Description:

Rick Lighton
American, (1953-2020)
George McGinnis
acrylic on board
Signed lower center. Board is wavy with spots of paint loss.


From ShorelineMedia.net: Whitehall native fulfills NBA dreams in unplanned way

Rick Lighton, who grew up in Whitehall, often dreamed about making it to the NBA. The 1971 Whitehall High School graduate reached that goal, although it was not the way he originally intended.

Lighton, now 48 and an Okemos resident, has become an artist NBA players go to when they want an action portrait painted. Lighton's work is so sought after that players are on a waiting list for his services. "I attend games anyway and I can call it work," Lighton said during a recent phone interview from his art studio. "If you can call that work, life can't get much better than that."

He has done painting renditions of NBA players for almost 25 years. His clients have included Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, "Dr. J" Julius Erving and Shaquille O'Neal. When Lighton was attending Whitehall High School, his focus was on being an athlete, not painting athletes. He participated in basketball, football and track for the Vikings.

"My focus in high school was on sports," Lighton said. "I really did have a dream to play professional basketball." Bob Eklund, a Whitehall resident who still is friends with Lighton, was a teammate of Lighton's in football and basketball. "He was a very good basketball player," Eklund said, recalling a Whitehall game against state-ranked Holland Christian when Lighton scored 35 points in leading the Vikings to the upset win.

After high school, the college offers to play basketball did not come for Lighton as he had hoped. Eventually, he did become a practice player in the American Basketball Association. Lighton attended Muskegon Community College and, following an auto accident in Muskegon which cost him the use of his legs, went on to earn his college degree in education at Michigan State University.

"I found out I was the world's worst teacher, but I had been doing paintings as a hobby," Lighton said. "It was always a hobby." After he did a few paintings for NBA players, it became his career. Star basketball players now pay Lighton about $5,000 per image, with most paintings featuring multiple images of the player in action. After he is hired, Lighton meets with the player, goes over various action photographs and they pick the best ones for the painting.

"Rick's work is very realistic," Eklund said. "He paints off a photograph and you think you're looking at a photograph when he's done with his painting." Beverly Tibbitts, Lighton's mother who still lives in Whitehall, said her son's artwork has shown a lot of improvement over the years. She said he just dabbled in art in high school. "Now, his paintings resemble a photograph," Tibbitts said. "He is excellent and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mother. He's well known in that field."

Tibbitts said the painting of Michael Jordan and his father is one of her favorite works by her son. Jordan hired Lighton for a year to paint portraits of him with various family members, including his father who was killed during the height of Jordan's phenomenal playing career.

  • Dimensions: 26 1/2"H x 29 3/4"W(sight), 27 1/4"H x 30 1/2"W(frame)
  • Medium: acrylic on board

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June 5, 2024 5:00 PM EDT
Indianapolis, IN, US

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