Dialogue #1 - Josh White
APT. 55 Night Watchman
Josh White, invites us to get inside his imaginarium where stylized ghostly beings highlight their presence on colorful and surrealistic worlds. In every one of these geometric, saturated and empty places, it is possible to feel the tragic reality of each of the ghosts, loneliness and silence, but also evoking to the beauty of this, peaceful and imperturbable.
The contrast and the overlapping geometric shapes on his work have an immaculate balance respecting a critical order to avoid chaos, giving us the impression he is trying to counteract the effect of destabilization on images. Some of the elements of his work usually attract us with a fatal effect and confront us in a subtle and elegant way with the inevitable reality of our mortality.
This set of elements and sensations incite us to think about the fate of their ghosts and surreal beings, who they are, what they feel, why they are in those places... and awaken in our being the desire to accompany them and fill the void of their existence.
Now we invite you to read the interview of Josh White to know more about him.
Is that your real name or a pseudonym?
Josh White is my actual name.
How long have you been a crypto artist and how did you get started?
I have only been creating crypto-art for a little over a month at this point. I first heard about this whole thing from an interview I watched with Vitalik Buterin. He briefly mentioned the concept of selling art on the Ethereum blockchain and that stuck with me. The topic kept popping up in conversations and random videos I would see. So I decided to dive headfirst into it and find out what it was all about.
What is a little known fact you would like to share?
I love Christopher Guest movies.
How do you choose the subject of your art?
I just get inspired by random stuff. The ghosts that I end up putting in most of my paintings are inspired by the movie “A Ghost Story”. That movie was so thought-provoking and introspective. When I paint a scene, I feel that introducing the ghost gives the space a sense of history. As if there is, a lingering memory of why that place, in particular, is significant. I feel like introducing a sense of comfort in the unknown motivates most of my subject choices.
What is your creative process like?
On occasion, I have a vision of what I want to end up painting. But most of the time I just start laying down perspective and see what comes of it. I often will just choose a brush that I don’t normally use to see what shapes happen. Then I will start building from there. All of my favorite pieces came out of scribbles that turned into scenes, and eventually tell a story by way of a character of some sort.
What is the scope of your artwork?
Most of my viewable work is digital. I grew up taking traditional lessons but did not pursue anything with it until I started digitally creating a few years back.
Which tools or softwares do you usually use to do your work?
I almost primarily work on an iPad Pro and paint mostly in an app called ArtStudio Pro. However, I am exploring some 3D work in Blender. We will see where that takes me.
“This was my first 3D rendered scene painted over in ArtStudio Pro”
How has your style changed over the last months?
I would say it has only been enhanced by seeing the range of skill sets that other crypto artists are working with. I am definitely motivated to do more 3D work seeing how much is possible with that medium.
What do you believe is the key element in creating good NFT art?
The key element in creating “good” NFT art is that you love what you create. I believe that there will eventually be no difference between traditional, and NFT art. That being said, own your art, give everything to it, and make art because you love it. If good NFT art is defined by the hype of the moment then it is better defined as good marketing. Art remains subjective and niche. There will always be an audience for every artist. The harder you work, the more people you connect with, the better your chances are at being successful. Love the art and people will love it with you.
Do you have collectibles? Which one of your personal collections is your favorite?
I have a few. Having just entered the crypto art scene I have not had a chance to collect many of my own. My favorite at the moment is a piece made by GRIFF called “Headgear THREE”. Love his art.
Which are your crypto artist favorites right now, which works make you mind-blowing and wanted to add to your personal collection?
I Have a couple that I can’t stop looking at. One being Mark Constantine Inducil (@markinducil) his work is insanely good.
https://makersplace.com/markinducil/
I’m a big fan of @Darkened_m00d, and have been for a while. Would love owning most of what he puts out.
https://app.rarible.com/user/0x3473e8810079a75715532df3daa8488ce15bf9e4
Also, I love @mendezmendezart. Any of his work just stops me in my tracks. Stunning artist.
https://app.rarible.com/mendezmendez
You sell a lot of your work through Rarible. What have you found to be the best way of getting your art noticed by buyers?
Twitter is the key at the moment. I don’t think that will change. The artist/collector community there is amazing. I have never been a part of another group of people more supportive and encouraging than those I have met on Twitter surprisingly.
What do you think was the key factor to get to the point you are right now in the crypto community? And what could you recommend to new crypto artists?
Get involved. Encourage other artists, be there to answer questions, give your opinion, be humble enough to admit you need help. Make friends and be a good one.
You have almost 500 followers on your Twitter, and it appears that you get a nice amount of interaction from your followers. What is your secret to engaging followers in conversation?
Treat everyone with respect, and try to increase the value of every interaction instead of waiting for that value to come to you from someone else.
What’s next for you in the future?
More art! I would love to do some collaborations with new and existing artists in the crypto art world. I hope that making my art becomes my full-time career.
Josh White creates this artwork as a part of a collaboration with our collective APT. 55, so here you have “APT. 55 Night Watchman”, limited edition of 25, be quick!
Founded in 2020, APT. 55 is a project created with the main purpose of supporting alternative and emerging crypto and digital artists. Devoting our efforts to provide an emergent space for artists and art precursors in which they can make public their work and also participate and create temporary exhibits and fairs, worldwide.
Find us on:
Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Never miss an update.
Stay up-to-date
You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new article goes directly to your inbox.
Join the crew
Be part of a community of people who share your interests.