Artists of Evo Las Vegas 2024: “Evo is the best place you can be for fighting games. It’s truly magical.”

While competitors duked it out on stage and spectators cheered them on, other Evo Las Vegas 2024 attendees crowded around artist alley. Through posters, stickers, keychains, mousepads, and more, these artists showcased their own talents and offered a creative vibe to the event. Esports.gg interviewed artists Shoshin_Arts, A Cup of Felicity, and King Kuma about Evo Las Vegas 2024, their thoughts on the fighting game community (FGC), and more!

To Daniel Stewart, also known as Shoshin_Arts, being invited to table at Evo Las Vegas 2024 is an honor. He told esports.gg how it's actually his first time in Las Vegas, adding that he enjoys the grandness of it all and that its his biggest turnout so far.

His booth featured a lot of Street Fighter fanart among other franchises, and that's because he used to be a Street Fighter competitor.

"I've made art for a long time — even before I started competing," he said. "I used to be a collegiate player, so I played for St. Ambrose University as part of the MCC team, and in one of our tournaments that we went to — there was another artist. We got to talk about the game for like two hours straight."

He continued, recalling how the transition from being a player to a dedicated artist wasn't that difficult at all. "They gave me the push that I needed to actually become part of artist alley," he said.

At another table was Felicity Julio, who shared with esports.gg that she loves being a part of the FGC. She got into fighting games like Super Smash Bros. and more in high school, which played a part in her getting started with drawing. Now, she enjoys the excitement and positive energy of the FGC's competitions. Regardless of the outcomes, she appreciates that everyone can learn something from each tournament.

What drew esports.gg to the table, in particular, was the Team Fortress 2 artwork. To A Cup of Felicity, bringing nostalgic yet beloved franchises to events is worth it just to see the spark in the eyes of fans.

"Mainly, I focus on keychains and stickers. I do art for things that maybe don't have a lot of merch, like certain fighting games or games with discontinued merch like Team Fortress 2," she said. "I bring these things so people can be happy that there is something out there for them."

It also means the world to her to table at an event as significant as Evo Las Vegas.

"It means the world to me to be here and to have a table because my dad actually helped run the event," she said. "So he was able to help me get a table, and I'm extremely grateful that so many people have come to see me. Evo is the best place you can be for fighting games. It's truly magical."

Esports.gg had a chat with Patrick Spurling as well, who is also known as King Kuma. From Trigun Stampede mousepads featuring Vash to Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves keychains to Street Fighter posters, his table had it all.

He's been attending Evo since 2022 and has always enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere. He also told esports.gg that he loves Guilty Gear and TEKKEN before recalling how much the FGC has changed over the years. For example, laundromats used to have arcade games!

"I got into fighting games since back when they were in laundromats. The old Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom were usually in laundromats," he said, referring to the scene in California. "So I got started playing them from there, then I started drawing here and started doing cons around 2010."

King Kuma continued, revealing how the past and present are night and day thanks to esports.

"It's night and day. Ever since esports became a major thing, it kind of just took fighting games with it," he said. "Before, tournaments were in hotels and ballrooms, but they were much smaller. It was a much more close-knit grassroots community than it is now, which isn't bad because it's getting people into it, which gets stuff made. So I'm perfectly fine with that. It's just crazy to see how night and day it is from back then to now."

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more interviews, news, and updates from across the FGC!