Here's a Mega thread 𧡠on rising star π β¨ 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 π to what McGill is doing. π
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.
1οΈβ£ 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 2οΈβ£. Who is McGill? π¨βπ¨
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 beerπΊ 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. π
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, donβt 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:
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