Behind the Art: The World of Cryptopups
Apple, the creator behind the World of Cryptopups, takes us through the design process for one of his most recent pups, Midnight!
MAY 12, 2023. BEHIND THE ART. WRITTEN BY ADDIE LACESTE.
*Bag of chips rustling*… are we rolling?
Hi, I’m Apple, Mayor of Puptown, CEO of the World of Cryptopups, and Rusty’s punching bag. I am here to preach the greatness of man’s best friend – dogs.
In all seriousness, I make NFTs. The World of Cryptopups collection is filled with digital puppy card collectibles, all with overwhelming cuteness! We’ve got card rarities, blends, events, treats, stickers, games and much more; and all that magic happens in one place – our Discord.
Keep those eyes open as I show you how the cuteness comes together. Oh, and can you pass me my bag of chips, please?
Step 1: Stare at Dog Pictures
Voila! Feast your eyes upon this adorable overload of dogs! Ah, don’t you just love dogs? Life just wouldn’t be the same without them.
What’s that? You’re not a dog person? Grr.
Oh, you’re joking! Good. Anyway, you’ve got to start with inspiration!
Step 2: Line Art
From there, I create the initial line art, outlin, sketch – whatever you’d call it!
Why does it look so clean for a sketch? Well, my pups are made from vectors.
What’s a vector? A vector is basically… well, a vector is… so, I use Adobe Illustrator to make these adorable pups. I typically start by manipulating basic shapes such as circles, and proceed to create more abstract shapes using the brush or pen tool. The next step might shock you!
Step 3: Magic
With the power of digital art these days, all you gotta do is blink once, and your art is coloured!
Wait, did you seriously believe that? There’s no magic colouring device!
Since I use vectors, I don’t manually apply colour to the sketches with a brush. Instead, I use my favourite tool, the shape builder! It’s like cutting out decals to put on your car, except there’s no car; it’s pups. Basically, it slices the object so you can make any shape you desire!
Step 4: Shadows, spice, and everything nice!
Time to add some “oomph” to our puppy friend. How do we do that? By adding shadows, of course!
Once again, I use the shape builder tool. I follow the same process to create the initial shape, then cut out the parts I don’t need.
You may have noticed that something looks different. A wise cat once told me, “maybe add some tapering to the line art?”, and that’s what I did.
I taper the lines where I want various body parts to look connected – for example, the head to the body, the ears to the head, and the legs to the torso.
5. Cryptopup, I choose you!
These cards are extremely valuable. They were forged in the fires of Puptown, carefully crafted by the top pupsmiths, and polished by the great pups.
Obtaining them is not a simple task. First, I open my Adobe Illustrator template files. Next, I carefully hit Ctrl+C and then Ctrl+V. Finally, I position the pup with incredible precision into the middle of the card; and there you have it, perfection.
6. Hi, I’m Midnight!
Each pup has its own personality, and is much more than a piece of vector art. At the end of the design process, I name each pup and create a story for each of them, which you guys can see in the metadata when they’re minted on the blockchain.
The World of Cryptopups is more than an NFT collection, it’s the home of all these unique pups living with their cat friends, panda friends, and hey, maybe they’ll meet even more friends in future!
And there you have it! That’s how pups are made! Well, Cryptopups anyway!
Being the only animal NFT creator in the space that uses vectors sure is tough. I get asked “wen drawing sessions” sometimes, and I’m like, “I don’t draw”.
What’s that? I’m not the only animal NFT creator that uses vectors in the space? Catstickorss? Yeah, no, I heard they use MS Paint. Very skilled!
Thank you for making it this far, and thank you to everyone who’s been with us on our puppy journey! You are what makes Puptown the coziest place in the world!
Now, excuse me, I need to feed my cats.
Addie Laceste
Artist, designer and dog-lover. Making a better world with pups!
The World of Cryptopups | Twitter | Discord
