The paint-off was fierce and it was close.
In the end Makyla Hendrickson prevailed and now awaits the promised showdown between herself and superhero artist Andy Poon on stage at Northern FanCon this coming weekend.
The paint first flew at Pine Centre Mall this past weekend for a preliminary round of action. Four local artists prevailed from an online vote for the privilege of taking each other on one-on-one in a live showdown, painting against the clock and each other in front of a live audience at the mall's centre court.
Raquel Pokiak went up against Hendrickson in one heat. Hendrickson took that duel by a single vote's difference.
In the second heat, Miranda Marcotte and Harmony Loyie were set to drop the gloves but Marcotte was unexpectedly unable to attend. Emma Lucas happened to be working that day at her job at Great White. This store is a major retail partner with FanCon and Lucas is a fast-rising artist, so she was in attendance at the event. Circumstances collided and Lucas ended up facing Loyie and moving on to the second round where she and Hendrickson had their final duel.
Andy Poon is the prize and the opponent. He has been checking out Hendrickson's art online at the Northern FanCon Facebook page so he can get a sense of his opponent.
It is easy to do reconnaissance in reverse. Poon's art defines much of the look and visual atmosphere of the CW family of superhero shows like Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and the like. His artwork is prominent in any online search, and indirectly by watching these entertaining TV shows.
"I might get my butt kicked, but that'll be fun too," said Poon on Wednesday, the day before leaving his Vancouver home for Prince George. As much as he is a seasoned veteran of pop-culture art, he has even less one-on-one experience as a duelling painter than his upcoming local opponent.
"I'm pretty used to people looking over my shoulder as I work, but a live art experience in a competitive environment will be totally new to me," he said.
In addition to Poon and Hendrickson's showdown on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in
CN Centre, there will be an all professional warmup event. This undercard features Ryan Benjamin and Sean Galloway painting against each other on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., also in CN Centre.
"These are two friends who are incredible artists, we're so happy to have them at FanCon, and they have agreed to have an art duel of their own, just to show people how it's done and what the pressure of a moment like that can do for an artist," said convention director Norm Coyne. "It is the first time we've ever done it right inside the main event (there were trial art duels during some off-site FanCon night parties last year), but it's a standard thing at other conventions. Ryan and Sean are really looking forward to it."
Poon is looking forward to the duel and meeting another creative Prince George fan of pop-culture art. This city has become a favourite of the superhero art pro. He has been coming since the convention's first year, only missing one reluctantly along the way.
"I feel like I'm becoming a fixture at Northern FanCon and hopefully I'll keep being a familiar face there," Poon said.
He'll have a sales booth in the trade show area where the public can buy his wares and talk shop with him all weekend. "I do other conventions, and I talk to a lot of other artists who do conventions, and there seems to be agreement that Prince George has something special going on. The big cons can get so busy you lose perspective. Prince George has grown and evolved, and there are a lot of people there for sure, but it never gets overwhelming.
"You can actually meet people and have conversations and take in other parts of the con for your own enjoyment. (For exhibitors and spectators alike) you can have experiences and feel connections, not just that it's a big market."
These arts events are sponsored by Mills Office Productivity, one of the city's most prominent art supplier stores.
