Chatter Oks / #art

My Thoughts on NFT's

My Thoughts on NFT's

I’ve been learning about NFT’s recently and I want to put down some thoughts on the whole thing.

Am I excited?…read on dear reader, read on.

I remember the first time I was told you can draw on computers I was very nonchalant about it. I was 13 years old and I was sitting in the computer room at school, not that I was interested in computers that’s for nerds! It was my form room and every day I’d have to be there waiting for my teacher to call out my name.

Someone showed me this picture on the screen, I think it was Maggy Thatcher face to face with Reagan. I wasn’t impressed.

“Go on Oxy, have a go” I was Oxy back then not Okse, I was quite happy being Oxy until they brought out that spot cream.

“Just move the mouse”

“What mouse?”

“This” they then proceeded to waggle this grey plastic matchbox about in a Grandmaster flash style and lines came up on the screen.

You’d think that this would blow my mind, it didn’t.

I got the mouse drew a Dennis The Menace face, then exclaimed “That’s shit, I’ll stick to pen and paper”

I left them disheartened with a face like the coder who showed Steve Jobs that you could draw squares on the Mac and was then told to make the corners curved.

I vowed never to touch a computer again as I said earlier nerdsville.

4 years Later, Stourbridge Art College.

“I’ve done a sprite of you?”

“Eh?”

“A sprite, it’s for a game”

“ugh!?”

Words were coming out of my mate Courty’s mouth but I had no idea what he was on about.

He explained that he draws the sprites and animates them and then a coder puts them in a game. I was stunned.

A year later I found myself working for a games company learning how to do game art.

Digital Art

Here we are it’s 2021, I’m sitting at my computer and I’m listening to people chat about NFT’s on Clubhouse ( I’m @okse if you’d like to follow me)

I’ve been creating digital art for 28 years, that’s a long time eh…if you ever used 3d studio on Dos you’re like,me…well old!

Peoples opinions have changed about digital art, no longer do they prefix “digital drawing” with the words “Oh, it’s just a”

NFT’s have changed that.

I’m now going to explain what I’ve learned about them, if you see ** sandwiching a word write it down and give it a google.

What is an NFT?

NFT stands for Non Fungible Token.

An NFT allows you to mint a piece of digital art and that allows you to securely sell that digital art and store records of ownership on the *BlockChain*.

The great thing about NFT’s is that you can sell a digital piece of art to Collector A and if they were to sell that piece to Collector B in the future you will get a percentage on the sale, this percentage is determined by you at the initial minting stage. If Collector B sells to Collector C you will get automatically get sent Money to your *Crypto Wallet* it’s like royalties forever. If anything was ever going to happen to me, I would pass my wallet to my son. Hopefully, that won't happen for a long time.

“But Okse, surely anyone can just screengrab your images print them out, and claim that they own them?”

But they won’t will they, I can print off an image of the Mona Lisa and hang it on my wall, but it’s not the real one, it’s a copy as we all know the original is hanging in the Louvre in Paris.

The NFT is a digital Certificate of Authenticity.

So how does an artist benefit from all this NFT stuff?

I am a published artist, many years ago I was with one of the biggest fine art publishers in the UK. We worked together, it was fun, then we parted. Having a publisher was great, but you’re always having to second guess what collectors wanted.

With NFT’s I feel that I don’t have to do that, I can create whatever I want, stuff that I enjoy and get excited about, and if people don’t like it they won't buy it, but there will be people who want to join me on this journey and if you are one of them “Hiya! Buckle up”

Being able to put ownership on a piece is brilliant too and to be able to say I created that back in such and such a date is brilliant. I with NFT’s were about 24th June 2016… but that’s another story #okseb4banksy

Browsing Clubhouse and Twitter it amazes me how supportive people are to each other, no one is putting each other down it’s like we all want to rise up together.

I will be dropping NFT’s very soon once I get my works together, I’m very excited.

If you want to follow me I’m on the following social media.

I look forward to connecting with you…yes, even you too.

Twitter.com/theartofokseNFT
Clubhouse : @okse
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Banksy - I'll Just Leave This Here .

Banksy - I'll Just Leave This Here .

It's the 24th of June 2016 , I awake to find that we have left the EU, I read articles about it and I see those 12 stars on a blue background , I think to myself " we're not going to be a part of that anymore , let's take our star down". I wanted to make a statement as an artist it's important for me to do that amongst the sea of icons and cartoons I create. So at 8 ish in the morning I got my iPad and started to draw a man in Union Jack overalls on a ladder holding a bucket and erasing one of the stars.

I posted it up on Instagram , It got likes, it got viewed hashtags used #eureferendum #brexit #art

It wasn't a finished piece , it was a preliminary a piece that was mine a piece that I could go back to when we finally left.

It was an emotional time for our country, the youngsters concerned about their futures and the elderly voting out because there were hundreds of coaches of foreigners coming to claim benefits , take our jobs and steal our recycling bins.

We put it to the back of our minds and carried on as a nation.

So I wake up one day (May 2017) and check my social networks and see an article on the latest Banksy piece, a wall in Dover using the same concept as mine re the EU

This piece was "created" on the side of a building owned by the Godden Family who are property developers in the Kent area. They have had dealings with Banksy before they tried to sell a Banksy in Folkestone three years earlier and lost a high court battle as they were tenets of the building rather than freeholders .

The Godden family intend to sell this artwork for 1 million and give the money to charities in the area, this is all well and good, but I've got an Mot coming up very soon, plus I'd like some credit.

But Okse , why do you think Banksy copied your idea and what are the similarities?

1/ bloke is on ladder
2 / bloke is wearing overalls
3/ bloke is getting rid of star.
4/ bloke is using a bucket (even though he is chiselling)
5/ hashtags #eureferendum #brexit #art
6/ it's a bloody good idea.

 

Now I don't know how Banksy works nowadays , is he still a single person walking round town pretending to be drunk with pizza boxes with stencils on the underside to avoid police intervention, or has he got minions a la Damien Hurst putting ideas forward? Maybe this could have happened.

I've tried to contact him by email three times with all my concerns but have heard nothing back, you could say I've been blanksied.

Here's the email I sent:

" Dear Banksy,

Hello you, hope you're keeping well.

My name is Chris Oxenbury aka Okse (pronounced Oxy, used to spell it O-x-y until they brought out that spot cream...then discovered "Okse" means "vomit" in Estonia )

Anyway I'm a Black Country artist based in Leamington Spa and I'd like to let you know I recently saw a piece you'd done in Dover and it is very much like mine that I did 24th June 2016 the day the referendum results came in.

Here is a link please check the dates and feel free to have a gander at my other stuff.

https://instagram.com/p/BHB6WOFgo82/


I think it's very cool that you and I have had the same idea and it saddens me that I won't be able to create this piece now on canvas as I will be accused of Banksy plagiarism and then I'd have to be all like having to explain that I did it ages ago.

I was going to create it once we'd left properly.

I won't be able to make anything from it, I'm not doing too bad as an artist but I'm still starving and still trying to get my name out there. I've read that the owners of the building are going to sell it for a million! And I'm finding it hard to pay my council tax! :)

Anyway I'd love to have a chat with you about it, maybe you could give us a bell and you could put a cloth over the mouth piece like they do in the movies.


All the best

Okse "


So there you go , a non confrontational email, keeping it sweet , keeping it friendly.

I've spoke to other artists , some have been like shout it from the rooftops, some have been like, "just leave it". Also I've had "You can't sue him , you've got no money" (that was my mum)

So the internet is powerful and I'm going to use it, I'm not being deluded, I came up with the concept first, and I'm not lying , I've got proof.

So if you're reading this and you want to spread the word for me


Just post the following image on your social networks if you ever see a Banksy article or tweet this article about. I'd really appreciate it and when I get massive I'll doodle on serviettes for you to auction off.

 




Use the hashtags
#illjustleavethishere #okseb4banksy

Thank you x

if you're press and you'd like to chat further about stuff please drop me a line at info@theartofokse.com

and please feel free to browse my site whilst you're here to see what I'm all about.

 

 

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Animations/ Pokemon / gaffer tape / emojis and other things

Animations/ Pokemon / gaffer tape / emojis and other things

Hello there , I know it's been quite some time since I posted a blog , the reason I haven't posted has been good, I've been pretty busy!

So I'm going to use this post to tell you what's been going down in Okse Town! (do not try and google maps it,there is no such place)

Now where do I start Art in the Park was good , if you don't know what Art in The Park is, it's a yearly event held in Leamington Spa where many creatives gather together and showcase their works, it's just buzzing with creativity you can smell it and it smells of hot dogs...but saying that it could have been the hotdogs they were selling ...did I not tell you there's food too?

My mate Kate asked me if I'd like to join her at The LSA ( Leamington Studio Artists) tent , she said I would be able to showcase my art, she was like "do some caricatures or something".So I decided to draw Pokemon Trainers and their favourite Pokemon.  I thought it'd be quite chilled..it went cra cra (that's how the yoot are speaking ) 

I ended up doing loads my time management was rubbish so I was glad to have Kate by my side helping us out. Kates got an Art Gallery by the way ,it's very cool She runs it with her business partner Kate , luckily there isn't a third partner called Kate, KKK thats be awkward! ...Anyway here's their site  http://www.deasil.co.uk/ 

Was also great to hang out with Artist Caroline Shotton and her lads.She's a Cow Lady..She paints cows not that she's literally a cow that'd be strange and rude.

Pokemon Trainer drawings are available here on the site https://theartofokse.com/products/pokemon-trainer

Art in The Park 2016 http://www.artinpark.co.uk/

What else has been happening?

Pep and Jose

Middle of August I was asked by BBC Manchester if I'd be up for doing a weekly animation based on the rivalry between Man United and Man City. Pep and Jose. 

Now a lot of my friends know that I'm not that big on football I know who Gazza  ( he cried ) , Lee Sharp (he went to my school and Emlyn "I know it  , I know it , I know it " Hughes ( Question of Sport )are so I jumped at the chance.

I brought my mate Scott Gibson on board who is an editing wizard and we did the business. 9 weeks of getting the script Wednesday night, Thursday morning would be spent creating assets for the visual gags, audio at 12 pm , then to the studio creating all the lip sync and secondary motion, While Scott would put the visual gags together all ready for Friday morning.

Working with our mystery writer was great ( he's like Banksy, though I reckon he's either a Blue or a Red so wants to keep schtumb). The voices were provided by The Mimic Men ..."hang on Okse" I hear you say "I've heard of them" , yes you have they've been on BGT doing The A-Z of Impressions, very funny and great impersonators... "Ooh betty" is about all I can muster. Oh and by the way ,don't worry I couldn't really hear you

It was just a good bit of fun, I learned loads mainly about pies and other Northern food.

oof, Wigen Kebab.. I wont explain.. just google it :)

if you want to see Pep and Jose they can be seen here 

Pep and Jose Episodes

That was a very busy time and it lead to more work in collaboration with www.elburydesign.com a great team of professionals based in Cornwall creating an explainer video. 

We're going to be adding this as another service The Art of Okse can provide,so if its something your business is interested in please dont hestitate to drop us a line.

 

from Elbury Design 

As well as doing all this cool work there has also been time to have fun , I went to see Tape Face, for those of you haven't seen him he's the Boy With Tape on His Face (literally ) who got through to the final of America's Got Talent, I've known him for years and had painted him many moons ago. So when I saw him I started drawing cartoons of him on Instagram that he reposted and they got a lot of attention.

So I took my friend Neil along to see him, such a funny act, he's a mime artist who does a lot of audience participation. "Okse that sounds hideous audience participation!" No it's brilliant , you won't have seen anything like it and everyone who goes up on stage end up being a mime, it's so clever!

I gave him some framed versions of the art and he was very happy, well it think he was, he had tape on his face.

He's  given me a lot of exposure social networking wise and for that I am truly thankful. 

Me and Tape Face...or Tape Face and I 

I feel like I'm waffling loads but a lot has gone on I've just created a series of emojis for BBC Coventry and Warwickshire , thought it was going to be a small local thing but it's gone world wide.

A  lovely lady called Diane Hill was telling the BBC CW That there weren't emojis for her generation so they asked me to come on board and create them , here,s a news clipping with the story 

 We've been interviewed by loads of people all over the world and I've been on the tele which is quite cool. So if you've come to the site via the news story "hiya" 

another thing I've been doing inktober on Instagram , if you search #zoeyandthezombie you'll see what I've been up to. 

I think that enough for you, it's been a cool productive couple of months .

I'm taking orders for Christmas so drop us a line,

We've also released a new Sid James print  along with others.

These can be purchased here .

https://theartofokse.com/collections/prints

 

Take care , I'll do another update in couple of months. 

L8rz!

 

 

 

 

 

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Okse's Recommended Books

Okse's Recommended Books

I get asked if there's any books I can recommend and the answer is "yes, yes I can!" I'm going to recommend you three books that have been very useful to me.

I believe that anyone can draw cartoons, if you can write, you can draw, it's just learning where to put those magical special lines. I've taught folks how to draw a simple cartoon head just using 1, 2 , 3 and 4! But we'll leave that for another blog post.

Animation by Preston Blair 


When I was about 5 my God father, Danny gave me the book Animation by Preston Blair, it's an amazing book that teaches you how to construct characters and it also shows you the fundamentals of animation. Now, as a 6 year old the reading parts did not interest me, I was still kind of learning.

It also taught you about expressions, mouth shapes, hand gestures, it's definitely worth getting hold of a copy.

How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way By Stan Lee and John Buscema.

The next book is How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way . This book shows you how the guys at Marvel does it. It's full of lessons on perspective, character construction, composition , camera angles. John Buscema is a legend in the comic world so you're being guided by one of the best.

it gives you a good list of tools you need to become a comic book artist.

I remember my sister buying this for her then boyfriends little brother for his birthday, he was in the same year as me at school and not being one to spoil a surprise, I told him "I'm not going to tell you what my sister got you for your birthday, but I've read it."


It really helped me learn about anatomy, well the anatomy of a Marvel character.

ive seen it in The Works a few times so if you see it, grab a copy.

Draw Comic Book Action by Lee Garbett

And the final book is " Draw Comic Book Action " by the very talented Lee Garbett. I had the pleasure of working with Lee during my days working in the games industry. He was very good at adapting to any style, one of the best concept artists I've ever met.
Lee's book focuses on the action... hence the title, it's like a modern day HTDCTMW , he shows you what materials to use and also goes down the more technical side too using 'puters , photoshop and that.


He teaches you how to construct characters and shows you great poses and how to put together powerful action shots .

Lee is and always has been great at drawing women too, something that I used to find difficult, so if you find that hard it'll definitely help.

Lee has gathered a nice portfolio working as a comic book artist for Marvel and DC I'm very proud of him, his success is well deserved, proper cool chap.

You can visit Lee's site here http://leegarbett.com/ to see all things Garbett.

I think whenever reading how to guides, take what's on board and try to adapt your own thing , don't try and be a copy of some one else.

So there you go, three cool books that'll help you on your artistic journey.



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