A 6K GENERATIVE ART SERIES ON THE LAYER 3 DEGEN NETWORK
My artwork is best known for its roots in traditional oil painting, of a style which brings together surreal, representational, and pop culture elements. In 2020 I dove headfirst into the emerging Web3 space, transforming my traditional images into fine art animations minted on the Hive, and Ethereum Layer 1 blockchains.
The designs for this new series were originally conceived during 2021 and contain some pertinent historical references from that extraordinary, dynamic, and challenging time. Conceived in a bear market L1 era of Covid lockdowns, Degen Frens Fine Art now surface in the nascent L3 environment of the Degen network.
- Who are the OG Degen Frens? 15 unique figurative artworks, composed of art historical imagery, original digital painting, public domain content, and licensed designs.
- What is my approach? This collection explores symbols, texture, and color composition, reflecting on contemporary and past art history, and crypto culture. Familiar narratives from my traditional paintings, such as the Alien Grey archetype, are also present.
- What was my process? Raster images were constructed in Photoshop. Each unique Degen Fren was then dissected into layers and swapped to create new Frens. For that process I used Python 3 in Visual Studio Code. I want to give a special thanks to @degencoops for the helpful guidance in this process.
Without further ado, let’s meet the OG Degen Frens!
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ALIEN GREY TOURIST
Ray and his two companions visit Earth, for some sightseeing and the occasional recreational abduction. He wears “Grey Ban” sunglasses, a shirt commemorating their old high school high jinks at Chicago O’ Hare, and some “Zeta Boy” fashion underwear, owing to their home star system of Zeta Reticuli.
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ALOTTA GRACE AGAINST THE GRINNING VOID
This work is an homage to the beloved and seminal creator within the NFT space, Philippe Fatoux, aka “Alotta Money”. It is an image which reflects on death, the void, and the spirit of humor in the face of finality. I was fortunate to collaborate with him in the first L2 generative project, “Artvatars”, and value my Artvatar #2376 featuring his work. RIP, and thank you for your influence, Philippe!
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APPLE HEART
Young Apple Heart is an idealistic savant who communes easily with delicate creatures, owing to his sensitive and verdant nature. He wears a crown of butterflies and a monarch on his left shoulder. His heart is an illuminated apple core, and his “pants” are finely wrapped gauze. Behind him stands a Seurat pointillist scene, where all the park goers wear face masks.
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ART WHORE
This Fren lives obsessively through art. His visage is that of a classic Greek statue, his body defined by thick, highly textured brushstrokes, and his pants are paint splattered, low riding his “Art Whore” undies. He wears a simple amethyst necklace because he’s an Aquarius, and a Ladybug on his head; purely to balance Mondrian’s composition behind him.
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GECKO
Living in Thailand, one becomes quite accustomed to the chirps of house geckos, warm weather, and banana leaves. This Fren is inspired by such warm lush environments. He has a gecko tattoo, eyes, and wet tongue. His shirt is the number eleven, which translates to “elf” in German, symbolizing his naturalness among the flora and fauna.
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GLITCH
This Fren is a mix of tech and gaming enthusiast. His body and background feature old TV color bars, with a small black and white screen on his right breast displaying the Indian-Head test pattern. He wears a health monitor watch, a VR headset with advanced “jumping spider” lenses, and digital undies labeled ‘DLB’, short for ‘downloadable boy’.
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HODL BOT
A total crypto maxi! Hodl Bot is designed to weather bear markets and maintain long term vision with his keen laser eyes. Forged through numerous market cycles, his skin resembles hardened metal, and defensive spikes protrude from his shoulders. He is emblemed by the Bitcoin symbol, wears QR code pants, and has monk Jieba dots on his head, indicating his ability to meditate and sacrifice despite FUD.
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KOBE FOREST SPIRIT
This unique entity was inspired by the mystery of my experience hiking Mount Maya, in Kobe, Japan, in 2016. It was where I was engaged, and much of the experience took place as night began to fall. The wild boar, zazen-like terrain, and subtle “kami” presence made it a night to remember. This spirit Fren sets against such a scene. He wears a glowing halo, a naval piercing, and tattoos over his whole body.
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ONSEN BOY
This Fren lives in deep warm natural springs and spends most of his time taking baths in mineral rich onsens. He wears a sheer loin cloth, and a small silk garment adorned with flowers and leaves. His eyes are bright and alert within the soft scene. He has illuminated water droplets running down his 3rd eye and chest. His character is intimate and clean. The words in the background read “Onsen Boy”.
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OUIJA BOY
This Fren is an occult abomination. It gazes with fish eyes, has a profane heart oozing dark blood, his skin is crusty, and arms are sunburned. Its 3rd eye is a planchette, and it stands against a Ouija board, tempting seekers to gamble in the darkest of degen layer spaces. The label on his clothes reads “Ouija Boy”.
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RED
Red is a juxtaposition of blocks, shapes, and lines; an interplay of value and chroma. This Fren’s face is always covered by a tribal mask of simple black eyes and horn-like projections. His pants are a vivid electric salmon color which pops against his moody figure. His hue, and that of his shoulder band-aid, harmonize within the yellow sienna backdrop of “LOVE”, arranged in the manner of Robert Indiana.
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SHERM
Sherm is one of two siblings–a creature with one large deep eye, sparkling glamor lips, a headdress of pearls, a furry kaleidoscope body, and down-to-earth jeans. This Fren has two sets of angel-like wings, scaly arms, and stands comfortably in a field populated by UFO’s. Does she/he/her/him “Sherm” come in peace? This work is an experiment in marrying unusual elements and symbols within a cohesion of color.
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SHIM
This is Sherm’s sibling; a Fren with light fairy wings, jeans which read “Nature Boy”, two shoulder tattoos, and a beehive for a mouth. Shim has the trademark family cyclops eye, elfin ears, and a light foam-textured hairstyle. As a bit of an alien latchkey kid, its eye belies a great amount of age despite a deceptively nubile body. Its alien connection is codified on its left shoulder, and its club kid penchant on the right.
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STITCH & CREAM
Stitch is a highly textured, textile Fren, with a heart and eyes made of buttons, a zipper necklace, black bull horns, and a waistband that reads “DADA”, in reference to the absurdist art movement of the early 20th Century. Stitch is color complimented by a creamy pink background filled with sensationalist messages related to oral desire and pleasure.
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TERRIBILIS SOMNIUM
A pandemic inspired Fren, derived from impressions during global Covid lockdowns. “Terribilis Somnium” is Latin for “Frightful Dream”. The figure’s eyes are covered by a mask of uncertainty, body marked by medical tattoos, and multiple injections. His clothing is labeled “Anti-Body”. In the background are foreboding figures wearing plague masks from experiments in Manila, Philippines in 1912.
SAMPLES OF GENERATED DEGEN FRENS
With all traits, there are over 28 billion possible combinations, which introduce fascinating chimeras from the OG Frens. As we see above, a new Fren assembled from Shim, Apple Heart, Alien Tourist, Ouija Boy,
Red, Hodl Bot, Stitch, and Sherm.
Here’s an example where different OG Fren textures are combined dynamically. You can see the contrast between flowing paint strokes and digital static, as well as the similar patterns between the textile arm and the color bars’ white noise. This Fren is built from Art Whore, Terribilis Somnium, Hodl Bot, Onsen Boy, Apple heart, Glitch, Shim, and Stich & Cream.
The choice to use raster imagery helps to create a novel collection of figures which represent a décor of color and form with shifting narrative. Many outcomes are rich in detail and unexpected coincidences of symbol.
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The curious question that remains: what Degen Frens will you discover?
You can view and create your own Fren on nftdegen.lol