For the first time ever, the Middlecott Sketchbattle Experiment™ was held outside Detroit.  To coincide with the 2016 LA Auto Show and to be part of AutomobilityLA, the entire Sketchbattle Team made the trip to the west coast.  Brook, Judith, Frank, Dan, Destiny, The Reverend Robert and Satori Circus joined our west coast team of Brian, Zana, Rachel and Nikki to present the inaugural #MSBE-LA and choose a new winner of the newest and greatest live sketching competition in the world.  In addition, hundreds of people joined together to help us celebrate automotive design as an art form and raised  $5,000 for The Petersen Automotive Museum  (final results still being tabulated) 

The Middlecott Sketchbattle Experiment™ is a Fight Club of Design where automotive designers come together to sketch, in front of a live audience, and compete over 3 rounds for the title of Sketchmaster.  Presented by Middlecott Design and AACS (Advanced Automotive Consulting Services), the 2016 LA event (our 8th) was also presented by BASF with supporting partners Polk Audio,  Linkage Design and the Bridgestone Winter Driving School.  Before we let you know the winner, here is a small sampling of the fun you missed.

A small crowd was already on hand before the doors opened at 7:00pm.  The 17 contestants arrived early with supplies in hand and made their way to the central table to find the their seat assigned by alphabetical order.  Some started sketching before the first round started, which I guess is like an athlete who stretches before the 100 meter dash.Defending Sketchmaster Omar Gonzalez  was on hand looking to be the first back-to-back champion and add a LA Belt to the one he won in Detroit.  

Omar was joined by David Bang, Nahuel Battaglia, and Daney Chhang, students at Art Center,Matthew Cunningham, a vehicle designer at Legendary Pictures, Sonny Fisher, a student at Art Center,  John Frye, a designer at Honda, Rodrigo Galdino, a designer at Karma, Ryan Goimarac, an engineer at Fiat Chrysler, Joshua Hensen, a designer in the movie industry,  Sydney Hardy, a designer at GM, Jessica Kim, a designer in the entertainment industry, Sorie Kim, a concept artist,  Chris Lah, a student at Art Center, Deven Row, Dennis Stephen and Roman Yneges, an instructor at Art Center.

Chief Judge Chris Benjamin, Head of Interior Design at Fiat Chrysler was joined by Bryan Thompson of Bryan Thompson Design and Paul Czornij Head of Design for Title Sponsor BASF’s Color Excellence Group.  In addition to these three luminaries, special guest judges were added for each round based on the theme.

The competition consist of 3 rounds, with each round having a different theme and approximately half of the contestants eliminated in each round.  The challenge for the first round was to design a vehicle with the ultimate sound system.  Michael DiTullo Chief of Design for Sound United/Polk Audio joined Chris, Bryan and Paul to evaluate the sketches and choose the contestants who would make it into the next round.

The judges have a tough choice to make

Between rounds you could find some celebrity artists sketching for charity.  Arthur Martins aka Deadbrush, Dwayne Vance of Masters of Chicken Scratch Fame and Camilo Pardo of Ford GT fame contributed artwork for auction (this one is MINE ALL MINE)

Only 8 of the contestants made it to round two: Nahuel Battaglia, John Frye, Rodrigo Galdino, Omar Gonzales, Sydney Hardy, Chris Lah, Deven Row and Dennis Stephen.        3 Americans, 2 Germans and one each from Brazil, France and Mexico – a great celebration of diversity.

The Reverend Robert-David Jones makes sure the mood is set with cool tunes

In Round 2 Scott Robertson of Design Press Fame joined the judging panel as the sketchers had to envision a modern interpretation of the Bugatti Brand in the middle of a room filled with of millions of dollars worth of classic Bugattis.

BASF’s Reflexion Nebula color on Phantasy Kolors’ 2009 Skyline GT-R

For the final round, the theme moved to the first ever BASF color of the year; Reflexion Nebula, a color that transitions from blue to gray depending on the viewer’s vantage point..  Camilo Pardo joined the judging panel as only 4 designers moved on;  John Frye, Omar Gonzales, Rodrigo Galdino and Chris Lah.

And so, without further ado, the winner of the 2016 Los Angeles Middlecott Sketchbattle Experiment is…..John Frye.

So, in closing our entire team would like to thank all of you for coming out and supporting our little event that has grown to a size we never imagined

Without your support it would not be possible.

And we would especially like to thank the Team from BASF

for their support in helping us grow.

Here are some more awesome pictures from the event and

you can see the whole gallery here.