Behind the Art: POPCORP

Unveiling POPCORP: How Matso Deparis Brings Zombies to Life

The sinister scientist himself Matso Deparis takes us through the process of producing an undead interpretation of the chosen one!

If there’s one thing that WAX isn’t short of, it’s horror-inspired projects. From The Horrors to Red Room Influencers to SAW – if you want your scare fix, WAX is the blockchain to find it.

Amidst the frights, spooks and jump-scares, one project stands out for its combination of gruesome imagery, pop culture inspiration and a phenomenal display of talent, and that project is POPCORP.

Fronted by the artistic genius of seasoned designer Matso Deparis, POPCORP’s grisly creations have been spreading across the blockchain since their debut in July this year. Taking a quick break from his nightmarish witchcraft, Matso has agreed to show us how one of his macabre creations comes to life.

Matso – it’s all yours!

Hey, this is MATSO DEPARIS from POPCORP, and I?m the person behind giving life (and death!) to our horde of rabid zombies that are forever immortalized on the blockchain, with the sole intention of creating widespread havoc across WAX.

I?ve been involved in motion design, brand identity and visual design for over 18 years as an artist and artistic director for various recognized brands, covering everything from fashion to finance. I?ve been involved in the design and creation of POPCORP since the first half of this year.

With POPCORP we want to break the rules, disrupt the NFT space and just create really awesome, wacky stuff that everyone can have a bunch of fun with. I try to reflect this with my designs; with each new NFT, we constantly improve and innovate from the previous designs, continuing to fine-tune the illustrations to develop the POPCORP style.

Here, I will show you the steps I took to produce and design this creepy creature for our collection:

1) Sketch

I often start with a vision already in mind. The first step is to look for images that help inspire that vision, which I collect in a mood board. These images assist in the creation of a base sketch, which I then retouch several times to outline the position of our undead character and the background for the card.

2) Trace

I then trace precise lines over our zombie based on the previous sketch, which gives me a solid foundation to which I can add further details to.

3) Character Base Colour

Once the linework is done, I start adding the base colours to our perturbing predator. All of POPCORP’s NFTs follow a particular colour directive, focused on highly saturated colours.

4) Character Details

With the base colour added, I start introducing further details to the character, and ?improve? the overall appearance of this fearsome figure.

5) Background Base Colour

With the character now complete, we repeat the previous steps for the background of the card, starting with the linework, then adding the base colour. Now, we start to envisage the world behind our rotten creature.

6) Background Details & Finishing Touches

With the main character and background work now complete, it’s time to give the entire piece a truckload of final details which give the card its distinctive POPCORP flavour.

At this stage, I’m also preparing all the layers, ready for animation later on. I’m really aiming to make each character look and feel like it will jump out of the card and eat anyone nearby.

7) Card Information

From here, the card, which entraps this ravenous monster, is produced, and the card information – distinguishing the rarity of the creature and the danger it beholds – is added.

8) Animation

Now, the beast truly awakens. I bring across the layers from Photoshop to After Affects and create animations for the eyes, mouth and any other character effects.

Finally, under a strike of lightning, and with a full moon casting eerie shadows across the land, the final 3D card animations and any additional effects are added (lightening, flies, broken glass etc.), and at last, the Awaken card is born, ready to strike fear into the hearts of all.

Our creation will now join the horde alongside it?s fellow POPCORP brethren, looking for brains to feast on anywhere they can.

I?m always looking to push each new card further; trying new techniques, experimenting with new ideas and dedicating my passion, time and effort into making each NFT something truly special, packed with details and hidden easter eggs for those keen-eyed collectors.

I can’t thank Matso enough for taking the time to show us the secrets of how he reanimates his undead army! On a blockchain packed to the rafters with talent, POPCORP presents us with a unique, bone-chilling and horrifically brilliant collection that is up there with the best that the WAX blockchain has to offer.

Keep a close eye on POPCORP, as I’m sure their future releases will go like hotcakes! Rumour has it they have a new series on the way, and there might be a terrifying Timmy about to be let loose…

Check out Matso’s work here, and keep tabs on the ghoulish world of POPCORP by following their Twitter, heading to their website, or by joining their Discord. If you’d like to pick up a POPCORP NFT, check out the collection on AtomicHub here!

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