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| 12/10/15 ink, colored pencils |
By this time last year, I had already scored two sketches of
Santa – one at Alderwood Mall and one at
Pacific Place – and by mid-month I
had hit my personal best: three Santas in one season!
I’m woefully behind this year (on everything Christmas – we
don’t have our tree up yet, and our cards haven’t even arrived from the printer).
On the way home from an appointment, I made a stop at Northgate Mall, where the
same Santa I sketched last year at
that mall was on duty again. Unfortunately, the pressure was on: First of all, Santa was busy with numerous customers (unlike last year
when he had none the whole time I sketched), so I had to quickly sketch kids as
they sat on his lap for no more than a couple of minutes at a time. Then Santa
needed to go on his break, but he spotted me sketching, so he patiently waited
for me to finish, which made me feel like I should hurry. (It might be bad holiday
karma to keep Santa waiting!) Whew!
Two more weeks until Christmas – I better up my
Santa-sketching game.
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| I got Santa, but I was too late for the trophy shot -- Santa went on his break. |
When I'm in shopping malls I often think of drawing the Santa area. It's the reportage event of the season. But I just can't bring myself to do it. While Xmas has always been a commercial bonanza, recent years have become extreme (we had xmas decorations going up the day after Halloween) and it's pretty much turned me off to the whole thing. Glad you'll holding the sketcher banner high.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Larry. I feel the same way about holiday commercialism, so for me, sketching is a subversive act. Every time I spend time at the mall without spending money, it's a point for me. ;-)
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