The finished painting

I present the finished painting.

I am still in shock that I finished, that it was on time, and that I did it exactly how I imagined (minus a couple design differences that I just didn't have time to put in, such as sleeve tattoos). This is the very first oil painting I have ever even come close to completing, and the very first oil portrait I have ever done. This means a lot to me. I even surprised Ryan.

This is for the 10th International LDS Art Competition (deadline: last Friday. I cut it very close--the paint is still wet, hahaha). The theme is "Tell Me The Stories of Jesus". My first thoughts about this theme is the quantity of artwork I have seen portraying characters from Christ's stories, life, and ministry, and how typically they are very abstract to us today--we see these characters in robes and scenes that are completely removed from us. However, the teachings of Christ are more than just sweet stories from 2000 years ago. The people He spoke of and taught and associated with were real people, with real trials, hardships, and mistakes.

I thought of the lady who was dragged in front of Jesus to be judged for adultery, who was taken in the act of sin--in other words, she had been caught in the act of doing something that at the time was punishable by stoning death. When we see artwork depicting her, typically she is shown in a very sympathetic manner--flowing robes, gorgeous flowing hair. We sympathize with her pain and humiliation. However, what would that girl look like if we saw her in today's world? Would we still have compassion and love, as Christ did, or would we be ready to condemn, ignore, and avoid her? Christ did not condone her actions, but He first saw her as a daughter of God, with divine worth that was not diminished or erased by her sins. When we see the social lepers of today's world, the people who are annoying, socially awkward, those who made poor life choices, those who are homeless, do we do as Christ did and show compassion and love first and foremost, or do we do as the Pharisees did--avoiding them like the plague, stoning them with our judgement and condemnation, ignoring them, etc.?
My painting was also greatly influenced by Elder Dallin H Oaks talk from this past falls General Conference, which explained in detail exactly what I chose to paint. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/loving-others-and-living-with-differences?lang=eng