MAKE THESE CARDS REAL INTERNET

By Guy Noir, Private Investigator (not an actual private investigator)

PUBLIC EMAIL: Guy.Noir.P.I.713@protonmail.com

DONATION WALLET ADDRESS: 0x0DE4C6EAcc31435A15f6505DBe6d0da8B1D253E6

PREFERRED NETWORKS: MATIC, ETH, FTM, BNB, AVAX, MOVR, CRO

Please use the respective network tokens on their network. I’ll explain how to do so in this article. ETH on ETH, FTM on FTM, BNB on BSC, etc.

MY CURRENT EDTIONS: Thich Nhat Hanh, and Shunryu Suzuki

DIFFICULTY: N/A

DESCRIPTION: I draw your attention to my first and most beloved collection by a wonderful budding artist.

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What follows is a short exchange over Discord with an artist I met on the Opensea server. Zaldin Tarot posted his work there and I had the privilege of being his first customer. My first few weeks on Opensea were a delightful deep dive of scrolling through a myriad of categories and subjects. There were so many styles that drew me. I loved AI collaborations, collectible cards, scanned hand drawn work, abstract pieces, and much more. During my wanderings I came across pepe tarot cards totally by random, and remembered my love of all things tarot. I was inspired to search for more tarot cards in general, and stumbled on Zaldin.

I loved his work right away. I'm not an authority on art, and might embarrass myself using incorrect terminology for techniques and bombastic comparisons. Nevertheless, the style almost brought to mind what few Van Gogh pictures I've seen, like Starry Night. The strokes almost look like he'd applied stippling techniques to brush work, poking in colors one at a time. It was visually compelling. The characters and scene choices for the traditional tarot settings were well done too. The magician had his traditional tools, but also wielded them with multiple arms that appeared to embody elemental powers. Death wasn't his usual sack of dried bones, but instead a Queen of fungus. That distinction was an excellent reminder of the transformative process of death, rather than a simple finale humans equate it with.

I saw the cards and thought, "I want this completed deck in my hands some day." They were priced too high for me to dive in right away at 1 ETH. I don't mean to say I didn't want to pay that much. I genuinely think every one of them is worth a whole ETH. The price just made me decide to put them on the back burner is. Eventually, however, I had the chance to speak with the artist. I was surprised to find him actively involved in the Opensea Discord. He struck me as a passionate and sensitive soul. My love of his work and hesitancy with the cost lead him to reduce his asking price. His engagement however, inspired me to pay the whole ETH for at least one of his pieces. I happily shelled out for "The Magician".

I believe this simple tale offers a number of object lessons and observations. Some might only be personal to my experience as a collector, but some might also be more fair and objective assessments. First, you never know who might be watching. People are browsing these marketplaces all the time. People are watching these discords all the time. People are curious. They might search names and collections just to check them out. Any chance to get new eyes on you is a chance to get a customer.

Secondly, the flea market isn't dead. It could be the majority of people are just trying to make a buck. It could be the biggest winners will be those who promise win/win tokenomics and generative rarity. I however, hope they're not the only winners. What I'm saying is, I didn't buy The magician because it had a gold border and "legendary" in it's description. There's no rarity hook gimic in the collection. There's a thousand of each card, and it's a chance to help fund publishing for the physical deck. I didn't see it as an investment. I bought it because I liked it. If anything, it was philanthropy. So take note. You don't have to make the next cryptopunk, or learn how to program generative rarity into a cartoon collection. Pure talent, and doing what you love has a chance to get noticed here.

Lastly, don't be a loner. I get it if you want to be one. I'm one too. This blog is me screaming into the aether so I can stay a loner, but pretend I'm talking to people. I'm taking my baby steps. That's why I even bothered messaging people on Discord too. You never know how much you'll make someone's day being open to talk. You never know how much you'll make someone's day buying their work. Openness to talk can go a long way in this community. All that being said, it could be I'm just projecting all my feelings about this one interaction on the entire community. Clearly, cartoon monkeys sell like hot cakes. It could just be me wanting this guy to make it. I'll leave assessing the validity of my lessons to you all. Either way, I like the guy. Here's our short exchange. I'll give a little follow-up with my thoughts about his inspirations afterward.

Alright I wanna see how this goes over messages so this whole "interview" might take a couple weeks, but no rush for answers. Respond whenever convenient. So your Tarot was the collection that caught me. What inspired that project? It's a very distinct style you've maintained through the whole run. If you had to pick, what's your favorite piece from it and why?

Well, it is always something I've had in my head to do, but it wasn't until I was dealing with a very difficult time that it sort of became a mission. This was well before I even knew what NFTs even were and art along with exercise were how I dealt with the stress of those times. It all started with the Hierophant, and so many tears, but then The Tower followed and I knew that regardless of how long it took at the end of this journey I'd have significant healing, because I already felt lighter with those two pieces. Several months later, a friend of a family member had seen my work and told me to start selling them as NFTs, and it stuck with me in my head for days after. It was a leap of faith, entering the NFT space, but not one that wasn't heavily guided by my own intuition. Not even a week into slowly uploading the pieces that I had prepared, I had my first sale, and I broke down into tears. It was like a confirmation from the universe. Of all the pieces that I've made for the project, still to this day, The Tower is my favorite because making it was a part of accepting and dealing with the emotional difficulties surrounding the circumstances at that time. The outstretched arm of the tower sometimes holds what we know we're losing or what we've lost, and it cannot stand to the forces of nature that surround it. Sometimes the tower holds all that remains, and the rest is what's lost, providing a glimmer of hope. I'm taking it very seriously, and there are certainly pieces I've made for the collection I'm not very fond of, but it is more about me creating something that is emotionally authentic to my own interpretation of each of the Major and Minor Arcana. I know that some of them are probably strange and don't resonate with everyone, but I intended them also to be regarded as individual pieces as well. Once all 78 are done, I just hope people purchase the ones that speak to their hearts. Making the Hierophant was a very deeply emotional and spiritual experience for me. It was so cathartic for me that I have it listed as my most expensive piece currently available. I think the fact that it was the first to sell was a form of spiritual confirmation from the universe.

Do you have any artists or people you consider your inspiration? What drew you to them?

Right now, I'd have to say my favorite artist is J. Hunsung, who is a master of watercolor portraits. I am completely enthralled by his videos and works. I also love Jean Giraud a.k.a. Mœbius for his sci-fi and fantasy scenes. When I was younger I absolutely loved the work of Tite Kubo, the mangaka of Bleach. Also, Yoshitaka Amano and Tetsuya Nomura also get a huge shout out because I was absolutely obsessed with Final Fantasy concept art and character design when I was young. There are plenty of other artists that I love either for their traditional works or for their digital works but right now I am especially enjoying the works of Lauren Marx, Peter Mohrbacher, Salem Beiruti, and Anato Finnstark. Now, since I have sold work I really have seen most of my family members do a complete u-turn with their attitudes on crypto. My parents went from "THIS IS A SCAM" to "our son sells art". It was so cathartic to experience that with them, and the others that were apprehensive on crypto and NFTs. There is a ton of education that is required for people to enter into the space safely and successfully, but it certainly changed my life and my perspective as an artist when I got my work out there. It is certainly a vibe when resistance turns into support and celebration.

That's spectacular to hear. Closing it out one more just fun/silly question... You can only play one dnd class again. Which and why? And bonus same question but for cyber punk rpg.

I would normally choose a druid or wizard, but I like the potential world-breaking aspect of an industrious tinkerer more. I could go off building machines, brewing potent potions, or blasting away with powerful tools alongside a freshly armed peasantry. I suppose the same could work for a small outpost in the asteroid belt besieged by constant pirate raids too.

I just wanted to continue a little bit with my thoughts on his taste in art. I love when people I like tell me about people they like. I love rabbit holes to dive into and kill an hour with. The names he mentioned helped pad out my art collection on my data hoard. I didn't lose myself in their biographies and bios, but I definitely want to show examples of their work.

J. Hunsung is indeed a master water color artist from the republic of Korea. It's obvious to see with a single piece. His work is incredibly vivid. He apparently prefers people for his subjects, and his finished products look like they had to be produced with graphics design software. They're not. He's that good. I couldn't find any biographical information about him from my simple internet searches. I didn't devote much time to it, as Zaldin is the star here. I fully encourage you to learn more if his work intrigues you.

However, I was already aware of Jean Giraud. He’s a famous French artist who specialized in sci-fi illustrations. He provided the art for an esteemed comic book series "The Incal", and the concept art for the unproduced adaptation of "Dune" which was the brain child of Alejandro Jodorowsky. He also contributed concept designs and storyboards for such films as "The Fifth Element", "Alien", and "Tron". As "Dune" is my favorite sci-fi series ever, I'm naturally quite fond of Giraud as well. This conversation reminded me I'd yet to read "The Incal", which has been on my list for some time.

Bleach and Final Fantasy need no introduction or association. I wasn't aware of their concept artists specific names and was thrilled to be handed them to lose myself in such famous illustrations as you'll see below. I was intrigued to see the same artist also collaborated on some spectacular art for "Vampire Hunter D".

From my basic research, Lauren Marx appears to be a rising star who specialized in pen, ink, and water color, and focuses on natural decay and gore as her subject matter. She's successfully marketed her work with prints and stickers on Etsy, has done a number of interviews candidly discussing her struggles with anxiety and barriers during her education, and has a sizable following. Many of her pieces translate over to tattoos very well, and I'd say she's as proficient in water colors as J. Hunsung, albeit with different tastes in style.

I especially have to thank Zaldin for bringing up Peter Mohrbacher. He was in the category of people I knew about, but didn't know I knew about him, and wanted to know more about him for years. I'd stumbled on on his work several times over the years without knowing him or the name of his collection. Mohrbacher's "Angelarium" is his claim to fame. It's an astounding collection of very well illustrated biblically accurate angels. He's also released a deck of oracle cards incorporating the collection, and I believe he's contributed art for the Wizards of the Coast on multiple occasions.

Salem Beiruti appears to specialize in erotic/seductive art centered around the male form. He also appears to have a decent following. I couldn't find any descriptions about his preferred medium. Most appear to be digital illustrations or watercolors to my untrained eye. I couldn't find any biographical information about him.

Lastly, Anato Finnstark is also a spectacular illustrator who's been a major contributor to wizards of the coast for Magic the Gathering, and Dungeons and Dragons. I'd say their work shares similar qualities to Mohrbacher, which is understandable if they've both acclimated to the same patron. The main difference is Finnstark produces a wider fantasy based subject matter. I saw no attempts at personal collections similar to Mohrbacher's Angelarium. Nevertheless, I was astounded. Finnstark seemed mildly more skillful at producing a variety of fantasy landscapes to place subjects in.

With that, we have my first favorite artist in the NFT space. I hope Zaldin continues as a rising talent. There's no speculating or gambling on my part here. You couldn't pay me enough to part with what I've bought of the collection. Fortunately there's availability if you too want to say you were there at the beginning. I sincerely hope the best for this kindred spirit.

As for my own role-playing preferences, I've only had a few campaigns. My bard I'm currently playing is my favorite personality thus far, but I'm secretly curious about trying a ranger next. I'm also getting more used to the dungeon master's chair more recently. On a related note, I'm thinking I'll skip next month's article to focus on some games and relax. Tabletop RPGs could make a great topic for my next piece. It's that or the story of trying to level up and prepare for a bankless life, and navigating tax season following my exceptionally profitable year in 2021. It's time for a breather, and I'm having fun trying to finish my next edition. There's a cat in the picture, and fur is proving to be a particularly annoying texture to reproduce. That's all for now.

Best of luck. Stay safe out their gamblers.

Thankyou for reading my blog post.