Sharks Reverse Retro jersey inspires artist's ultra California drawing

Maybe the most California hockey art piece you'll see this season was created by a Chicken.
Not an actual chicken, of course, but a SoCal-based artist who goes by the pen name Chicken K.

The digital drawing, done on a tablet with a stylus, features Sharks forward Matt Nieto clad in the just-released
2022-23 Reverse Retro jersey
.

"That was the inspiration for it," Chicken K told NHL.com via phone interview. "They've been teasing the designs for a while. And the jerseys were released right around my six-year anniversary of moving to California, so I just wanted to create something to express love for this place."
The 28-year-old artist, who preferred they/them pronouns and their pseudonym, is originally from central New Jersey. They moved to California about six years ago and fell in love with hockey, and specifically the Sharks, right before the 2019-20 season.
"I didn't really get in to hockey until shortly before the pandemic. I was never a sports person," they said. "A good friend of mine took me to see the Sharks in person and it was about the coolest thing I've ever done. It was such an experience."
When the pandemic shut down the NHL season, that's when Chicken K really started focusing on art and creating hockey art.
"It was my lockdown activity," they said. "Just to show my appreciation for this thing that I now loved."
The Nieto piece took about 10-12 hours including drafts and revisions. Other works, like a drawing of the Svechnikovs - Hurricanes forward Andrei and Sharks forward Evgeny - have taken much less time.

"Usually I will throw on a game and start something and I will be finished about the time the game is over, so a couple of hours," they said.
Last week the artist was commissioned by the Columbus Blue Jackets to create something for a win against the Vancouver Canucks as part of the team's
"Off the Draw" program
that highlights artists inspired by hockey.
It was Stinger, the Blue Jackets mascot, re-enacting a famous scene from "Free Willy," the 1993 movie that prominently featured an orcha whale like the one used in the Canucks logo.

"It is wild to me that this is how artists can get work these days, just a slide into a DM and 'hey would you be interested in doing this?'" they said. "I think it's cool."
While there are no immediate plans for the next piece - a 9 to 5 job in the entertainment industry keeps the artist fairly busy - chances are hockey will be another theme.
"Putting on the Sharks game really has become a part of my nightly routine," they said. "I'll throw it on and just do my stuff."
-To see more of Chicken K's art, check out their Twitter page.