Next: Bold Leonidas Chronicles Web3 Culture as Daily Cartoons

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Spend any significant time on Crypto Twitter? You’ve likely seen the handiwork of Bold Leonidas.

Think Beeple’s cartoons. Think Beeple’s “Everydays”Comic strips are a great way to tell stories.

Follow in the footsteps memetic monetizers such as mfers founder Sartoshi, Bold Leonidas has parlayed his following into a burgeoning collector base, selling 77 pieces in his “Bold Pepes” 1/1 series on FoundationMoving 1,443 coins in a recent open edition release. Counting many of web3’s most notorious degens in his corner, Bold Leonidas is primed to be a player in the next NFT bull run.

Every week, nft now’s Next up unveils a new artist from our curated list of ascendant talents who have been making significant waves throughout Web3. This week our spotlight is on Bold Leonidas.

How did you get involved in digital art for the first time?

Bold Leonidas: From a young age, both technology and arts were my passions. It took me a surprising amount of time to find a way to combine these two passions. As someone who dominantly worked with acrylic paints, the feeling of painting just really didn’t transfer to the likes of Wacom tablets; looking at the screen whilst my hand dragged a stylus over a different device felt so disconnected from what I was doing – never mind the color mixing, lack of texture, etc. I tried to create artwork as technology improved, but was never satisfied with the results. I finally realized that my mistake was to keep trying to mimic painting instead trying something new.

At the time, I was spending hours reading children’s books with my son, and I realized I was starting to fall in love with illustration. These books were a catalyst in my life. My new style felt right from the first time I tried it. Painting never did. It felt better to me than working on canvas or paper, and I was hooked. I haven’t looked back since. How would you describe your work? To be honest, I feel strange calling it “art” or calling myself an “artist” – I even find I’m hesitant to call myself an “illustrator.” I suppose the best way to describe what it feels like to me is that I have just found my niche. I have interests in psychology, technology, cryptocurrency, and humor – I feel lucky that I have just enough “art” in me to get it across the line.

What’s your process like? Where do you typically find inspiration?

Sincerity, I almost never stop. I jot ideas down constantly – sometimes even climbing out of bed at night to go and write something down – and I tend to draw on the iPad for 3-4 hours per day. I spend more time thinking of ideas than I do actually drawing. I get up at around 6 a.m., and I usually head to bed around 2 a.m., so I’m not sleeping a lot at the moment. I have a lot of ideas floating around my head and put them into notes on my smartphone (I have about 100 comics ideas). When I’m scrolling through Twitter, I can let ideas stew in my mind until I feel ready to open the iPad to a blank canvas and just start drawing. I actively refine whilst I’m drawing, and anyone watching my timelapses can see this refinement process in action. I believe that I am currently the most prolific web3 artist, with over 1400 hand-drawn original pieces created in less than a calendar year. To date, only 76 have been produced.

What was the breakthrough moment for you in web3 technology?

I must admit when “Motion” sold for 8.5E, I couldn’t believe it! I still consider my account and work to be very small, because I have so many plans for the future and how I would like this to grow. So, I’d definitely call that an amazing moment, but I’m not sure I’d call it my “breakthrough moment.” I’m not sure I’ve had that yet.

What are the biggest challenges for web3 artists?

Artificial intelligence is, in my opinion, the biggest problem. A.I. provides a medium that is naturally digital and is advancing at such a pace that it’s hard to see where traditional art fits anymore. It’s becoming harder and harder to separate the two. However, A.I. A.I. It was a huge motivator for me to double down on my comics, as I felt that it would be a long time before A.I. It’s also why I always start with a blank canvas so that I have the video as proof of my work from start to finish. Whilst I could simply copy and paste the Bold character for each new comic, I don’t. I draw him from scratch every single time, and so he is inherently imperfect – he changes size, shape, etc. all the time – but, for me, that adds authenticity. It gives my work an element of humanity that A.I. cannot recreate. It is a human element that A.I.

What advice would you give to emerging artists in this field?

In the web3 space, I’d advise rising artists to be careful with supply. I see many small accounts overdoing mints. They are extracting as much value as they can from their fans and followers, then releasing another Open Edition or piece a week later. This kind of treatment will leave a bad taste in the mouths those who bought your last piece and ultimately drive away your audience. Even if it adds a few sheckles to your coffers short term, it’s a surefire way to kill your progress and, more importantly, your community and support in the long run.

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