Original Santa Painting – “Believe”

I was doing dead lifts at the gym when Dan, a buddy of mine, came in. He was sporting something more than the 5 o’clock shadow… but less than the full Lumberjack.

I asked him:

“Feeling lazy? Or did you run out of blades?”

He rubbed his chin and said,

“You should see my friend Rich. He’s got a real beard. We’re going to meet up for coffee after I finish my circuit.”

Thoughts of furry Hobbits danced in my head. I wondered if this friend would make a good model for a painting.

It’s a thing I do. I’ll be minding my own business while going to the bank, buying more supplies, and then – voila – someone’s profile or glint in their eye will make my drawing hand itchy and I’ll have to stop and ask them if I can paint them. Men, women, llamas, doesn’t matter who. Doing so has yielded some of my most interesting work.

“He was a pilot for American. Now he’s retired, playing Santa in his free time.”

I asked Dan to send me a photo of his friend.

About an hour later, in the middle of my pull-up routine, a text came in from Dan. There was a picture of Rich with his beard. I nearly fell off of my stool. A perfect model for a Santa painting!

I was then introduced to Santa Rich who then agreed to come to my studio and pose.

In addition to being a wonderful model, Rich is as kind and was as generous with his time as you’d hope Santa would be.

He’s got an interesting second career, and now I have the perfect likeness captured for all time.

Looking for the print version (1 of a limited number)? Get thee to your very own Santa.