Beatty: World’s Most Dangerous Sketch Artist / Bellathon

Since you’re reading this post, there’s a good chance that you know my buddy, John Beatty.  That’s not really John in the photo above.  John’s actually a little more intimidating.  Ah, but I kid.  I kid because I care.  The truth is I do care.  John is my oldest and closest friend [outside of my wife who is actually a little older and much closer], but I think you get the idea. Anyway…

John’s cat, Peepers got sick not too long ago.  The medical bills were unexpected and fairly expensive.  The good news is Peepers got better.  The bad news is that John and Bella [John’s wife for those keeping score] had to dip into money that they’d been saving for Bella to take a trip back to the Philippines to see her family.  They did it without second thoughts and figured that they’d both work a little longer/harder to make up the money spent.  And that’s exactly what they’ve been doing.

From time to time, I join John when he’s sketching for fans on U-Stream.  John always likes when I show up to “co-host” because it allows him to spend more time looking at what he’s drawing since I moderate the typed in questions and can interact with the fans.  There’s always a lot of laughter, convention stories, trivia, movie, tv and pop culture talk.  And it’s always interesting to see who pops in to join the fun — other artists, friends, and strangers… not to mention [but I’m going to] John’s regulars aka The Corduroy Mafia.

So I suggested to John that we do a “Bellathon”. “What?” was John’s response and probably yours too.  I explained.  We’d do a U-Stream sketch session to help raise money for Bella’s trip to see her family.  At first John was hesitant.  Some fans had already purchased sketches [and even donated some bucks] when they first heard about Peepers being sick.  I countered that the Bellathon would simply be another U-Stream session with me, but the proceeds would go towards Bella’s trip.  Fans would still get great deals on art and they’d know the money was going to a specific cause.  I felt it was a win-win for all involved.  John thought about it and agreed.

So here’s the broad strokes – John and I will be U-Streaming our BELLATHON this Saturday.  John will be offering a variety of sketches.  All the details can be found at John’s site.  I hope you can attend, even if you don’t plan to get a sketch.  It’s going to be a blast… and for a great cause!