"Santa and Hotei"
Japanese Theme Santa
by Franz Brown / John P Falstaff

Oil  24x36

I have always admired Japanese culture, especially their gardens, prints and ink drawings. I found the little polar bear at a garage sale. I named him Hotei for the Japanese God of Happiness, Hotei. The Japanese god was based on a true historical figure who wandered the countryside. The bag held gifts which were generously shared. That is  Hotei in the upper left. He is generally dressed in a man's kimono and carries a special fan. Most cultures seem to have some mythical or iconic figure representing gift giving, joy and happiness. I look forward to finding more.

Santa holds a small Japanese doll. I often try for some type of halo effect on Santa, here I was able to achieve it with a fan.  I tried to make the written character for Hotei on the bottom left but I'm not sure it was a success.
The dog is of course Santa's long time friend, Sidekick.

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