In The Name Of Love (until February 1st)

ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!!!! New Valentine's Day Special!! 11x14 painting or drawing with up to 3 subjects only $50 (reg. $77)!!!!! Offer ends Feb. 1st!!! Contact me NOW if you want to take advantage of this special (each subject after 3 is an additional $15). Remember that artwork lasts longer than the newest i-whatever or candy or flowers.

I yam what I yam

If you don't know me, or know me but have been living in a cave, I am a lifelong POPEYE fan. I'll leave it at that. Now, IDW Publishing has been making new Popeye comics (first in over 20 years) and being that it would be a lifelong dream come true to draw for that publication, I have often submitted drawings and paintings in hopes to be accepted for a cover or sequential artist (the purty pikchures inside the book). These are the most recent attempts. Wish me luck. They're pencil with ink and watercolor.

Now that the rush of the holiday orders are done, I'm able to work on my personal projects again in the studio (as well as the mural project at the Rose City Middle School, as posted previously). I'm submitting more work for consideration for the IDW Publishing POPEYE comics (so far no luck but I'm going to keep trying! It's a dream job for me), and finishing up a couple graphite drawings. The drawing below (I Think) is finished. It's been waiting for me to work on it again for 6-12 months, give or take a week. If you can't tell, it's Robert Plant.

New Year's catching up blog post!

Sweet mamma!!! I didn't realize I hadn't posted in over a month!! It's been a busy month, with Christmas commissions, family and working on murals for the Rose City Middle School. Yup, that pretty much catches you up on what Nuttall Art's been up to. Oh, and I did caricatures at a New Year's Eve party in Bay City. Below are images of the murals I've done so far at the middle school. I'll be doing 2 or 3 more in the next couple weeks. I've also added a family portrait I drew for a family for Christmas.

So, the holiday season is upon us, and with it comes an onslaught of projects-for-hire, so I am keeping busy! When I'm not working on commission art, however, I'm working on my own projects. Below is an example.

I'm also participating in the West Branch Art & Wine Walk December 1st at the Ogemaw County Historical Museum, along with my wife Melissa and her ceramics. December 6th I'll be doing caricatures at the Tolfree Foundation dinner at the Willow Tree Restaurant (I AM available for hire at parties! :D )

What happens when you come to the Studio

When people come to my studio, I don't try to sell them anything. I try to show them around, tell them what I do, answer questions and let them look around on their own. Quite often, I just continue to work while they're there. It's NOT a shop! And if kids come in, they get a FREE cartoon sketch (like Garfield or Popeye, Ninja Turtle or Bugs Bunny, etc).

Just a little rantin'

The title of Artist carries more responsibilities than one thinks. It's not just the talent of the artist; it's the technical aspects (matting, framing, proportions, colors and values, etc), Customer Service, Sales Representative, Management, Finances, Tech Support, Supply Manager, Advertising. And it's not 9-5. When I'm not in the studio, I'm usually at the computer, trying to spark interest in what I do. I try to create specials and events to benefit the public, while still drawing attention to what I do. It's a 24 hour struggle deciding what to create that would sell, and putting all personal projects on the back-burner. Many self-employed people have similar struggles. It's not making food during your shift and going home and changing into your street clothes (I did that for 9 years, 12 if you count pizza delivery). It's seeing what's popular everywhere I go. Ideas spark any given moment of the day on how to improve something. Failures and shortcomings mulling around in your head as you try to sleep. I've become self-conscious about how the world percieves me, because I feel that if they see me, they try to avoid me so they don't have to hear about my art. If I send an e-mail, does it automatically get thrown out before being read? Am I now just "Jason Nuttall, Artist for Hire"? I would be fine with that, if it's in the positive sense and not like "Don Berslavsky, Insurance Agent" who nobody wants to be around. (Don Berslavsky is a name I just made up. If you know a Don Berslavsky, it's purely coincidence).

Workin' for the Money

I did my 3rd "Hale Hot Air Balloon Fest Art Battle" yesterday, and placed 3rd and got the People's Choice award. This was a first, in that judges were selected rather than the general public buying tickets and placing their ticket as their vote for who they liked most. That's what the People's Choice Award was this year. Alot of battles are chosen by the public, which, in theory is a great idea. It can be fun and give the artists an idea of how their work is perceived by passers-by. HOWEVER, some artists will stuff the ballot box by getting every man, woman and child in their family tree and graduating class to stop by and vote for them (and if it's a case of buying a ticket for $1, some of those people drop $5-$20 and vote for their friend or relative, in spite of the quality of work being created on the spot). It becomes a popularity contest. Dave might have 7 votes, and one was from his dear ol' granny, but Chloe got 13 votes, and 7 of them were from her friends who came by. Dave and his mom eat beans at home while Chloe and her chums hit the Sizzler and shopping after with her winnings. I'm not saying this happened yesterday. I'm not saying it happened at any specific art battle, but it does happen and it infuriates the artists (especially when you lay down $25-$30 just to enter the battle and get bubckus for it). I've had long conversations with other artists who compete around me, and they felt the same way. However, I enter as many as I can, because my full-time job is that of an artist, and I do enjoy these events. It boosts one's self-esteem with the onlookers praising your work, even you don't like it yourself. I was interested to see the results with judges. I was told they had criteria they had to follow, like a grading system. So, here's the drawing I did (because Lennon sells). It's 18x24 charcoal. It was also part of the silent auction. I have yet to find out how much it sold for.

You say you want a revolution, well, too bad. You get a drawing.

This is a graphite drawing I was hired to do of The Beatles. It's 11x14, which made the details in the faces PAINFUL to draw.

NEW SPECIAL, making Fridays worthwhile!

I've decided to have "$50 Fridays", where if you visit the studio or call the studio number (989-701-7287)on Fridays, you can get a 16x20 drawing OR painting with up to 2 subjects for ONLY $50 (regular cost $160)!!! Money HAS to be in my hand on Friday, however. Each additional subject after 2 is $15. And, I do believe that TODAY is Friday....

Act NOW, not later!

If you've mentioned hiring me for artwork in the last few months, NOW would be a great time to follow through!! It's only $50 up front to begin a project and the rest is paid upon completion of the artwork!
This is about the time that I encourage people to get to me if they want artwork for the holidays so I have time to complete it and customers have time to pay for it. So, if your project isn't for the holidays, and you don't want your project to get pushed back due to the rush of holidays artwork, contact me SOON (plus, things are not going well for the studio, or Nuttall Art in general).

Loss of a Legend.

I don't know why, but I'm taking Joe Kubert's death hard. And I'm feeling worse when I read comments by colleagues and students of his (from the Joe Kubert School Of Cartooning) about how great he was as a person and a teacher, not just as a legendary artist. I've always loved his sons' artwork (Andy and Adam Kubert) as well as his own, and found out later in life about his school. I looked into it and found that it's in New Jersey (if I remember correctly) and my financial aid wouldn't cover it.

I never had the honor of meeting him, but I almost feel like I have.

One Day Only for The Duke!

If you come into the studio, Nuttall Art Studio, on Saturday, August 10th, you can get this 24x36 charcoal drawing of John Wayne for only $150!! This size drawing is usually $432. This is a ONE DAY ONLY special!! Drawn from the film "The Shootist", which was John Wayne's last film, and my favorite of his movies.


Also, this charcoal drawing, an 18x24 (runs $216) of Eric Clapton, is only $100! Tell yer friends 'n' neighbors!

The Studio...on video!

Thanks to the talented Pauline Johnson, we have another installment of my docu-series, "The Studio". This was made a year or 2 ago, so you can see works-in-progress that are now completed in the background. Please visit the Youtube page and share your thoughts! You can view below or at THIS LINK

Popeye in West Branch again?

Last year, I organized a "Popeye Day" at the West Branch Public Library, as part of the West Branch Children's Film Festival. Well, the festival is now defunct, but I'm thinking of doing another Popeye Day.
Popeye started in newspapers in a comic strip called "Thimble Theatre". His appearance was to be a bit part in January 1929. He became so popular, he became the main character and eventually it became "Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye", then "Popeye. In 1934, Fleisher Studios created the historical animated shorts "Popeye the Sailor". So Popeye has been in print for over 80 years and animated in one form or another for almost 80 years. He's one of, if not the first, American icons/heroes that is still around today, and I think that should be celebrated as often and anywhere possible.

Drawing Workshops In July!!!

I'm offering some workshops in West Branch, Michigan for ages 7-19. They take place at Nuttall Art Studio. Below is the info-

Cartooning For Kids Workshop (ages 7-11) ($20)
Thursday, July 12th - Saturday, July 14th from 10am-12pm

Comic Book Drawing For Kids Workshop (ages 7-11) ($20)
Thursday, July 12- Saturday, July 14 from 1pm-3pm

*Both classes for $30*

Cartooning For Teens Workshop (ages 12-19) ($20)
Thursday, July 26- Saturday, July 28 from 10am-12pm

Comic Book Drawing For Teens Workshop (ages 12-19) ($20)
Thursday, July 26- Saturday, July 28 from 1pm-3pm

*Both classes for $30*

Contact me at jason@nuttallart.com to sign up, or visit the studio to sign up or ask questions.

Dress Up and Play!

As some of you may already know, I've organized an event in downtown West Branch, CosPlay (short for "costume play"). Basically, you dress up as your favorite cartoon, video game, super hero, movie, sci-fi, fantasy character. Pose for photos, interact with other fans of the genre. It's for ALL ages. If you've always wanted to dress as Frodo from Lord of the Rings, or Princess Leia from Star Wars, now's your chance! I'm hoping to organize a costume contest and I might do free cartoon/comic book sketches for a half hour, or maybe $1 a drawing. There will be some vendors selling toys and comics. It'll be fun. It's also the first weekend of "The Amazing Spider-Man" movie in theaters. So you can grab a flick while in town!
This takes place Saturday, July 7th from 4-7pm. If you want to participate in the costume contest, there'll be a table to sign up.
This is all FREE, by the way. Except vendors' products, of course. Here's an example of CosPlay:


Maybe there can be some re-enacted battles, like Star Wars vs. Star Trek, X-Men vs. Avengers. Who knows? And I'm hoping to make this an annual event.

In da PicTures

I haven't posted about this in awhile, but I WOULD appreciate if you check out the mini web series Pauline Johnson is creating about me and my art career. If you would "like" the videos and share it, maybe we can do more with it! This is kind of the first segment.

Let's Get It On (the drawing. Let's onto the drawing)

I did a drawing for a Bay City samaritan to give to Marvin Gaye III, son of legend Marvin Gaye. It's a charcoal drawing.

Hey there, cats 'n' kittens! It's been awhile since the last post, I know. I thought I'd share a recent drawing I did for "Blast the Blues" that's still in the studio. It's 18x24 charcoal of "Slowhand" Eric Clapton. Normally, I charge $216 for this size, but I'm only asking $100 for this one.