We interviewed ICP Art- two brothers named Cole and Keegan from Canada, who have produced 99 stunning hand-crafted impressionistic pieces that are sure to be extremely valuable and cherished by those with a discerning eye for beauty.
Please answer the following questions in as much depth as possible. They will be used in the first part of the AMA and then published as an interview after the AMA has been given on our website and then shared on our Twitter.
1. How would you describe your artistic style?
We would describe our art styles as impressionistic, with a range of landscapes, and in some cases, abstract arts. Our work displays a perfect balance of textures and warm colors that form a focal point of unity within the art.
2. What drew you to NFT creation rather than traditional canvas-based art?
Keegan and I have always painted for personal satisfaction, and it was never intended to be public work. So that goes without saying, we never intended to create NFTs. We very much started with traditional canvas-based art.
Although after discovering NFTs during my crypto journey with Marcus, he tried to convince us to bring our art to the NFT world. Although we only really knew of Ethereum NFTs at the time, and the transaction fees are far too expensive. However, when we discovered the IC, it was a game-changer. We knew we had to take the opportunity.
3. Are there any artists who have inspired you? What do you like about their work?
Honestly, no, we can’t put any names on any artists that have inspired us. It’s always been about what we see on our travels & road trips to us - seeing a beautiful scene and trying to remember it the best you can, but forgetting halfway through and inspiring yourself to create something even more beautiful.
However, in particular, one person inspired us to leap into the NFT space, which would be Oli from Wing. He’s been accommodating and engaged with the entire process and has been a massive blessing to the project.
5. Can you tell us about your project?
Our project currently consists of 3 planned collections - although we’d like to continue past that. All collections are made up of 1 of 1 hand-painted pieces of art. The first collection is The Tranquility Collection, which consists of 99 hand-painted 1 of 1 pastel paintings - mostly landscapes, although there are a few abstracts. The second collection is The Equanimity Collection, which comprises 49 hand-painted 1 of 1 oil paintings - this collection is primarily abstract, with a few landscapes.
The pieces within these first two collections are governance pieces, starting with the third collection as we advance. Being a Governor gives you the ability to vote on all critical decisions within ICP Art - from the art and painting styles, the # of pieces minted, the name of the collection, future collaborations, and much more that's yet to be announced.
While the founders maintain the overall creative vision of the project and ensure what the governors vote on takes place. This leads us to our third collection. We can’t announce much about it, as the majority of decisions have to be voted upon by governors, but we can say this will be a royalty-bearing collection. Meaning the royalties from all collections previous and afterward will be paid out regularly to the holders of this collection.
Once the first three collections have been released, we plan to allow the Governors to decide where we go from there, whether continuing with further collections or leaving the displays to be extremely limited.
6. How many NFTs will be minted? Can you talk us through the process of how you create the art?
The first collection, The Tranquility Collection, will contain 99 Pieces of Hand-Crafted Pastel Paintings. The second collection, The Equanimity Collection, will include 49 Hand-Crafted Pastel paintings of a similar style yet higher quality. The art has been created and collected over the last 5+ years of our lives, inspired by our travels through Canada with our family.
We use pastel paints on canvas to create our art (with the inspiration of beautiful views, of course), with pieces taking anywhere from 1 to 8 hours to complete. A local photographer photographed the art, and the paintings were burnt shortly after, making these all exclusive 1 of 1 paintings.
7. Will Your NFT be able to breed or ever be in a game?
Sadly, we can not incorporate our NFTs into a game as they’re paintings. However, the first two collections released by ICP Art will be governance pieces for later collections. Meaning if you hold the art for more than a week, you get to vote on crucial decisions in the ICP Art infrastructure, such as names of collections, mint #s, art and paint styles, future collaborations, and much more.
8. What benefits do you think the Internet Computer has over other L1 blockchains when it comes to creating NFTs?
The IC holds two very clear benefits above other blockchains. Transaction speed and cost. In particular, the difference in minting fees between Ethereum and Internet Computer is sickening. Many NFT artists will be looking towards the IC for this reason, especially until the IC offers Ethereum Integration. (Which is another massive win for the IC in itself).
9. What other art have you seen that excites you in the Internet Computer NFT ecosystem?
I'm a huge fan of Wing by Oli. He’s truly a talented photographer, and his work with Wing is simply beautiful. He showed us that the IC has a thirst for traditional, collectible art and inspired us to bring more space.
10. What excites you most about your launch?
The most exciting idea about the launch to me is the thought of finally getting to work with the amazing governors of our community! We can tell from our conversations in our discord, many of them have a lot to bring to the table for the long term of ICP Art. And it’s fascinating knowing people are invested in your project not only for short-term profit but the long-term vision.
11. What advice would you give to anyone trying to enter into the world of NFTs?
We’d recommend reaching out to other projects in the space! The community is really welcoming to new projects, and everyone’s been fantastic to work with, so definitely don't hesitate! You should also have a clear vision of your project and goals before “launching” your project, and make sure you have a reliable team!
12. Do you have further plans to work with ICP Squad in the future after this initial sale?
In the future, we’d love to do collaborative airdrops with the ICP Squad each collection! Meaning a piece of our art would be airdropped to an ICP Squad holder, and a piece from the ICP Squad collection could potentially be airdropped to one of our art holders :).
13. Can you envisage a future where the most valuable NFT space is on the Internet Computer?
I think this is definitely a possibility - I believe BTC ETH and ICP are the holy trinity of blockchain. I see great things for ICP in the long term, and with such low transaction costs, and high speeds, it wouldn’t surprise me if, in 10 years, the most expensive NFT is in the ICP Ecosystem.
14. Are you surprised with the incredible amount of publicity that ICP Squad Engage to Earn NFTs has already received pre-launch?
The abundance of support was definitely a shock, but I wouldn't say surprising! The ICP Squad is an innovative project with a great roadmap / long-term vision and incredible artwork, so we were expecting you guys to get IC Punk / Starverse - level support.
15. Why do you think NFTs have become so valuable in such a short space of time?
I think NFTs give power back to the creators and collectors. They form a sense of community and bring like-minded individuals together over shared interests. Centralized platforms for creative minds like to take a lot of the control and accessibility away from the small-time creators and tend to favor the larger ones. NFTs give the community the ability to decide what holds value rather than the platform.
16. Tell us about your team?
Our team consists of 3 founders. Keegan (17), Marcus (24), and myself (Cole, 18), and we’re all from Ontario, Canada. Keegan and I do the artwork, and Marcus handles a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff. Keegan and I have been painting & drawing for a large part of our lives, going back far enough that we can’t remember when the obsession began. We’re all young, so my brother Keegan is still in school, Marcus is currently in college, and I work at a CNC shop running a Waterjet & CNC.
18. What advantages do you believe you have over other competitors?
We believe we have the advantage of longevity and exclusivity over our competitors. We’re here for the long term of the IC Ecosystem and plan to prove it by continuing to produce quality art for our Artrepeneurs. All of our collections are exclusive collector's items, unlike most 10k PFP NFTs - hand-crafted 1 of 1 pieces of art.
19. Tell us about your partners?
We have a great relationship with a lot of projects in the space, so we needed to acknowledge:
- Number Theory
- ICP Squad
- a3capas
- IC3D NFT
However, we’ve partnered with Oli from Wing (A collection of photographs depicting the true beauty of the human form) and the Infinite Charity Project (A project that is solely for the benefit of the Chimp Sanctuary, which is fantastic!).
Everyone mentioned has been a fantastic help to growing our community & we’re looking forward to continuing working with them.
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions 😊
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