Bellevue Square Santa a Bust

12/5/13 Diamine Macassar ink, Sailor pen, Zig markers, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

My personal goal for the holiday season is to sketch more Santas than I did last year, which was two. I rarely get over to the Eastside because of the toll on the 520 bridge, but with my goal in the back of my mind, I suggested to Greg that we cross the lake to visit the Bellevue Arts Museum (where, by the way, there are several exhibitions on view that I highly recommend, especially “Telling Tales: Narrative Works by Nate Steigenga, Cappy Thompson, and Anna Torma”). My ulterior motive was that Bellevue Square is just across the street – an easy location for another Santa, I figured.

Unlike at Northgate, where Santa is easily visible and accessible by anyone walking by, Bellevue Square’s Santa is sequestered away in a huge, fancy house. We walked all around it twice, trying to find a way to either peek through the windows or between the many “elves” herding children around, but I could barely glimpse Santa’s back, and only from an awkward location. What a bust!

To make the bridge toll worthwhile, I got a sketch of Greg during lunch at Blue C Sushi. He’s not Santa, but I don’t often have a head-on view of a willing model using chopsticks, so I can’t complain.