Sudbury's first ever Art Battle took over the student centre at Cambrian College on Oct. 12.
A total of 12 artists armed with paint brushes went head to head against the clock, the canvas and each other.
Divided into two groups of six, with just 20 minutes to create a work of art, the artists were narrowed down to just four based on crowd vote.
The concept is not a new one, but it is new to Sudbury. Alix Voz helped coordinate the first ever Art Battle after competing in Toronto. With the help of Celina Mantler, the pair put together a competition that drew more than 75 people to Cambrian College to watch local artists go head to head.
"Art Battle has been popular in larger cities for a while now," said Mantler. "Alix did one in Toronto and when she came back to Sudbury she wanted to put one on here. It's a fun way to promote local artists and I think for our first one it's gone really well."
The competition is capped at 12 artists, but attendance can be in the hundreds, depending on the size of the venue. Attendees pay a small admission fee, which helps to put on future Art Battles.
Paintings created during the competition are put up for auction with a portion of the money going back to the artists and a portion going back into the competition.
"It's self-funding which is great, and hopefully it continues to grow and get bigger as word starts to get around," said Mantler.
As for the competition itself, when all was said and done and the paint had dried, just Monique Legault was left standing, as she was voted the winner of the competition.
Legault will move on to the next Sudbury Art Battle with a chance to qualify for a national competition. An artist by trade, Monique admitted that despite the impromptu nature of the competition there is a lot of prep work that goes into an Art Battle.
"The painting I did for the first round, I had done before and was planning on doing it again," said Legault. "I'd say to anyone who wants to do a competition like this is to practice beforehand. Time yourself and get an idea of what 20 minutes feels like and what you can get done in that time."
Check out video from the competition below.
