FORTVILLE — Titanium white. Black. Bright yellow, red, orange. Phthalo green. Primary cyan and cerulean blue. Burnt umber. Burnt sienna. Sharon Brooks has this list of paint colors posted in her studio. She wants to keep in her mind what colors are available and what she could mix when she and 11 other artists take the stage as creative competitors in the Fortville Art Battle on Saturday.
The 12 artists — some coming from as far away as St. Louis and Detroit, from Indianapolis and three from Fortville — will compete for top honors and the chance to move on to regional competition following the Fortville battle.
The event features artists as athletes — competing against each other in front of a cheering crowd. At 6 p.m. the first group of six artists will have 20 minutes to create a painting while the audience circles around them watching as they paint. When time is up, the audience will vote on their favorite. A second group of six more painters will take the stage with the audience again selecting two favorites. The final round pits the four winners of the first two rounds against each other — brush to brush, painter versus painter.
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Once a champion is declared, the paintings are auctioned off with half the proceeds going to the artists and the other half going to help fund the opening of an art gallery in Fortville, sponsored by Main Street Arts & Music.
Brooks takes her painting seriously. She knows people will be watching, so she has been practicing different concepts and techniques to see which will be the most exciting for the audience.
Brooks recently read an article online about a Los Angeles Art Battle painter who began the 20-minute session by smearing the acrylics on the palette all over her body, and then using various body parts — arms, backside, foot, etc. — to create the painting.
“I don’t think Fortville can handle that kind of fun,” Brooks said, “but I’m definitely going to have fun.”
Credit the idea for an art battle to Libby Wyatt, one of the founding members of Main Street Arts & Music. She saw a friend’s photos on Facebook of an Art Battle in Phoenix, Arizona, that she had attended. It looked like an easy thing to put together, Wyatt said.
“The concept is so unique,” Wyatt said. “To imagine art being made in 20 minutes in front you.”
As an organized event, Art Battle originated in 2001 in New York City. According to co-founder Sean Bono on the Art Battle website, the first live event took place in an antique alleyway junk yard. Seventeen years later, Art Battle has grown into an international movement.
A visit to the Art Battle website lists the Art Battle schedule: Firenze, Italy; New York City; Ontario, Canada; Dallas; Vancouver; Los Angeles; Montreal and, yes, Fortville, Indiana.
Saturday’s Art Battle will not only be a first for Fortville, but for the entire state.
Artists participating in an Art Battle event have very specific guidelines. Painters are allowed to bring the tools of their trade — brushes, palette knives, etc. — but are restricted to using only the acrylic paints supplied by the competition. The 20-minute time limit includes the time needed to mix colors to create a work of art. Artists may not ask for additional paint and may not have reference materials — such as photographs or rough draft sketches — to copy from.
For the first round, artists will receive a white 18 x 24-inch canvas; for the second and final round, painters will work on a 30 x 40-inch canvas.
The rumor is they’ll be working on a black canvas for the final round, Brooks said.
As they work, audiences will circle the group of painters like a slow-moving tornado, said Lacey Willard, event organizer and another founding member of Main Street Arts & Music. The event is a lead-in to a larger scale art and music festival to be hosted in Fortville in 2019, Willard said.
Brooks is looking forward to the event and to feeling the energy of the crowd observing her as she works.
“I have fun surprises that I’m working on because it needs to be entertaining,” Brooks said. “It’s not just painting. It’s bringing the audience into the whole act.”
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The Fortville Art Battle takes place Friday beginning at 6 p.m. in downtown Fortville.
Pre-sale tickets are available until Friday for $10 at eventbrite.com — search Fortville Art Battle.
Tickets at the door are $15.
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