📜Letter 2 - Art creation and Orders
📜Letter 2 - Art creation and Orders
Let’s bridge the digital and the physical world...
“Together with our future Art Patrons we shall change contemporary art.“
- Michelangelo Labs
Welcome to Letter 2, dear Apprentices and Journeymen. This is what today’s letter is about:
🎨 The creative and art production workflow of creating Zeneca’s BAYC. Find out why does it take 300+ hours to create 1 Sculpture.
What were the reactions to the first 3 Honorary Sculptures for Zeneca_33, Eddziskongz and Cozomo de’ Medici (Spoiler: thrilled!)
🗝️ How to get onto the Whitelist (simple yet educative, no grinding) and Order your Sculpture as early as this week?
Quick Reminder - what are the 10 things Sculpture owners (Art Patrons) get in my First Edition?
Congratulations to the members of my community who already received free WL spot for a Journeyman NFT for their activity and love! Big things incoming.
Announcements: Discord, Michelangelo Labs Web3 and more…
Join my first Twitter spaces Sun 20th Mar at 6.00 PM CET/10.00 AM PT!
Relax, get comfortable, grab a drink, let you imagination run wild and enjoy the read.
How we actually sculpted Zeneca’s BAYC?
- The artistic and creative production process -
Each and every NFT Sculpture created by Michelangelo Labs is a unique work of art.
Before the Art Workshop starts working on a new NFT Sculpture there are three basic questions I ask myself:
🗿 How to create an aesthetic 3D sculptural form that is both impressive artistically, appearing perfect from any angle and at the same time faithfully reflecting the original 2D NFT?
🖌️ Which 3D modeling and 3D printing techniques should I use? Different shapes and textures require different approaches to 3D printing - we use DLP, FDM, Polyjet and others. There are many decisions to be made: Which parts will be 3D printed in color, which will be spray painted (like luxury cars basically), which will be hand-painted? Where will we use other materials, like metal, for example. Some BAYCs have metal face parts, we want to make them from real metal.
🗡️ How to design a unique aluminum stand that represents the collection as a whole and brings the Sculpture to the next level? Each stand is made from a single block of aluminum and weighs around 3-5 kg. (We’re working with a company that excels in this kind of detailed metalwork, they produce exquisite pieces for high-end Japanese whisky companies for example.)
New Renaissance in the 21st century - sculpting Zeneca’s BAYC
✅ Step 1: When 3D modeling, we’re inspired by the NFT itself, contemporary sculptures and the shape of real apes. The work must reflect our core art direction principles:
Cool - Elegant - Luxurious
✅ Step 2. Deciding which shapes are part of the form and which are shadows. To create shadows, we enhance the 3D form so that with good lighting it looks glorious. We’re not just drawing lines to fake shadows; the design process incorporates real-world lighting considerations.
✅ Step 3. Deciding what the best way is to prepare and slice the Sculpture for the 3D printing process. It has to be printed in parts and this requires careful planning as we have to decide early on how each part will be painted, primed and finished. Only now is the Sculpture ready for printing.
In case you missed the video of 3D printing BAYC, here it is.
✅ Step 4. A finished 3D print is only 40% of the job. We need to create a super smooth surface to apply the paint job. This includes countless hours of sanding, filing, sanding, and sanding again, all by hand. This has to be done perfectly regardless if we use a matte or glossy finish. Different parts of the BAYC require different finishes. For example, the face has a satin finish in order to create a skin look. But clothes, shoulders and fur elements have a distinct matte finish.
✅ Step 5. Devil’s in the details. We designed the BAYC’s badges from scratch and printed them in full color using one of the most advanced printers in the market - the Stratasys J55.
✅ Step 6. Using CAD software, we design and engineer the metal stand and prepare it for production.
✅ Step 7. Putting the Sculpture together, engineering the junctions, how to make it rigid, how exactly to connect the Sculpture to the aluminum stand.
✅ Step 8. Then we delve in the science of packaging for worldwide delivery. This is our custom-made Flight case for each Sculpture. How to balance the delicate shapes of the Sculpture, how to take care of the paint, how to handle the heaviness of the stand.
✅ Step 9. Not only that production of NFT Sculptures for each collection is different, but each approach for each Sculpture is different, due to shapes, materials, color. Every BAYC, Doodle, CLONE X or a Fidenza is a new artistic process.
Now you know: 300+ hours of man and machine work is invested in each of my Sculptures. It’s a result of the skillful work of 3D modelers, 3D printing specialists, engineers, designers, painters, sculptors, craftsmen, and craftswomen. For that, I salute and honor them. 🎩
We have learned so much from each part of the process when creating our first 3 prototype Sculptures for Zeneca, Cozomo de’ Medici and Eddyiskongz. Each of those Sculptures had different production challenges. I’m delighted that we had a chance to create them. Now dear Apprentices, let’s see the results of my creative evolution.
🗿 The Result? Excitement, joy and new artistic value for the NFT space
I’m fairly proud we managed to create a BAYC, a Cyberkongz and a Cryptoad as three Honorary Sculptures for these remarkable Art Patrons and deliver it to them. Their excitement over their Sculptures gives us immense joy and motivates us even harder to create this new art form that is 3D printed NFT Sculptures.
These were their reactions:
Zeneca_33
Eddyiskongz
Cozomo de’ Medici
Ensure you subscribe to this Substack (moving it to your Primary email folder will help!) and follow me on Twitter.
Subscribing to the Michelangelo Labs Letters Substack is required for the Whitelist process since we will be using it to send out hints as well as check signed-up e-mails.
📯 First Edition 200 Whitelist & Order Process
- Dear Apprentices, Journeymen and future Art Patrons, here is the task for the first batch of Sculpture orders -
The Order process for the First Edition is as follows:
During next week I’ll publish the link with the Whitelist answer form. You will have a limited amount of time to fill in the answer, your email and Twitter handle.
Whitelisted e-mails will get the link for the Order form from vibe@michelangelolabs.com
Fill in the Order form. It will ask for delivery info, details on the NFT that will be sculptured, and a public address which owns the NFT for verification and transaction and Terms & Conditions. This is also the address on which we will airdrop our Art Patron NFT.
Your order will be reviewed by the Michelangelo Labs team. If approved, we’ll send the Michelangelo Labs ETH address for payment. The transaction must be done from the public address which owns the NFT, for verification purposes.
After the ETH transaction is done the Order is confirmed and a receipt is sent. Michelangelo Labs is a registered company in the European Union.
The exclusive initial price for the first 100 orders is $20,000 equivalent in ETH at the time of purchase. E.g. 5 ETH if 1 ETH = $4000.
Done! Sit back and imagine your NFT as a real sculpture, displayed in an art gallery, your house, or a place of business. Soon you won’t have to just imagine.
I desire most to sculpt blue chip NFTs: CryptoPunks, BAYC, MAYC, Cyberkongz, Doodles, Cool Cats, CLONE X, Azuki, World of Women, but also Fidenza, Art Blocks even Autoglyphs. And of course RMRK’s Kanaria.
BAYC NFT Sculpture in all its glory.
During any part of the process - feel free to:
Contact Michelangelo Labs on our Twitter or official incoming Discord
Use the Contact form on michelangelolabs.com
Arrange 1 on 1 meetings with the founder and the team - for each of our future Art Patrons
As always, watch out for scams, fake Twitter accounts or Websites. My Twitter handle is @MichelangeloLb and our website is michelangelolabs.com. There won’t be any need to interact with NFTs in your wallet at this point.
Any personal info shall be used for delivery only. If you want to place your order via your company, contact us. Buying Michelangelo Labs Sculptures could be tax-deductible, consult with your financial advisor.
I’m well aware this is not a conventional NFT project. I’m here for you every step of the way. Our Sculptures shall be an integral part of a full-scale NFT ecosystem consisting of Art Patron and Journeyman NFTs providing artistic, IRL and on-chain value to holders.
If my vision and the hard work of my Art Workshop brings new value to your life, new artistic feelings and inspiration, we appreciate the retweets, likes and linking dear friends.
🖌 Reminder of the benefits and perks included in the First Edition 200
What do you get with your Sculpture order - What is included in the First Edition 200?
A masterful NFT Sculpture: 3D modeled and 3D printed by specialists, hand-finished by artists. 🗿
An opportunity to exhibit your Sculpture in galleries in New York during NFT.NYC 2022.
Included worldwide delivery costs for full luxury service.
Art Patron NFT by Michelangelo Labs. Exclusive for Sculpture Holders with on-chain and IRL utility (Also provides a reservation for the Second Edition’s whitelist).
3D model file, turntable video, and GIF of your Sculpture.
Reusable custom-constructed Flight case for lifelong transport purposes.
Art Patron’s Manual. Tailor-made portfolio for each Sculpture.
Exclusive access to Grand gallery openings in New York, dinner arrangements with ML and curator guidance.
Michelangelo Labs Art Workshop tour (virtual or IRL), private Art Patrons Discord channel, and much more.
High-quality IRL and on-chain surprises.🥇
🧭 For an overview on Michelangelo Labs Roadmap - check my Letter 1 👈
Michelangelo Labs x RMRK bringing Kanaria to reality
I’m looking forward to sculpting RMRK’s Kanaria birds, one of the more demanding sculptures in my First Edition. Here is a tweet from @bitfalls.
RMRK x Michelangelo Labs proudly present Kanaria Statue: Limited edition custom Kanaria statues with Skybreach perks.
Every statue has a wingspan of 55 cm, a custom-made full-body aluminum stand, detachable (equippable) gems, 2 equippable (interchangeable) accessories, included delivery worldwide in custom packaging. Each buyer also gets an Art Patron NFT by Michelangelo Labs, and their statue will be presented at NFT NYC.
📯 Announcements - I’m thrilled to have you on this art journey
Together with our future Art Patrons and Journeymen we shall change the contemporary art scene and innovate the NFT space.
Building a creative community of collectors and artists inspires me tremendously.
Join the Michelangelo Labs Discord starting Sunday, March 20th 2022.
Expect: Behind the scenes production process - weekly and daily Art Workshop updates, NFT utility, conferences and gallery exhibitions, giveaways, art contests and much more.
Art History education. The NFT space could truly benefit from deeper connections and understanding of contemporary art and old masters. We aim to provide that.
We are working on a new Web3 website that will incorporate many perks for both 👑Art Patron and 🗡️Journeyman NFT holders. Coming in April.
Good luck with the Whitelist task, Apprentices!
In Letter 3 read about…
How we sculpted Cyberkong for eddyiskongz
Presence during NFT.NYC
Updates on the Art Workshop and hiring of new artists in my team
Updates on new work-in-progress Sculptures
❤️A big thank you to my old subscribers and a warm welcome to the new ones in the New Renaissance.
