Here's a Mega thread 🧵 on rising star 🚀 ✨ NFT artist @0xMcGill. Based on a 3.5 hour exclusive interview with McGill himself + see new never seen before footage. 1/30

Learn why you must pay attention 👀 to what McGill is doing. 👇

Drawing since as soon as he could grab a Crayola marker at age 2, then trained as a classical oil painter, a 3D modeler, a lighting director and animator, @0xMcGill literally lives and breathes art.

What's the TLDR? @0xMcGill is a master artist who meticulously crafts detail down to each spec of dust, hair, and wrinkle to evoke the desired mood from his viewers. McGill is an artist who pursues excellency in everything he does. Never before seen McGill footage below.

1️⃣ PART 1. What's McGill's story?

McGill was born and lives in North America. His great great grandpa on his dad's side was an accomplished landscape painter. Little McGill discovered art as soon as he could hold a writing utensil at 2 yrs old and was utterly magnetized by it.

McGill's parents saw the passion their son had for art, and supported it fully. McGill's father keenly taught little McGill how to draw a horse. McGill said "I was amazed by how good my dad's horse looked. It made me want to get better, so then I started practicing."

Through his childhood McGill expanded into other disciplines, and fell in love with oil painting. He drilled himself doing exercises many thousands of times. He painted buildings, rooms, landscapes, and people as he discovered what he liked and practiced his technique further.

McGill succeeded through highschool while he continued to sharpen his skills, he expanded into digital 2D compositing and 3D art. When asked, he said he was most proud of his still life oil paintings from this time in his life.

Thinking he would struggle to support himself as an artist, McGill applied to university as a computer science major, but by chance he was also accepted into a highly selective animation program. This event was a sign that art as a profession was now worthy of pursuit.

During the program, he found himself wanting to create more and explore the world so he took a year off university to get more real world experience, and worked as a freelancer for awhile before landing a job as the chief lighting artist for an animation studio. 

While working, he got experience in a professional setting and even worked on a commercial for Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Eventually @0xMcGill ended up working on some projects for a blockchain company, where he was first exposed to NFTs. 

Shortly after learning about NFTs, McGill's friend called him up for a life altering call. His friend spent hours explaining #nfts, #cc0, and about the artist @supergremplin.

The multi-hour call with his friend got @0xMcGill interested enough in Cryptoadz to buy in and become part of the community. 

It was in the @cryptoadzNFT community @0xMcGill ended up meeting @tyr1ck and eventually deciding to make a project.

With @tyr1ck as coder and @0xMcGill as artist, they started their first NFT project called @CROAKZ_. The art was extremely well received by the NFT community. A couple months later, as a gift to the @CROAKZ_ holders, they did a 2nd #cc0 collection from #mfers called #mf3rs.

@0xMcGill was also requested to do special 1/1s for @HOWLERZNFT and Ozzy's @CryptoBatzNFT collections. 

It's been confirmed the next thing McGill is working on is an ORIGINAL collection and is going to be run as a brand, with an animation focus, something like the #pixar of #web3. 

Since @CROAKZ_ are the OG McGill collection, they appear to be the ticket into the McGill original.

PART 2️⃣. Who is McGill? 👨‍🎨

Now that we've covered where McGill has been. Let's learn a bit about his art style, and who he is as a person.

Firstly, McGill is soft spoken, and very chill.
He's the kind of person you could sit back, have a beer🍺 with and just enjoy your time. 

When I asked him questions, he gave deep and thoughtful answers. @0xMcGill is positive and cheers on others. 

McGill is a gem. 💎

What are @0xMcGill 's primary skills? Traditional art, art history, 2D & 3D compositing, 2D & 3D video, 3D modeling, 3D animation, blender, professional grade lighting.

@0xMcGill is a HUGE art history nerd. He finds enjoyment in studying art and its rich history. He reads about the artists, and studies their techniques & periods. Absorbing everything. His favourite movements are Medieval/Gothicism, Dutch Golden Age, Romanticism, and Academicism.

@0xMcGill's top three favourite traditional artists in order are: 
 1 #RembrandtVanRijn, 2 #WABouguereau, 3 #HieronymusBosch

McGill's favourite NFT artist is @supergremplin (cryptoadz artist) and his favourite TV show is the Sopranos. 

What's @0xMcGill style?
Hyper-realistic Impressionism. He likes to use extreme level of detail to evoke a strong emotional response. 

He decides on the mood he wants his viewers to come away with, and then engineers every detail to serve to that purpose. Meet "The Olde Deacon"

What does @0xMcGill enjoy most about working on NFT projects? 
While working at a studio, McGill felt like a cog in a soulless machine where he was unable to express himself. McGill loves having the full creative freedom and absolute agency to express himself through his NFT art.

What separates @0xMcGill's work from the rest? 
His meticulous attention to details, textures, use of light, shadow, color, full mastery of tools, and creative exploration. 

In other words, he takes the time required to craft timeless masterpieces that move people emotionally.

Q: What are key skills for a great artist? 
A: "An artist must strive for excellence in their technical ability through dry, persistent training. Many artists can have great ideas, but these ideas can be easily bottlenecked by lack of technical skill." 

Q: If you could collab with any NFT project right now on a new project, who would it be?  

A: "I'd be most excited about working with either BAYC or RTFKT CloneX."

Q: Does McGill have any hobbies when he's not doing art? 

A: McGill likes going to the gym. Other than that he lives and breathes creating his art non-stop.

Q: Will you (McGill) do an original NFT project? 

A: "Yes, my next collection will be original and my OG collection @CROAKZ_ will be involved in some way, that's all I can say."

Q: What creed do you live by?

A:"To strive for excellency in everything done. Long term thinking is what pays off in the end, don’t take short cuts. Never be satisfied. To strive every day to be the best version of myself."
Meet "The Knight"

@0xMcGill is an artist's artist, creating at the very bleeding edge of innovation. Where will his journey take him? History is still being written, but so far he looks like he'll be one of the greats in this period. Perhaps the greatest? Either way, he's one to keep your eyes on.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/croakz_lore/AziRTkX

Last week I was lucky enough to interview the rising star artist @0xMcGill on a call for over 3 hrs. We talked about his life, his journey as an artist, which historical artists are his favourite, what his art style is. Stay tuned for the McGill mega thread.

Still reading? @0xMcGill showed me a peek of some unreleased work as well as talking what may be next for him. Are you teased? #nftartist #nftcommunity @CROAKZ_ 

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/croakz_lore/91SpyIR

McGill Mega Thread coming next!

Do you know why NFT projects like @nounsdao, @cryptoadzNFT , Mfers , @chain_runners , @CROAKZ_  and many new projects are choosing to go #cc0 ? Read on 🧵 to find out why CC0 is going to be the next big trend in the NFT space. 📈 

Don’t want to read? 
Here’s the TLDR: CC0 for art is a lot like Open Source for software. 

CC0 is the way a creative can “open source” their work to the world with no restrictions, while the NFTs track the ownership and value. 🤲 +💰 = 🚀 

🧑‍🔬CC0 lowers friction to use &gt; more use increases awareness &gt; more awareness increases desirability &gt; more desirability increases price. 

How does CC0 reduce friction to use? 
CC0 is a legal framework under Creative Commons Licenses. 

Using CC0 lets creators put their created work in the public domain globally with open rights for anyone to use without permission. 🔓

Before CC0 this wasn’t possible to do. 

Once a project is CC0, it becomes ultra usable. How so? You want to make something for a project? Go for it.Use the art for a story or on a stadium? Automatic yes. Feature a CC0 character in a movie or video game? No problem. CC0 is permissionless frictionless use. @Bicolor6990 

When you combine CC0 and NFTs you get something magical.
CC0 + NFTs = Something anyone can use or build with, but only a limited number of people can own.

This is a good place to pause and think about what that means, and what possibilities open use + limited ownership open up. 

Is open use good for NFT holders?
You bet it is. CC0 opens the door to allow unlimited sharing, derivatives, remixes, and commercial use by major brands.📡

Just as we saw the power of Open Source in software, we will see the power of CC0 projects in the NFT and Web3 space. 📈🚀 

CC0 can reduce the burden on the original team to drive ALL the value. By decentralizing the value creation process a brand can create a flywheel effect. https://toadztoolz.com/toolz 

The point is: CC0 is a decentralized brand. 

Will the wealthy hold CC0? 
Holding any high value NFT is a lot like how people use luxury brands to signal their status to the world.  CC0 only enhances this by ensuring your brand is able to spread far and wide. ♻️
More Known 👀 + More Valuable 💎 = Bigger Flex 💪. 

Here’s a real life example of a remix made possible by CC0. @cryptoadzNFT is a CC0 project by @supergremplin. Two holders named @tyr1ck and @0xMcGill met eachother through the community, and  thought “wouldn’t it be cool if we made 3D versions of Cryptoadz?”, so they did. 

Because of CC0, the holders didn’t get blocked. They just started making the 3D versions of Cryptoadz, which the two holders called “Croakz”. Cryptoadz gained even more fame by having cool new Croakz art come into the world. CC0 was win win for both Cryptoadz and @CROAKZ_. 

How about the metaverse?
CC0 assets are ready to be used in the metaverse by anyone, always. Infact, CC0 assets collectively could be considered a ‘metaverse of assets’ that are open to all to use. Because these assets would be easier to use, they may be more seen and popular. 

Can CC0 be used with DAOs?
Yes, Nouns released as CC0, and while anyone can use or remix the artwork, only the Nouns NFTs provide membership into @nounsdao, which has millions of dollars in its treasury to do what they want with while also acting as a highly exclusive network. 

Will CC0 take over the NFT standard?
Yes, I think it is highly likely because CC0 is the most compatible license with an open and decentralized Web3 world. CC0 looks primed to become the default way artists and brands launch NFTs. 

Are there drawbacks to CC0? 
You can’t stop someone from using the art as part of their brand identity. Commercial use is free, so if a sports team uses the art, it will not have to pay to use it. The trade off with CC0 is maximum shareability at the cost of control. 

Is it too late to get in on CC0 projects? 
When I asked over a dozen friends in the NFT space about CC0, most had never heard of the term CC0, let alone knew what it was. 

What’s the alpha? 
It’s still early and the market hasn’t fully caught on to the value of CC0 and the first projects like: Cryptoadz, Croakz, Mfers, The Jims, Nouns, Blitmap, Nouns Punks, Howlerz, Chainrunners, GI Toadz, that are using CC0 are massively undervalued. 

With CC0 you don’t ask for permission or beg for forgiveness, you just get an idea and build it. Anyone can try joining a CC0 community and adding value without asking permission, it’s fun! Who knows, you might be surprised what happens! 

Special thanks to: @mrclean , @itsorawan , @0xMcGill , @tyr1ck , @terpynfts , @supergremplin 
All artwork in this thread was CC0

Further reading and sources on CC0 research:
 
https://mirror.xyz/0x148089038088cC49CDcF26e0f96776c25e5CfACd/LyW1nstrKXvW22PD-QMOndzx_-hQnzJYXeRj6e28vkM

https://youtu.be/CdgN-YozRMk

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3971240

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode 

Why CC0 is the next big trend in the NFT space.

NFT history is made today, the first digital NFT crossed over into Meatspace. Meet unMorpheus @croakz_ #5654, out of curiosity he took the red pill and was transported to our physical reality. Now he has to make a life for himself here on earth. These are his stories. 

unMorpheus kicked things off with a party in the real world, where he vibed hard listening to, #lofi, #snoopdog, summer of 69, fishing in the dark, and his personal fav never gonna give you up. #firstNFTinMeatspace #CroakzInMeatspace 

After an intense party unMorpheus was hungry. He wasn’t in the bog anymore, no flies to eat, so he ate some delicious AF spaghetti and meatballs instead. NGL, he thinks human food is rad. 

After dinner a human told unMorpheus to go brush his teeth because his breath stank. Toothpaste tastes amazing, he ate the whole tube. Also fluffed his hair with a blow dryer. Gotta stay sexy before bed time.
#firstNFTinMeatspace #CroakzInMeatspace 

unMorpheus woke up and said gm to the outside world for the first time. He went for a walk and found a bench to chill on. He watched the humans walk these furry animals they called dogs and pick up their warm shit off the ground. unMorpheus sat and pondered the meaning of it. 

After the bench unMorpheus built a snowman, and then licked it. Tasted like water and dirt. #firstNFTinMeatspace #CroakzInMeatspace #3dprintedcroak #firstphysicalNFT 

unMorpheus found a car and took it for a cruise while he vibed to some 80’s disco radio. His hair almost lifted him out of the car a few times, but he held on tight with his tongue on the wheel. 

After a long day outside, unMorpheus wanted to c̶h̶e̶c̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶l̶o̶o̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶c̶e̶ check up on how his family was doing in the metaverse. He liked living in the physical world. unMorpheus began planning to bring more of his family over to invade the human meatspace. 