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.

What you may be waiting for

In case you're jonesin' for some pics from me, here ya go (the John Lennon is for sale for $35!).

Let me introduce to you...

I thought I'd post this drawing I did of John Lennon. I drew it within 3 hours from the "Sgt. Pepper's" era Beatles. I drew it, with charcoal, merely for selling.

Giving away SWAG!!!!! And selling swag, too!

Available at the Studio's Anniversary shin-dig, for example, for sale or raffle-

A fuller, less vague posting

Ok, this is the drawing I did for the Habitat For Humanity fundraiser in West Branch, Michigan. It seems that anytime I do a drawing of John Lennon, it gets bought and/or tons of comments (whether it's good or not. That's the popularity of John Lennon). That is why I drew him. Not because I'm a fan (I'm not too hot for him. Ready for the hate mail!), but since it's for a fundraiser, I wanted to make something that had a good chance of selling. That's why I didn't do a portrait of Jack Nicholson or Sammy Hagar. I idolize them, but not many people in West Branch want to buy portraits of them.

Purple (ish) Haze

Hey. I just finished a new drawing today. Oil pastel. Let me know what you think. And if you know anyone who's a big Hendrix, or John Lennon, fan send them my way.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.editAlbumPhoto&albumID=485038&imageID=35722049&MyToken=b805cb33-6b1e-48bc-9eae-398e02c4c3ab

Plus, I have some prints and original work on Ebay.

I have a BB King drawing print. The original was given to BB King in 2000. You can see it here.

Remember those pictures I mentioned...?

I've been having alot of trouble today with my internet connection. I can't seem to stay online. AND I use dial-up, so everything moves slowly. I'm trying to post the artwork previously mentioned, but have been unable. I did get a pic of my new John Lennon drawing up on Myspace. http://www.myspace.com/nuttallart

I did, however, get the oil pastel of West Branch posted. It's a very rough drawing, done on location from the parking lot of Wal-Mart. I'm hoping to work on it more, or make it into an oil painting. Let me know what you think. jasonnuttall@yahoo.com

I also got the painting I started 5 years ago of Melissa holding Rebecca. Still has some work that needs be done.

Oh, yeah. And there's the graphite drawing I started 8 years ago of Melissa in Irons Park. There's a glare from the camera, so the detail's not very clear. Sorry. This one also has alot of work that needs to be done.