Many of his pieces contain details that reward the viewer when you take the time to spot them.

Homer uses light remarkably well and what I personally enjoy, is the textures that he adds to his pieces. You can tell that couch or seat would be comfortable to sit in. Homer has been dedicating his time to producing 1/1 pieces, but this Thursday he will be releasing a limited edition titled “Industrial Zen” for collectors on his Allow List.

https://app.manifold.xyz/c/industrialzen

Homer’s Twitter profile can be found here:

https://twitter.com/HomerCarbone

Who is Homer Carbone?

Homer Carbone is a self-taught artist based in Europe, who wants to leave his mark on the web3 space with his unique style and illustrations to inspire a future generation of artists.

You've developed a minimal style displaying simple scenes, what drew you to this type of art style?

The thing that drew me is the fact that you can tell a message or describe the current state of someone and his home just by looking at the objects in it. Because there are so many things that you can describe through them, which I think is really unique and adds that vibe to every single piece.

Can you describe your creative process and your greatest influences/inspirations?

My creative process is traditional. First, I draw a rough sketch on paper, and after that I draw something that I'm satisfied with, I place it into adobe illustrator where I turn it into a vector drawing. After I finish the vector, I export it to photoshop where I add my signature textures, grain, and filters.

The entire process takes around 2-3 days, but sometimes when I have an inspiration, I “no-life” a piece and finish it in a day or two. My greatest influences and inspirations are Tom McKinley, Thomas Danthony, Terrell Jones and Grant Riven Yun.

Let’s talk about your latest FND piece. What’s the story behind it? What would you like the readers to know?

My latest FND piece was "Miami Blue" which displays a corner of a beach house, enriched with dark wooden floor, complimented by stylish carpet. Above it, you can find a Miami blue, electric guitar that's leaned on a caramel-coloured armchair. The guitar is connected to an amplifier, on which you can find a burning cigarette in an ashtray and right next to it, a glass of fine whiskey.

The name "Miami Blue" comes out of the unique color name of the Fender Stratocaster as written on the Fender's website.

What have you got planned for your next collection?

The main collection right now is the "Loungin'" collection which at the moment has 11 pieces so far. And after I finish it, I will put my time more into the "Life in Details" collection which holds my most iconic piece "Line Emancipation".

I would also love to hear your thoughts as to why you think minimalism/illustrations/precisionism is so popular right now?

I think that Grant Riven Yun has opened the doors to a lot of upcoming minimalism and precisionism artists with his style and success which I think "woke up" today's artists.

Is there any closing words you would like to tell the readers and upcoming artists?

Yes, there are some words I would like to share. Politeness, being yourself and activity and get you far in the web3 space.

Closing Thoughts

Homer is producing some amazing pieces that transport you to a corner of someone’s home, that certainly have style and class. It has been a pleasure to discuss his art and to get to know this talented artist.

At this stage, I do not have a piece from Homer, but I will certainly be trying to mint an Industrial Zen on mint day.

His Twitter profile can be found here:

https://twitter.com/retro_manni

His extensive Objkt collection on Tezos can be found here:

https://objkt.com/profile/retromanni/collections

Who is RetroManni, tell us a little about yourself?

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to speak with me Drache, your support throughout 2022 has been more important than you know. (DT11 - A pleasure my Fren)

Retro Manni is the reincarnation of my brand as an artist. I’ve tried many identities over the last 20 years, but this one stuck because I think it represents the realest version of me.

I’m originally a filmmaker, which is what I did my degree in. But over the years I’ve found the need to continually reinvent myself, add new strings to my bow and just try new things. I get bored with my own work, so I always like to push myself into new & uncomfortable skill sets.

So, the short answer is, I’m now a filmmaker, digital painter, animator, 3D artist & music producer. Mainly because technology means I can be.

My biggest reinvention, though, started in 2021 when I had a sudden heart attack at 36. After an operation & having to medicate daily with a bunch of tablets I’d never heard of before, I went into quite a deep depression. Only 3 months earlier, I’d quit my decade long job as an art teacher to dedicate all my time to setting up my own business, but that all stopped. I was no longer providing for family or anything.

I was like a ghost. One day I had Youtube on, and a video by Joe Dispenza came on, and everything I heard literally kicked me out of my depression. I started meditating, becoming more grateful and stopped feeling like a victim. 2022 was a huge year for me. I achieved so many things I could’ve only dreamed about before, so the change was incredible.

What drew you to this Synthwave and also Tezos?

My love of Synthwave & Retrowave culture is unashamedly connected to my childhood. I was born in the eighties, grew up during the nineties, so most of my fondest memories revolve around the culture at the time. That includes 16bit gaming, early morning cartoons & pure, unadulterated synth sounds.

The more I have started to understand myself through therapy, meditation & just introspection, I’ve realised that it’s also connected to a lot of past trauma & insecurity. Pop culture during the eighties & nineties was a source of strength, safety, and security for me during some of the most challenging times, particularly at school. So, as an adult I’m kind of revisiting & reactivating those memories and using them as a source of inspiration.

Regarding Tezos; I was drawn to Tezos just out of simple intuition and following my own internal guidance. When I first started in web3, I spent ages obsessing over different blockchains, trying to understand what the hell the difference was.

One day, I woke up early and saw that Objkt & Teia were doing a Twitter Spaces together. I just had this calling to join. That’s the first time I heard the Teia and Objkt community speak about the whole process, and I just knew this was where I needed to be: the slow building, the authenticity, the nature of the tech, the philosophy about art and creativity. My first mints were on Teia and then I gradually moved over to Objkt.

What is your creative process and your greatest influences/inspirations?

I’ve gotten pretty quick at coming up with concepts nowadays. Ideas will hit me when I least expect it, so I kind of know to not overthink that process and just wait for something to strike. But the moment I get them, I’m frantically grabbing any paper I can find and sketching, writing, storyboarding with every ounce of energy I have. Once I know it’s a good one, I start making. My best work always starts with me having no clue about how to make it, I just know what I want it to look like.

But, I usually lack the skills to bring it to life, so I’ll be on Youtube and Google, finding what software I need to learn, following tutorials and creating a bunch of side pieces in the process.

In terms of my influences and inspirations, it’s impossible for me not to mention Japanese culture. I always have been drawn to it. When I was a kid, my dad used to do these watercolours of classic Japanese woodblock prints. We had them up all over the house. I never really tapped into my Indian heritage at all, mainly because I think my dad was a rebel himself, so I didn’t really feel connected to it.

My older brother also introduced me to a lot of movies as well, everything from Rocky & Back to the Future to Transformers & Akira. And then of course, there’s console gaming. Zelda, Final Fantasy, F-Zero, Metal Gear Solid. All these things played a huge role and are filed away in my brain, ready for me to rummage through them when I need to create something.

Let’s talk about latest work. What's the story behind it? What would you like the readers to know?

Damn, I’ve got a few. Well, my most important, and most personal, project is 5D Starseed. An eighties style animated series about a young girl who is forced into having a spiritual awakening in order to save the planet. The first episode dropped and was collected by Misan for the Tezos Permanent Art Collection. Each episode takes a lot of time, so it’s definitely going to be my long-term focus over the next 5 - 10 years.

My latest piece was a collab with Lucid Dreamer He created a phenomenal AI animation and asked me to do a Synthwave soundtrack to, plus the end title sequence. This was the first time I got to fully immerse myself in the music and help bring someone else’s visual world to life through retro synth sounds. Music is something I’m pushing this year.

It’s something me and my brother used to play around with a lot when we were teenagers, so bringing that side of me out again has been really liberating. And I know Music NFTs are well on their way to shaking up the whole industry, so really stoked to be a part of that movement.

What have you got planned with your next collection and do you have any closing words for the readers?

I’m close to dropping a great collab with JBurn, so I’m super excited about that. I was a huge hip-hop head as a kid too, so I’m really pumped about combining one of the best rappers at the moment with my brand of retro culture.

I’ve also got my own Synthwave Album coming out called Pink Cassettes: Volume 1 sometime in spring. Plus, a bit of a secret collab collection with one of the best AI artists out there and maybe exploring some AI fiction writing too.

Also, I didn’t think I’d do it, but I always follow my inspiration if it comes to me. So, my first 100 collectors will be rewarded with a super dope PFP collection this year.

And finally, I want to spend more time on Tezos Outpost 2049 this year. I hosted 3 of these curated cyberpunk spaces last year and I really enjoyed the storytelling and the sense of community, so definitely will be doing more of those this year.

Closing Thoughts

RetroManni is not someone that rests on his laurels. I would go as far to say that RetroManni is one of the ambassadors of the Tezos NFT blockchain. He is very active in the NFT space and always shares his insights in a polite and enjoyable way.

I’ve had the chance to talk with him in spaces a few times and our ideas certainly go off track, because I feel we both have a little bit of the philosopher gene in our DNA and we tend to ask thought provoking questions.

Manni is pushing the NFT scene, and his hardworking attitude and creativity is resulting in some amazing pieces being produced.

I’m happy to have a few of his pieces in my gallery and I’m always on the lookout for future releases.

https://oncyber.io/dragonsden_art

His Twitter profile can be found here:

https://twitter.com/_sigmaX_

Foundation works can be found here:

https://foundation.app/collection/Sol721

Introduce yourself, who are you and how do you describe your art?

Hi, I’m Sigma-X, a multidisciplinary Artist from India with a background in architecture. I have experience expanding over 10+ years and this allows me to explore art, design, and literature/history to its essence.

Architecture has helped me to get accustomed to various mediums to depict art & design, hence my work ranges from 2d illustrations to 3D animations. Having said that, there is a specific style I prefer using more that reflects my ideas and expression.

What drew you to this type of art style?

Minimalism & Modernism has been vital for me along this journey, as this allows me to express my ideas with less elements and it challenges me to strongly express my emotions. Architecture is about the narration that one sets up for his/her user to experience in a particular space and this has a strong influence on my work style.

What is your creative process and your greatest influences/inspirations?

There has been a range of mediums that I have constantly explored, yet I try to keep my style intact and depict that story in the way I want to convey to the audience who is experiencing my work. But if you check a few of my other works, you will see that I explore different genres as my creative mind never rests.

Humans have been exploring since ancient times and to this day, from our necessities to art or anything else, we explore ways to do it better than what was done yesterday.

Artist like Edward Hooper, Andy Wooldridge, Frank Stella, Geogia O’keeffe, Carel Fabritius, Rembrandt and architects like Lois I Kahn, Tadao Ando, Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe, Frank Llyod Wright, Renzo Piano and a few more have been quite an influence on my career. Artists in web3 have also been an inspiration for me to explore and learn new ways to adapt.

Let’s talk about your edition.  What's the story behind it? What would you like the readers to know?

Edition on Modernism and the latest one “Walks of Life” as well as my collection on foundation “Solitude721” all have a connection, for they express my architectural background, the essence of showing a daily life in a more melancholic way to connect with audience.

The minute details of life and our environment that forms a memory of our entire journey as long as we have been alive. I chose the title 721 because if you add them together you get ten, which is my birth date.

I wanted this number in the title as I wanted it to be associated with my work forever and share a strong connection with my art enthusiast friends (I wouldn’t call them collectors) and I honestly believe in bonds and friendships. It’s difficult, but it’s not impossible to build these relationships as they become your greatest supporter of your journey.

Also, these are true self-reflection of my feelings and emotions that have been there with me for long time. I have been doing digital art for as long as I started doing architecture. You would find poems all along my work that is associated with it in a strong way. I love writing Poems and Rumi has been quite an inspiration for me as the poems speak of our common lives.

I am deeply associated with these collections because they have now become my solid foundation for my art journey. These works were done while I faced my biggest failure in life, when I couldn’t make it to London for my masters and at the same time lost my family friends.

Yes, I needed therapy to continue otherwise it would have been worse for me, art is where I find myself and that is one of the reasons why you would see my minimal way to express certain emotions. I come from a family raised by a single mum, so all these things have contributed to my journey and what I draw.

What have you got planned with your next collection and do you have any closing words for the readers?

Solitude721 Part 2 is the next collection. I’m working on it to fine tune the details, otherwise I really don’t plan that this would be my next drop but rather feel that work that needs to be shared with everyone, which talks about life, existence, love, compassion, and rage within oneself.

I draw and read every day, I quit my job and am now just working on art. I am going to apply again to my dream college because last time I made it to top three from thirty thousand people, but financially I couldn’t support myself for that education, so I had to let go. So, I think if I am dedicated and true to my work, then I will make it again, but this time I will be more prepared financially so that I can support myself.

My advice to all is to just keep trying, don’t give up. Sometimes you will be tested a million times to break you, embarrass you, but you need to get back up and start working again. Consistency and patience are two important pillars of any growth in life.

“For I’m a common man, depicting a common story. This is life, it is uncertain, cherish your moment for we are merely fragmented in time” - Sigmax

Closing Thoughts

Sigma-X is continuing to make some stunning collections including Portus 721 and Waves 721. Portus is a collection where he takes you on a day trip to see the sites and architecture of Portugal. In Waves he takes to the skies for a top-down view of a day by the beach.

https://foundation.app/collection/por721

https://foundation.app/collection/wav721

I’m incredibly happy to have met this talented artist and to have a few of his pieces in my collection in the Dragons Den. There’s something very soothing about viewing his minimal works.

If you enjoy this interview, feel free to subscribe to stay updated.

It was a night in December, @MJKvisuals decided to brave the cold to visit me in the wonderful city of Köln. He had never been here before and we had been planning a meetup to go and take some photos around the city. After a visit to the Weihnachtsmarkt to fuel up on Glühwein and Bratwurst we proceeded on our "Photowalk".

We proceeded to go to the old part of the city where the streets still have cobblestones and old lamps light up the areas. There was one spot where a giant red Hotel sign lit up the whole street. I knew I had to take a shot of this and as I did, I also experimented using the ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) technique. I gave it many tries and then suddenly, I got the perfect shot that I had in my mind.

One of the best things you can do as a photographer is to go on a walk with fellow a photographer.

Each person brings their own ideas and experiences to the table. The sense of pushing each other to get that banger shot or working together on a collaboration is awesome. Just sharing the passion for photography does wonders for the soul.

In these moments you don't think about mortgage, bills, problems but purely the task of creating. Something that I believe is crucial part of being human.

Maurits and I had so many ideas and our other B&W collection titled "Modern Isolation" was the result of our research and ideas coming to fruition.

https://foundation.app/collection/dt11mjk…

The feeling of seeing something, having an idea, executing, and editing is a beautiful process. Sometimes it can be frustrating, and sometimes everything doesn't fit the idea you had in mind.

But when everything comes together and you get in that flow state, you feel alive.

"Hotel Köllefornia" is my favourite piece to date.

I've learnt so many new editing techniques and listend to the advice and critic of my peers.

I will continue to improve my craft as it is my passion.

The Open Edition Drop happens at 9.01.2023 at 15:00 CET.

Price is: 0.02 ETH

https://app.manifold.xyz/c/hotelkoellefornia

To find his works please visit his Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jackkaido

Who is Jack Kaido?

I’m Jack, I’m an anonymous digital abstract painter and would describe my art as an expressionistic exploration of the abstract image through the many possibilities of the digital medium.

What drew you to this type of art style?

I create in different ‘types’, as in styles, but in reference to digital art, I painted physically for many years and several years ago, decided to get into digital art. I cut my teeth making enough bad digital paintings and felt completely overwhelmed at first, mostly with all the possibilities and tools, but then I found my groove and since then, I have been exploring diverse ways of making abstract images that belong to a digital world.

What’s your creative process and your greatest influences/inspirations?

My process isn’t rigid, it’s very much rolling. I create when I feel like it, which is pretty much daily because it’s not really a choice, and my whole life has been built around art and creating. Though sometimes I’ll take time away, and view that time as just as essential to the overall process.

Action is undoubtedly the way to surefire improvement but so is gestation — allowing yourself time to read, study other art, absorb more influences, and think upon what you might explore next or how you want to take your art forward.

When I create, sometimes I’ll go in with an idea or thought or feeling in mind and seek to consciously express that; at other times, I’ll just let it flow. Music is also integral to my process; I almost always paint whilst listening to music at the same time.

It’s hard to pin down influences to be honest because there’s so many who have had their impact in their own way, but I’ll try… At the very top is Willem De Kooning, no one has been more influential on my art than him and it’s not even close.

Then there’s the colour sages Hans Hoffman and Josef Albers, and Joan Mitchell, Mark Rothko, Richard Diebenkorn, Jackson Pollock, Agnes Martin, Arshile Gorky, Sam Francis, Helen Frakenthaler, Franz Kline, Ed Clark, Lee Krasner, Mary Abbot, Michael Goldberg, Edward Dugmore, Stephen Pace, Grace Hartigan, Clyfford Still, Wassily Kandinsky, Sam Francis, CY Twombly, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Howard Hodgkin and others.

There are figurative artists like Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Francis Bacon and Frank Auerbach, and Japanese woodblock artists such as Hokusai, Hiroshige, Hasai Kawase. Modern and/or digital artists include AERTIME, Robness, Aron Barath, Chepertom and Lisanne Haack.

Those are the ones that immediately come to mind. Other influences and inspiration include the work of writers and music too.

Let’s talk about your latest drop on Nifty. What’s the story behind it? What would you like the readers to know?

Pathways is a series of four works that explore a more minimalist approach than seen my existing 1/1s, and for these editions I sought for them to be distinctively different than what I have released so far; something unique to itself that was trying out something new for me artistically.

I’m a huge fan of the Japanese woodblock artists, and they are masters in gradients. Gradients are challenging to work with in an expressionistic non-figurative way — there’s limitations in colour relationships, about what colour gradients can go where, be placed on top off or sit alongside, and still look like it visually ‘works’, and without it being too rigid.

So, I wanted to see if I could create pieces that were immediately recognisable as digital art and very much belonging to the digital medium, and my own catalogue. I wanted to infuse these woodblock influences alongside other huge influences of artists of past — Diebenkorn, Rothko, Agnes Martin etc. One thing that gets lost is that these editions are made with large scale in mind. They are intended to be displayed large.

Whilst making these, I was also making several other strands of work to and jumping between ‘styles’ sees some of one style inescapably leaks into the other & vice versa. These different pathways were going in different directions yet bleeding into each other, like winding paths in a large forest, and artists often face a dilemma of choosing which pathway to go down and hoping it’s the right one. And just like a forest, sometimes you go down one and double back on yourself, other times you double down on that path and go somewhere, and maybe revisit another one years later. Or never again. And sometimes you just break from all the paths you’re familiar with and make a new path entirely.

The four works intentionally employ different palettes, styles, and techniques and each represents sort of a bridge to the other, as well as to older work.

Ever since my 1/1 prices went to around like 5 ETH, I’ve been asked loads if I would make editions work at accessible prices. Just how well the Nifty drop was received took me by great surprise, but this said, I have been asked a lot and some of that asking over that last year is reflected in that demand a bit.

I’m grateful for what has happened to my 1/1 prices over the last year. However, it is a strange feeling for an artist, wanting your art out there enjoyed by as many people as possible and knowing that 99% of people are priced out. This feeling would arrive daily with every comment or DM that I’d receive asking about editions.

So, I’m content that now everyone has had that opportunity, and prospective collectors of the future can readily collect an affordable edition online, at their leisure.

I’m conscious of what I release, both for my own reasons and for those who have invested in my 1/1s and my editions, so they will be the last editions of my pieces for a long time. Now that these are released, all my future attention is going on making 1/1s and pushing my own boundaries of what the abstract image can be, and where it can go digitally.

What have you got planned with your next collection and do you have any closing words for the readers?

I will be focused on making the remaining Traces on SuperRare, which is a long-term project of 14 paintings released over 1 year, and which explores the incorporating of the internet as both a surface and medium for the abstract image. Some weird 1/1s are ahead. After that, well I have some ideas and some pathways to go down.

Closing Thoughts

It was an honour to chat with Jack about his work and I am happy to have the piece AFAIK in the Dragons Den. If you want to see the piece than feel free to go to Jack's Linktree or drop by the Den to see his work and other amazing digital artists.

https://oncyber.io/dragonsden_art

DracheTech11

Not too long ago I had been working with the talented Brazilian Artist @VivianeG on a collaboration. I have always admired her minimalistic style and we have been in contact with each other on Twitter for quite some time.

I am also a fan of minimalistic photography, and I was going through my photos when I found this one that I took a few years ago.

The plane did fly into the shot, and it was not photoshopped, in case you were wondering.

It was a photo I took of the Kölner Dom which is the famous Catholic Cathedral in Cologne. The twin spires are instantly recognisable, and I was lucky enough to capture a plane as it flew over the church. I knew that Viviane would love this photo, so I sent it to her and then we started thinking about the collaboration and how we were going to mix our two styles together.

After talking and creating some drafts we finally were happy with the final version, which we minted on manifold. The title of the piece is “Where my Balloon goes”.

The link to the claim page is here: https://app.manifold.xyz/c/high

The OpenSea site link is here:

https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xd98bbfcc2e4362b4c507c31f8907aedd9bccaea7/1

Now it is time to get to know more about Viviane.

Interview with Viviane

Introduce yourself, who are you and how do you describe your art.

My name is Viviane, I’m from Brazil and I am a mother and a wife. My background is in IT and education, and I started learning about art and NFTs in mid 2021. I was driven to this by fate.

The company I was working for went broke, and I needed something to do, my husband introduced me to NFTs, and I started studying, practicing Photoshop, and ended up in this amazing place full of smart, creative, and good people. I’m now a full-time artist, with more than eighty pieces minted. I found myself here, and I’m totally recognised now!

I mostly do my work on Photoshop and Blender. I love working with landscapes, in a clean and minimalistic style. My goal is to bring peace and joy with my art.

What drew you to this minimal style?

I was always a fan of it, I always love to see people telling a story with few elements. I like the clean vibe of it. And I like to appreciate minimalistic art to run away from the craziness of the world, with only a few objects you can focus on what really matters. I like to admire other genres, but I find my peace when doing minimalism.

What is your creative process and your greatest influences or inspirations?

I usually have ideas in bed before sleeping, when I can finally close my eyes and be alone with my thoughts. Then I start working and experimenting, finding the colors and objects that fit my idea. I also like to see works from other artists like @jnbmgrtnr, @kathrinfederer, @enixsta, and some other artists on Instagram.

Let’s talk about your last collection. What’s the story behind it? What would you like the readers to know?

My last collection was my first using Blender. I always wanted to learn it, so I started doing some courses, tutorials, videos until I felt secure to mint my own work. It means a great deal that I was able to mint a collection within just a few months of practice.

As usual, it might not have a message behind each piece, it’s just a nice place to rest your eyes and run away from the craziness of this world. It has the same focus of my other works, landscapes, trees, and peace. This collection is less minimalistic, and with a more “realistic” vibe.

What have you got planned with your next collection and do you have any closing words for the readers?

My next collection will probably have "round" NFTS, I decided to make something unusual and make my work all "round". My inspiration came from the Moco Museum in Barcelona, where I saw art by KAWS. And I love it! The colors, the circles everywhere, it is just perfect!

He makes his work based on cartoon characters. So, I thought about this, and decided to apply my own style and of course it has trees and landscapes, in a simple and minimalistic way.

If you are an artist, keep working, making real connections, and studying. A little bit of luck is needed, but quality of work and even more important, being a nice and a genuine person will get you closer to your goals.

You can view more of @VivianeG on her Linktree: https://linktr.ee/vivianegbr

The referral link to her FND collection is here: https://foundation.app/collection/magicaltrees

(Disclaimer: If any NFT from the collection is sold via this Referral Rewards link, I will earn 1% of each sale)

Dragon Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed my first mirror entry. It’s great to be writing on a platform that uses blockchain technology. We are entering a new world and writing an “email newsletter” feels like a Web2 relic.

This is something new, something exciting, something that I think will take the world over and is a new revolution in writing.

Of course, I could be wrong. But I just have a gut feeling that this could work out. I will continue writing more entries as well as more interviews with various photographers and artists. I will also be presenting my art as well as other topics that I find interesting.

The future for creators and writers is now.

DracheTech11