Yes, I claim to be the MLS Watercolorist. Yes, most of my illustrations feature Seattle Sounders players, supporters, and settings and maybe that’s not fair to the rest of MLS.
I don’t care.
I draw/paint/illustrate because that’s how I support. I love to draw and share my creative inspiration, and that’s helped me meet so many more of you this year. Which is fun, and I love fun. I love anything that somehow manages to make supporting soccer even more fun.
Imagine, then, my excitement this week, when I was contacted by a Portland area artist who also does watercolors of her favorite Timbers players. She challenged me to a friendly, creative wager:
I challenged @MLSwatercolors to an art wager. When @TimbersFC win on Sun, I will get to chose a player for her to paint. #rctid
— Nicole Scragg (@nms_art) June 23, 2017
Oh yeah? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.
Portland-area artist @nms_art challenged me to a wager! Whoever's team wins on Sun chooses a player that the other must paint. Go Sounders!
— MLS Watercolorist ⭐ (@MLSwatercolors) June 23, 2017
The match-up
PORTLAND: Nicole Scragg, Vancouver, Wash. She’s been a casual fan since Portland joined MLS in 2011, but really became "RCTID" in 2014 after attending a match and supporting with the Timbers Army. Recently she’s been diving into art inspired by the team and her favorite players, with a goal of painting everyone on the roster.* Her work is seriously good.
Sebastián Blanco • Watercolor@TimbersFC @MLS #RCTID #PTFC pic.twitter.com/W5qvKVlQpJ
— Nicole Scragg (@nms_art) April 30, 2017
SEATTLE: MLS Watercolorist, Seattle, Wash. I’ve been a Seattle Sounders supporter since birth (probably), but I didn’t realize it until I moved to Seattle in 2012. I’ve been watercoloring my hype since last year for both home and away matches, on Twitter and here on SAH. My work has spread to various platforms around the Seattle Sounders community and many are competing for the title of my number one fan in the soccer world.
Sounders fans today are all like pic.twitter.com/P8S4XDT5lB
— MLS Watercolorist ⭐ (@MLSwatercolors) February 23, 2017
The result
If Seattle wins on Sunday, I’ll need help deciding who to have Nicole paint. It’ll be tough; she’s a talented artist and any Sounder would look amazing in her style. If Portland wins, I’ll have to bite the bullet and paint a Timber for the first time ever. Well, the second time. If the game ends in a draw, we both need to paint! We’d each do an illustration of an opposing team’s players. Thus, a draw will feel like a loss, as usual.
Oh, hi. #SEAvPOR. #buildabonfire pic.twitter.com/hTHcxQACno
— MLS Watercolorist ⭐ (@MLSwatercolors) June 14, 2017
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*Author’s note: I achieved this last year before MLS Cup final.