Exploring NFT Art On Tezos (Part 1)

Over the last couple of months, some extraordinarily talented artists have joined the Tezos community to mint and share their NFT artwork. This is the first in a series of short XTZ News articles that will highlight some of these brilliant creators and try to better understand their motivations for making NFTs on Tezos.

The intent for this series is that the articles will be helpful for other artists that are considering Hic Et Nunc or Kalimint as cost effective, environmentally friendly platforms for their NFTs.

Hopefully, these brief text-based interviews will also help to stimulate discussion about the future of NFTs as we try to better understand this incredible new ecosystem.

Art has the power to transcend barriers that separate us as humans. It is in this spirit that we welcome artists and people of all ethnicities, cultures, genders, religions, sexual orientation, political affiliation, geographic location and income level. Everyone is welcome here. A mutual respect for your fellow human beings is the only requirement. This is the Tezos way.

In Exploring NFT Art on Tezos Part One, we meet David Boller. After developing an appreciation for David’s fantastic artwork in his anime streaming series, novels and comic books Skygodz, I took a chance and reached out to him on Twitter through his @SKYGODZ_ANIME account and asked him if he would be willing to create some artwork for my Twitter account @Tezosbuzz.

I did not realize at the time that he was quite a famous artist and has an impressive resume having worked for some big names like Marvel and DC Comics. He was very humble, down to earth, and created some amazing artwork for me.

He was also receptive to an idea that I floated by him for an NFT series, ‘Cryptombs’, which will be premiering in the coming weeks.

It was my privilege to do this interview with David, who happens to be a Tezos fan as well. Enjoy!

Hi David. Please tell us a bit about yourself and your work.

I was born and raised in Zurich, Switzerland. After graduation from the Joe Kubert School in New Jersey, I worked for many of the largest comic book publishers like Marvel, DC Comics, Image Comics on popular titles like Spider-Man, Batman and Witchblade, as well as Koas Moon.

In 2008, I returned to Switzerland and created Virtual Graphics and since then I have published over 32 graphic novels and many animated commercials for well-known clients like tennis star Andy Murray and Swiss watch company Audemars Piguet. I create, animate and publish NFTs on various blockchain marketplaces.

Some of my current projects can be seen here:

Main business site: https://www.virtual-graphics.ch/

SKY GODZ:

Website: https://skygodz.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skygodz_galactic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SKYGODZ_ANIME

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skygodzgalactic

Kaos Moon:

Website: https://www.virtual-graphics.ch/vg_english/?page_id=405

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaosmoon_circle

Atomichub: https://wax.atomichub.io/explorer/collection/kaosmoonibc1

Tezos  NFT: https://www.hicetnunc.xyz/objkt/6502

Why did you decide to use Tezos to create some of your NFTs?

I was attracted to the chain initially because I appreciate the care and thoughtfulness of its core tech and the story behind it. It was easy to see that its time to shine would come soon. Then, the announcement of first marketplaces came, and I decided to shift my plans for my big project SKY GODZ to Tezos.

Regardless, I believe, one should choose the best marketplace for a particular project. So, another project, KAOS MOON, which is more of a standard CCG found a home on WAX, which is tailor-made for these kind of projects, but very centralized.

What do you like most about creating NFTs on Tezos?

Besides the eco-friendly minting and the low gas fees, its actually the community. In order to create and grow a project, we creators need the support of the community and Tezos has some of the nicest, most unpretentious and overall kind members. 

I also like the fact that we’re in the very beginning and with my unique vision of SKY GODZ, I feel like I can make a real difference.

How do you envision the evolution of NFTs specifically related to art?

I don’t see myself primarily as an artist, but more like a producer. My main project SKY GODZ, which will be exclusively on Tezos, keeps growing in ways, I could have not imagined just a month ago.

As the infrastructure of the token and smart contract standards have progressed, new ways of merging art, storytelling and interaction are being created.

What started as a collectible game with animated cards has now grown into a fully realized metaverse, where one can interact, trade and stake with different races of the universe.

We’ll have to start small, but the vision keeps evolving. So, whatever you think will be the status quo today, will be eclipsed tomorrow.

Thank you so much David for taking the time to talk with XTZ News about your work. We can’t wait to see your projects and we are absolutely thrilled to have you creating some of your projects on Tezos!