on the target.

I think that grabbed me the most about this photo was this sniper's story. We all have a story to tell - he's no different. He has a family somewhere that's waiting on him, missing him, and wondering if he'll ever come home. Night after night he sleeps in an area of the world that's unknown to him. Who knows what horrors of war he has faced already - or the ones that are to come?

The drawing is 18x24, charcoal, vine charcoal, and conte. Please email if you're interested.

Still Life Study 8x10

This is a glaze painting of an olive green coffee mug on a magenta cloth. It's a study in how the glaze works. If you're interested in it, $85.00 is my asking price.

The Presidents

As far as The Presidents series goes, I am putting that to rest momentarily. The gentleman who I was working on the project with, has kind of put the book down. I was really hoping to have a great collection here. The idea behind the book was for me to do very high quality portraits in graphite of each U.S. President for a book about the presidents. Instead of having a bunch of stock pictures of each president, why not have one artist do all of the presidents in detail. Hopefully, the author will pick the book back up someday. If not, who knows, maybe I'll complete the series 'just because'. I learned a great deal about the presidents, and I hope to continue this journey someday.

The Presidents - John F. Kennedy

Please Do Not Copy

It is sad when the owner of personal property has to remind others not to use his/her things without permission. You would be very upset if someone came into your house, or yard, or jumped into your car, and began to use it without your permission. Understand that this artwork is created by me. It takes anywhere from 18-32 hours per portrait. This is how I make my living. Please use my artwork for your desktop wallpaper. However, it is very unprofessional and unethical to take my artwork for your own personal use, to download it, and present it as your own. Nobody has the authority to alter my work.

Thank you,
John Price

the Presidents - Franklin D. Roosevelt

The Presidents - Woodrow Wilson

The Presidents - William McKinley

The 25th President of the United States, William McKinley. President McKinley was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz.

The Presidents - Benjamin Harrison

The only U.S. President who was a grandson of another president. His grandfather was U.S. President William Henry Harrison.

The Presidents - John Tyler

Graphite - 11x14 of John Tyler. Prints are available upon request.

Thomas & Kirby

Completed drawing for Beth Holmes of her champs, 'Thomas & Kirby'
Charcoal - 11x17

Thomas & Kirby

Drawing for Beth Holmes - former winner of the Westminster Kennel Club. You can view her dogs at www.fairwindswss.com

Wall Mural - Atlanta Braves Mural

Still Life - Conte on tinted paper

Still life of a silver dish with a flower. The size is 26x20.
$450 - Original available upon request.

The Presidents - Thomas Jefferson

Graphite - 11x14 of Thomas Jefferson. Prints are available upon request.

The Presidents - John Adams

Graphite - 11x14 of John Adams. Prints are available upon request.

The Presidents - George Washington

Graphite - 11x14 of George Washington. Prints are available upon request.

Bruce Springsteen with Malcolm Whitrick's Daughter

Commissioned Portrait of Malcolm Whitrick's daughter invited onstage to sing with Bruce Springsteen.

Me - Photoshop

Wall Mural - ICS

This wall mural at ICS, stretched maybe a little over 60 feet. It was a continual wrap around that covered the hallway, and main entrance walkway of ICS. It was a real pleasure working with Pascal - the Executive Director of ICS, as well as some of his colleagues like Priscilla and Daphne. They are a wonderful group of people to work with.

The mural, as you can see in preceding posts, stretches quite a ways. Unfortunately, I cannot post all of the photographs. After awhile, it can become redundant. The mural is a tranquil lake that is so quiet, that the land mass reflects perfectly in the water, mirroring its image.

Wall Mural - ICS

This is just before completion of this particular section, but it's one of the last photographs I could snap of it. There are a few spots that I hadn't gotten to at this moment.

Wall Mural - ICS

This is the hallway at ICS

Wall Mural - ICS

The main wall at ICS

Wall Mural - ICS

This is a wall mural for ICS - Independent Capacity System, Inc., an organization dedicated to helping adults with disabilities. ICS has a very positive history for ensuring the positive results for its clients. This is one of several murals that I did for ICS. This is in the main entranceway of the headquarters of ICS. It is a consistent mural that wraps around the entire hall.

Wall Mural - ICS

This is a wall mural for ICS - Independent Capacity System, Inc., an organization dedicated to helping adults with disabilities. ICS has a very positive history for ensuring the positive results for its clients. This is one of several murals that I did for ICS. This is in the main entranceway of the headquarters of ICS. It is a consistent mural that wraps around the entire hall.