Meet the artist behind Oopsupsychoheads
Right I have been chatting to this artist from early March this year and it took up to earlier this month to actually sit down and have a chat all about his work now I will admit I would of liked to have dropped this a lot earlier this week but I have been actually really under the weather and only getting back up to speed but hey lets find out all about his work .
Hey Man
Hey Buddy
How's things?
Really well actually, It’s getting very cold here in Yorkshire, England however right now but I usually find myself most creative during these winter months. Some days here it’s almost perpetually dark & misty so besides heading out for a workout I can hibernate at home with a pen & paper and my usual background wallpaper of movies or old TV shows on, day and night.
Nice man we are cold here in Dublin too shame I cant just hibernate like that . What brought you into crypto?
I always keep an eye on the technology and culture scenes & I saw the buzz about cryptopunks and started doing some research but I was really interested when the Garbage Pail Kids - GPK came on the NFT scene, and loved how they developed into blending the parts of the characters body to make a new collectible card! I began to see that I could maybe use the space as a forum for my own work.
Where you creating work at the time?
Yep I am always working on something, I am autistic and love to escape into my art. Spending hours obsessing over the details and touching things up. I do have to be careful as I drift down a ‘Rabbit Hole’ sometimes for days / weeks at a time with a project. I have been through many phases as an artist. I used to spray paint graffiti for a while until I got arrested. I love to oil paint and went down a dark obsessive hole one time completing a painting every day for 80 days straight. I’m always doodling in my sketch pads and then I like to then spend good time compositing elements with my iPad and MacBook. I really need to update my devices as the iPad is literally a series 1 from 2010 and the MacBook a 2015 model. Both choke up & throw a fit when you really don’t want them too ! but I just haven't had the chance to upgrade yet but hopefully next year. Some projects have been shelved and never completed or often I end up merging a couple of ideas together to create something new. Oopsupsychoheads has been around for 18 months or so in conception. I registered the name as a trademark too once it started taking shape. I then got busy with my regular day job and I kind of shelved it’s progress. Getting some free time again I set my mind on completing the first Series one designs and all the elements involved to release.
And why are you choosing Wax blockchain for your project?
That’s something I am still kind of assessing the different places for the work to live. I wonder if there’s a WAX style of NFT or an OpenSea ? but when I browse there’s basically amazing art on both platforms but I'm pretty loyal to WAX for now. I just love the Atomic Hub and Nefty Blocks sites + their combination for releasing stuff covers all options with pre-mints and packs, blends etc. I am also very grateful to the guys on both platforms for their info and tutorials during the whitelist / verification process. Must also mention NiftyBC who’s generous instructables on YouTube really helped me get my head around the minting process + his Morbs creations are also great.
Niftybc is a good friend he is a really helpful guy to new people coming . Tell us what your project all about?
Growing up in the 1980s I was and still am, big into Pop Culture things like, MAD Magazine also trading cards - Topps of course & Top Trumps. So the Oopsupsychoheads are in that vein. Familiar names, faces from history and culture concocted through crossed wires into a cocktail of everything you know as you’ve never seen before ! I spent a while giving all the characters a backstory and various fun statistics which are all laid out the the card reverse - in the style of an old baseball card almost. My intention is as the Series expands and sets grow you will see connection between character types, the decades they are from, the industries they live and work in. Maybe eventually I will enable blends and create packs or exclusive cards for holders of a certain set of elements. I was keen to think out the schemas carefully to enable future flexibility with this. I created the Series one cards with a combination of Crayon, Paper and compositing these into both iPad and Photoshop for the overall Trading Card finish. Same process for my Series two which I have just finished and will be uploading over the holidays or maybe early Jan 23. The MacHolly Sulkin cards came about when I wanted to release something exclusively for the season. I was experimenting with the AI elements of StarryAI and a 3d printer, so through a combination of feeding the 3d printed results, some handdrawn images and trying to get a grip with the mystical art of ‘prompts’ to melt the two together,
I managed to conjure up some kind of creepy, faulty Home Alone / Kevin Mcallister / Macauley Culkin - MacHolly Sulkin Doll !
When did you launch your first NFT?
The first Oopsupsychoheads card I drew and released was Marty MakesFly’s (1a) - 18th Nov. I always wanted to create variations of each character and came up with Classic, Colorway (Color variation), X-Ray (Blk and White contrasty), OopsUp (2 headed design) and Animated versions. there is a limited amount of separate Pre-mints from Series 1 available now and will release the full amount of 900 cards in the Series 1 Packs soon.
How did the community react?
The limited feedback I have had has been very positive. I really enjoyed hanging around the DYGYCON 12 event just recently, chatted to lots of fellow creators and gifted some specially created NFT’s too, as a way to try create some self-publicity but also just to say thanks. It seemed to be quite heavily weighted to something called Splinterlands and Gaming NFT’s which is not something I'm really into but I really appreciate the complexity of the mechanics at play and it really shows off and pushes the possibilities of what NFT’s are and where they can go.
Splinterlands was the sponsors of the event . How many NFTs have you created so far?
In terms of minted for release there’s 900 Series 1 cards (which consist of 5x variations of 5x characters) + the 25 MacHolly Sulkin (1 of 1s) that I am dropping everyday in an advent type release. My series 2 cards just finishing up, are another 5x characters and around 900 mints again. I also have another separate NFT project in the early stages that I am going to concentrate on setting free in Jan / Feb .
Oh wow so you are all systems go with creating . How do you create your NFTs
I start all my projects with my trusty Black Biro & a pad. Running through multiple iterations of a design, names, logo fonts, layouts. I love making lists too. I have lots ands lots of ideas and I spend a good proportion of time prioritizing which piece I'm going to finish next.
Is there a favorite you have created?
I will probably say Marty MakesFly’s because it was my first, then probably O.T The Otherworldly Telephone. But I'm really happy with the way the MacHolly Sulkin’s came out and it was a diversion from my usual pen and ink method so I may experiment more there. I am also happy with my new Series 2 character ‘Mackerel Jackson’
Love the name lol I can see your inspirations is defiantly based on 80s culture . Do you think there is room for collabs in your project?
I would love to collaborate with an individual or organisation who could incorporate my characters into the metaverse more, maybe develop into a gaming enviroment. I'm also interested in creating some cartoons or comics in the future & keen to maybe produce a physical set of trading cards for collectors too.
Do you favorite NFT artist?
The fairly recent Damien Hirst project ‘The Currency’ was really cool - I really like the physical and digital aspect of the collection - allowing owners to either burn the NFT to replace with an actual print or vice-versa. I love everything Hirst does and what he stands for. + he’s from my neck of the woods - Yorkshire! I also really loved the ‘Cartombs’ with their twist on well know cartoon characters + ‘The Horrors’ On a smaller more independent scale I have much love for ‘Drawn Company’ and also NFCreeps, who does stuff over on OpenSea. - I like the humor in both of those projects
Drawncompany is a brummie . Do you collect many projects?
Financially I don’t have stability to get a serious collection together, so it’s been the occasional choice NFT here and there. I have a real life collection problem to contend with too, I have 1000s of original VHS & Betamax movies of old + a large cinema poster collection & vinyl to upkeep !
Oh wow that's some collecting . What's has been the hardest part of doing your project?
The challenges using my old laptop & iPad when it came to creating the large files then uploading the content to Pinata, Atomic & Nefty has been frustrating. Also initially figuring the minting process - and jumping through the verification hoops. But I was in no rush I like taking the time, creating a world, a story and a set of rules for my work to live in. Once I have these things in place I can wander free.
What has been the best part of doing the project?
The concept stage then seeing it through to finalization is satisfying. It’s great to give my characters, a place to live, grow, have fun, and maybe meet some likeminded individuals and artists and hopefully be appreciated a little.
What is the long term plan for the project?
I am just enjoying growing the character selection bit by bit and see where the feedback takes it + maybe develop some physical cards for collectors too. I am also figuring Blends and Packs as rewards once the collection has enough quantity to make this work.
What do you like to do to unwind?
Creating is my unwind ! Drawing and painting. I’m also writing two books here and there, one of them - a Christmas story - at the final draft stage of a re-write and the other just in the early stages of scenes and templates. I also get out for a run to clear the mind. I do a lot of reading and I am obsessed with Movies so will always take a couple of hours out to watch one with a nice coffee.
Tell us something random about you?
The Autism creates a world of random ! I have so many self imposed rituals, superstitions, rules and OCD, that rarely fit in with regular society but those interesting inconsistencies keep me on my toes! I never get bored and have cases full of notes, doodles and ideas I am gifted to pick from.
It sounds like your great at adapting to things . What does your family think of your project?
some of my family really appreciate my art but on the whole it's generally not their thing and I think like many are rightfully weary about the whole NFT thing & with headline grabbers like ‘Justin Beiber lost a million dollars on the Bored Ape’ and the collapse and scandal of FTX - all just creates a lot of misinformation.
Of course have you brought anyone into NFT world?
A few but I am going to try more by gifting some NFT’s this Christmas. I think it takes people like Damien Hirst I mentioned earlier to be good advocates of the use and alternative Art space NFT’s provide for the wider, more set in their ways collectors and general public.
Where is the best place to keep with the project?
Right here on Twitter is my preferred update platform. I do have Insta & a Discord but interaction hasn’t been great.
https://mobile.twitter.com/oopsupsychohead
Where can we buy your NFTs?
https://neftyblocks.com/collection/upsychoheads
https://wax.atomichub.io/market?collection_name=upsychoheads
I am using Nefty Blocks for all my Drops and releases and Atomic Hub for compiling my collection - you may find some secondary sales at Atomic
When your next drop?
Well there's a new MacHolly Sulkin (1 of 1) dropped every day until 25th December at 16:20 (gmt) - then as we turn into 2023 the rest of the Series 1 Packs will be released quickly followed by Series 2.
Any chance of a competition for the readers?
I made 25 'MacHolly's' for each day of advent + some spares so can happily gift you a special one separate to the ones in my own Advent drop for your giveaway
Thank you bro so much before we finish is there anything else you would like to add?
Thanks Crackers for the forum and love what you are doing to create a real community. Look forward to keeping in touch and a very merry Christmas to you and your followers !
Any time bro and a merry Christmas to you to.
Check the link below to enter are competition
https://twitter.com/Crackers832/status/1604603014140018689?s=20&t=osVEYpld6xGpZkXjIkQjdw
