This was an old handsome SNJ training plane that I saw at Spirit Airport near St Louis back when I was studying aerospace engineering and was almost always showing up to fly-ins and air shows. They were great opportunities to get references for the artwork which I was using to try and finance my education without accumulating debt.\nI saw this classic airplane on display and photographed it from various angles, then filed the photos away for the proverbial rainy day. \nYears later, the rainy day came when I found the reference photos in my files at a time when I had been painting a lot of murals with prehistoric history as the topic and needed a change of pace, so this was painted for exercise, and also because aircraft are just naturally very fun, attractive subjects, even when they aren’t in flight. I really regret not getting the painting digitally scanned before it sold, but life happens, and the person who purchased it as a gift for her husband went away happy, which is all that matters. The two were great characters to get to know and very much in love with one another.\n\nNot 100% sure about the size anymore