PixelDrip Gallery at UGTL

This past April 24th was the first PixelDrip gallery at the Underground Tournament League. Previously, the art was drawn live and sold at the event. J came up with PixelDrip to open up the art contributions to Los Angeles based artists, as well as give the artists more time to create a piece. I think that was a great decision. There were 17 great submissions and I'll talk about some of my favorites since I already posted about my process for "Tiger of Death."



J's "Yoga Papercraft" was a sort of 3-dimensional piece with different layers of paper placed at various distances. It's hard to see in the photo but the piece had great use of depth, something I've always enjoyed ever since I was introduced to the concept of dioramas.



Jessica G's "Casuals" drawing of the characters playing in the living room is jam packed with details. If you take the time to look at everything, you'll notice the decals on the joysticks, the texture of the carpet, and even the Korean writing on the refrigerator. I believe she said it took her well over 20 hours to complete it, many of which were broadcast over Ustream. Again, I encourage all artists to share the creative process through venues like Ustream or blogging. It shows the effort that a lot of us put into our art, which all too often gets overlooked once the finished product is on display.



Celina Armenta's "Make Love, Not War" also turned heads, but in a different way. The painting of Ryu and Ken kissing was definitely on the controversial side. I was watching the viewers that walked by all day and their reactions ranged from laughter to disgust. I remember a couple weeks back, Celina told me she was afraid it might get rejected. I'm glad she went through with it anyways. Art should get people talking. It was also IMMEDIATELY sold once the gallery opened to viewers.



Naomi Baker contributed these three digital paintings. I was a little surprised with how popular Dhalsim was for the artists. I think it's due to his stretchy limbs and fire breathing since they make for some great visuals.



Of course, there was still live art going on throughout the event via Simon and Jessica. They were able to pump out seven larger Street Fighter character illustrations with a couple smaller sketches added into the mix. That's within a span of around six hours. I wish I can draw as fast as those two can.

Diego Paz and Sasha Palacio showed up to the event a bit later so I wasn't able to get photos of their work. Diego created two kick ass digital paintings of Akuma and Shin Akuma. Sasha also contributed two digital paintings of Crimson Viper and Morrigan. I might write another post in the future of the pieces I didn't comment on if I can get good photos of them.

Overall, it was a great turnout with plenty of positive feedback. Setting it up was a little hectic because the Rec Center Studio didn't allow it until the day of the event. Next time, we'll be better prepared now that we have one show under our belt and know what to expect. The Rec Center Studio in Echo Park was a great place to host and I hope it won't be the last time we'll be there.