An art battle was once something done only by Paul Simon but now it is the chosen sport of painters all over the province.
Each year, some of B.C.'s best fine artists put brush to canvas in a timed event judged by the public. There are local, provincial and national tournaments. Tonight, after winning the Prince George throw-down held in September, Cliff Mann paints for provincial gold and the chance to represent the province at Art Battle Canada in Ottawa later this summer.
"I've been prepping every night, here, up till 1 a.m., hammering out different ideas," said Mann the night before he left for Vancouver. "I have a couple of ideas I can draw on. Last night was a good night for practicing. If you'd asked me three days ago what my chances of winning were, I'd have said something different. Now I'm more confident."
Helping his confidence is knowing one of the artists he was up against back in the local round was Corey Hardeman, who won the Prince George and the provincial events in 2014. It eases Mann's mind somewhat to know a regional painter from this area has a chance in the on-site voting despite being an outsider in Vancouver.
"Having an entourage to vote for you is a factor, but if you produce an image that people respond to, hopefully they pick the best art," said Mann. "They are sending the B.C. rep to the nationals, so I like to think most people want to send your best from B.C. to represent the province."
Mann said he did not know any of the artists on the Vancouver Art Battle list, but he has been studying their work online to scout their talents.
Some of them share one slight disadvantage with Mann. The Art Battle rules insist on acrylic paint for each competition, partially to level the playing field for everyone and partially because the painting properties and quick-drying characteristic of acrylics is beneficial to such an event. Mann, like many of his fellow competitors, is not a specialist in that kind of paint.
"I've been working on manipulating acrylics into the watercolour style, sort of capitalizing on my watercolour techniques but using this other medium," he said. "Part of the fun is getting to know this other style of painting, plus you get to meet new artists, expand your name and reputation in a different city, and I get to represent Prince George. Corey did so well, that really motivates me to do the best I can, too, as the only northerner in this event."
The Vancouver regional Art Battle will be a paint-off in two groups of seven. (Canada's art community has a special cultural affinity for that phrase: Group Of Seven.) Each group has 20 minutes to produce their image, and the crowd votes on their favourites. The top two from each group moves on to the finals, where they again have 20 minutes to produce a different image. Again, fan voting is involved in picking a winner.
The Vancouver event this year takes place at the Electric Owl Social Club. The national finals will be at the Westin in Ottawa on July 16.
