Rob Prior is an anomaly — a painter with the rare ability to work with both hands simultaneously, often with his eyes closed. The act becomes a performance; the canvas, a cinematic event.
Rob Prior’s career stretches across the worlds that shaped pop culture — illustrating for Marvel, collaborating on Star Wars, and contributing artwork to Dungeons & Dragons beginning at the age of 13.
“People ask me how I do what I do. It’s a simple answer. I just do.”
Across three decades, Rob Prior has built a body of work that refuses the line between commercial illustration and museum painting. His subjects — Stan Lee, Bruce Lee, Michael Jackson, Vader, the Joker, Daenerys, an unnamed dancer in blue — share the same loyalty to the figure and the same willingness to be painted at velocity.
His live performances — from stadiums and red carpets to galas, premieres, and memorials — turn the act of painting into a cinematic event. The work is finished while the audience is still in the room, and almost always sold before the lights come up.
The studio, based in Southlake, Texas, releases originals, commissions, and films globally — and receives every collector inquiry personally.
A painting is a sentence with a verb. Speed is not haste — it is the cost of refusing to lie.
Pop iconography and fine art are not enemies. They are the same loyalty to the figure, at different volumes.
Live performance is the studio's confession. Whatever happens on stage is the work — there is no edit.
- 1995Studio Founded
Begins working professionally as an illustrator. The first dual-handed painting experiments are documented.
- 2007First Major Comic Cover
Cover work begins to circulate across Marvel and DC universes — pop iconography becomes a lifelong subject.
- 2012The Avengers Premiere
First major film red-carpet activation — the canvas joins the premiere reel for Marvel's tentpole release.
- 2015SXSW
Austin debut — the live painting practice enters the festival circuit.
- 2017Linkin Park Memorial
Tribute portrait painted in memory of Chester Bennington — circulated globally across the music world.
- 2019Stan Lee Memorial
Tribute portrait painted live in Los Angeles. The piece is widely circulated as a definitive memorial work.
- 2021Art Basel Miami · 'Avalon'
First Art Basel appearance. The viral live painting 'Avalon' sells for $1 million. The same year, opens the inaugural Comic-Con Museum.
- 2022NFL Draft
Live activation at the NFL Draft — the canvas becomes the stadium's centerpiece.
- 2023Art Basel · Switzerland
Opens Art Basel in Basel — paints Snoop Dogg and Tupac in a single set.
- 2024Eternus Series
A new long-form fine art cycle is launched. The studio's most ambitious painting body to date.
- 2025The Vatican · Pope Leo
Three paintings commissioned for the Vatican. Private audience with Pope Leo. Returns to Art Basel Switzerland that same year, painting Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre live.