#007 — NFTs: True Artists and Deceivers
Creator Coins buy and sell activity remains at its lowest as of early September. On the other hand, the creation and sale of NFTs seems to be taking off, even if it is mostly large accounts that benefit from this new activity. Why? Because on the one hand only large accounts have CLOUTs to spend, and on the other hand the only interest of buying NFTs being to be able to resell them with a profit, the NFTs created by clouters with a certain notoriety on the platform have much greater value, regardless of their artistic merit.
We see the flourishing of many talented artists who offer an increasingly varied choice of works even if certain styles are much more popular, in particular the famous “cloutpunks”, portraits whose pixels are extremely enlarged.
This success of NFTs inevitably attracts opportunistic creators who try to take advantage of the windfall of this new market. This is how we also see flourish NFTs which are made from copy and paste of existing works gathered from the web.
We will regularly present to you NFTs that deserve to be put in the spotlight, whether it is for their creativity, or to denounce certain “cheating”. Most of this “cheating” is not illegal, but it can deceive gullible buyers.
TRUE ARTISTS
Photos from Polygram: excellent site to search for Bitclout NFTs.
@10past9
“ My name is Andrew Wong, aka 10past9. I am originally from Hong Kong , and moved to New York about 5 years ago.
I began working with cardboard boxes as a fun activity with my children, an escape from the emotional stay-at-home order brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. This play turned into passion as I explored iterating these cut-out designs and models into more intricate forms. Using patterns of card stock within patterns of my subjects’ facial features.
My work elegantly transforms simple materials into complicated portraiture, relief sculptures of deep lines, hidden surfaces, articulate shadows, and illuminated hues for the viewer to explore.
I holds a BFA in Fashion Design from Parsons School of Design.”
@Antomy
“I am Raedel From the Philippines.
I am making wooden katana, based on anime (hand-drawn and computer animation originating from Japan).
I will soon launch beting NFT, like a gamble NFT.
I am the creator of @Thumby. ”
@ChildofTheDice
“ My name is Aaron. I am 20.
Location: Italy
Profession: Student
I started drawing from 5
My NFT style is always to diversify each draw.
Child Of The Dice is my first NFT project. ”
@CloutDragons
“ My name is Mourkus Gawergy, but I go by Mark. I’m from LA.
I’m actually not a professional artist. I don’t draw at all lol. What I do is game design.
I have an artist who draws the Dragons for me after I’ve finished designing them and giving instruction for Dragons to look really cool. So I’m really the brains behind CloutDragons, but I don’t actually draw the Dragons myself.
My background in terms of art is game design. I have a company called App Gods and I’m currently working on designing a really cool game for mobile. Because I’m not an artist in the traditional sense, I design the game art, but I hire artists to actually create the art and bring it to life.
I have another new project already up and running called @CertifiedLoverBoy. ”
@Cryptoginger
“ My name is Hanne. I am 35 years and I live in Oslo, Norway.
I am not professional artist.
I was a gifted child when it came to drawing, but stopped when I became a teenager. When I realized I was autistic, I started picking up interest from my childhood to find the real me after 20 years of masking.
All my 4 main drawings that I have made so far are sold on BitClout.
My style is very dreamy, trippy and reflects my autistic mind. My drawings always tells a story that is important to me. I express many of my opinions through my art, that I can’t or don’t want to put into words.
I’m completing my biggest piece so far nowadays. I will submit it to the next showcase.
This is my first real BitClout themed artwork. ”
@fazliKesgin
“ My name is Fazli Kesgin. I am a professional artist in Turkey.
I’ve been drawing since I was very young.
My training has always been on visual arts. I studied at the conservatory and fine arts high school.
I am currently studying at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, in Istanbul.
For now I am working on developing my @CloutCardLeague project. ”
@CloutCardLeague
“ Fazli Kesgin, alias @fazliKesgin, launched a cool NFT project: He draws portraits Clouters, in the form of collectible cards, and turn them into NFTs.
He mints a series of 10 editions for each, and the minimum bit is about $10.
Fazli explains: « If you want a card of your own, I just need to trust you and believe that you will support me. I request the people whose cards I draw to purchase at least one nft and reclout. ”
@haun
“ My name is Graeme Haunholter.
I am a Canadian architect and photographer whose photography has been published and exhibited internationally. I am interested in creating work that evokes a sense of silence. In an attempt to produce something that is both minimal and surreal, I focuse on capturing the simplicity of colour and form. ”
@KingShark
“ I’m KingShark from the Philippines.
I started making drawings when I was in 10th grade, and now I’m practicing digital arts.
As soon as I had the opportunity to have a smart phone, I started to create logos, especially logos for gaming.
And then one day, a friend of mine introduced Bitclout to me and I find it interesting. Through that, I also tried to create other forms of drawings like vexel, vector and pixel.
Bitclout brings out the artistic you. Artistic mind released into true to life.
I am preparing new NFTs of KingShark. ”
@MeredithMarsone
“ My name is Meredith Marsone and I live in a little beachside town in New Zealand.
I’ve been a professional artist since 2013. I began drawing as a little kid, growing up with much older siblings I had to entertain myself. So I drew a lot.
I went to art school straight out of high school and haven’t stopped painting since.
My NFTs are primarily embellished paintings although I have started illustration and drawing with procreate as well.
I have three projects on the go at the moment. My BC project @Foxen has two series sold out, @bleep will be coming soon and I’m working on an Opensea derivative project. ”
@MikeNFT
“ My name is Michael Liversage. I am currently living in Florida.
I studied Technical and General illustration at Falmouth College of Art in the early eighties. I have worked professionally as a commercial/ fine artist for 35 years.
I started drawing at an early age and after college worked in the auto and aircraft industry producing technical illustration.
I also worked as a freelance illustrator and through galleries as a fine artist.
Still trying to define an NFT direction although digital work is not new to me, I started with photoshop around 1993.
I have many new NFT projects, some I wont get around to. My main ones on bitclout are #MachineHeads and #ArtDestruction. ”
@Mirina
“ My name is Irina, because my last name is on M in bitclout, everyone knows me as Mirina.
I live in Moscow. I’m not a professional artist. But I’ve always had a creative potential. I always drew at school, then studied to be a fashion designer in college, later I mastered photoshop and worked for photographers. Everything I create comes out spontaneously. Since I have 2 children, I still breastfeed one, I don’t always have time. But everything is still ahead. My project dedicated to the development of children with special needs “Salomka” is now temporarily suspended. I am glad that I was able to get acquainted with many foreign creative lovers thanks to bitclout. They inspire me. ”
@PhilippeMeunier
“ My name is Philippe Meunier. I am an artist in Tahiti, French Polynesia.
Since I was a kid, I’ve always loved to draw. After high school, I went to university for two years in advertising and communication and started my advertising agency. I’ve been using Photoshop since the late 1970s and I also paint when inspiration strikes.
I am now retired which allows me to invest a large part of my time on Bitclout.
I create three types of NFTs: portraits, a comic called The Hectic Life of Mister Clouter (@MrClouter), and a new character named Al Cloutone (@AlCloutone). ”
DECEIVERS
@TheAdityaSingh recently shared this quote from Leon Tolstoy: « Be bad, but at least don’t be a liar, a deceiver! » I think it fits perfectly to introduce the subject of the creators of NFTs who deceive by copying and pasting works taken from the web.
UNFAIR SIGNATURE
@IZY is one of Bitclout’s most productive Clouters in terms of NFT. However, she uses a lot of works gathered from the web which she modifies according to her needs.
In the example below, she says it is a « personalized portrait » of a musician who is one of her investors. In reality, she merely darkened the upper part of the face and erase the dimple in the chin of a portrait of the painter Caravaggio — « The Lute Player ». And then she added her signature, making potential buyers think her contribution to the artwork is significant. Which is not the case.
Another example: She pasted the photo of @MarioNawfal on a self-portrait by the French painter Auguste Vinchon (1789–1855), she added some highlights and put her signature on the work again.
@BrokenAnubis is a NFT series created by @Digitalize.
The creator of the character Anubis uses for his NFTs images available on image banks like Vecteezy.
When pointed out to him, he replies:
« Yes, my project is the character Anubi and I use free images for costumes and sets. »
But the problem is the character Anubis is also downloaded from the internet.
The creator does not draw anything. He merely puts together existing images.
@imonurohila, the creator of the NFT series called « kittyworld » also uses artwork available from online image banks.
The original drawings, created by illustrator Caramelina are available on iStock by Getty.
OUTRIGHT THEFT OF COPYRIGHT
@ShickCoin doesn’t even bother to make any changes or adaptations. He copies the works of talented artists and publishes them as is, claiming to be the author.
The author of the originals is Iraqi artist Husam Wleed (Instagram: 7usam86).
Michael Jordan.
On the left: NFT by @ShickCoin.
On the right: Original drawing by Bob Smerecki, artist based in Brunswick, OH, USA.
We have published other deceptive NFTs in CloutZine issue #005.
As this issue has required a lot of research, we will not publish the usual topics:
The hectic life of Mister Clouter and The Adventures of Al Cloutone. They will be present in the next issue.
TO BE CONTINUED IN OUR NEXT ISSUE
We hope you liked this issue. Please consider investing in @CloutZine !
Editor and drawings: @PhilippeMeunier
CloutZine is now also published on Clouters.net.
