ECCC Live Art Event 2012!

So what is the Live Art Event? It is exactly what it sounds like. Big name artists like David Mack and Camilla d’Errico (both of whom took part last year, and returned to take part in the event again this year), and a variety of other artists visiting Seattle for the convention, along with some of the Emerald City’s finest local artists, all get together to create works of art to be auctioned off to raise money for charity (Children’s Hospital). Music is pumped, drink is consumed, paint is slung (on canvasses and live volunteer models), new friends are made, a good time is had by all, and it’s for charity! How could this NOT be a winning combination. The event is put together by Molly McIssac (if you have gone to any convention anywhere, then you probably already know Molly), and she does a fabulous job making it all work, as well as playing hostess and MC.

So who took part in the ECCC Live Art Event this year? The following list of artists were kind enough to donate their time, skills, and resources to help make this event another success:

David Mack, Camilla d’Errico, Dustin Nguyen, Ray Fawkes, Lar DeSouza, Greg Hinkle, Dennis Calero, Redd Waltziki, Carl Faulkner, Becki Watts, Daisy Church, Damon O’Keefe, Emo Gonzales, Billy Martinez, Sean Dietrich, Cody Vrosh, Dean Trippe, Chrissie Zullo, Rebecca Woods, Ashley Riot,  and Jeremy Rathbone.

As has been the tradition, other artists also ended up improvising and taking part in the festivities. I know for sure that Sondra Ertzberger and Ann Blakesley ended up participating near the end of the event. If I have left anyone out, please contact me or leave a comment below, and I will make sure I add your name to this list of participants. It was loud and crowded in the Crocodile (not the ideal situation to try to conduct journalistic research– more like trying to capture a twister in a bottle), so if I left you out, please accept my sincere apology and let me make it right.

The ECCC Live Art Event this year seemed to have more collaboration between the artists. Some creators were tag-teaming canvasses and improvising wonderfully. With more room in the new venue and more easels set up, the artists also has more time to work on their individual pieces. The night flew by, and before long a Pixies track and 2 am brought the evening’s festivities to a close. It had been a long day, and there was still one more day of ECCC coming up fast in the morning. Art work was collected and prepared for transport, and the staff at the Crocodile enjoyed their hard-earned shift drinks as everyone filtered out into the damp nighttime streets of Seattle to go their various directions. What a great event. It is so nice to get together with other people who are so passionate about art and comics, outside of the confines of a convention or a visit to the local comic shop. Huge props to Molly, the Crocodile staff, the sponsors, all the artists that took part, and all of the people who came out for the event. I sincerely hope that the ECCC Live Art Event is a tradition that will be around for a long time to come.