🐉 Discover the Creative Process of NFT Artist William Mapan

Learn more about the mastermind behind Dragons generative collection

Mar 19, 2022

This article is part of the #30NFTArtists30days series, where I write a daily newsletter edition about a different NFT creator during March 2022. Consider getting a premium or a free subscription to support my writing journey ✌️

Today I have the pleasure to share the story behind William Mapan NFT journey. Originally from Paris, William is the creator of the Dragons generative collection dropped on FxHash. He is a software developer, but his art practice extends to different methods and forms besides code, like 3D, plasticine, and paint, making him an actual multidisciplinary artist.

How did you discover NFTs?

I think I first heard about NFT towards the end of 2020 with the crypto art hashtag on Twitter. At that time, I had no idea what it was and didn’t dig in. In 2021, I heard back about NFT via Mario Klingemann, who talked about hicetnunc, so I started to follow closely.
At that time, I was working with Matt DesLauriers on a project called Wayfinder, and one day he explained to me how to create a wallet and so on… The same day I was onboarded on HEN. A really… wild platform, if I could say. Sync. Sync Sync :)
I minted my first artwork, and it got sold out. I didn’t understand what it meant, but it certainly was the beginning of my journey in the space!

Can you tell me a bit about your creative process?

My creation process is iterative and very…. chaotic, I would say? In my artistic practice, I like to wander between multiple media: coding, plasticine, paint, colored pencils, 3d… I have a passion for trying every single art supply, and I like what they can offer. They all have their specificities. Usually, I let my brain and hands gravitate around them, experimenting a lot.
Often, I’ll have ideas for something while doing something completely unrelated… It’s like having multiple distinct doors where each can lead to something interesting. And at the same time, I can build bridges between these doors by combining various concepts from different media. And once in a while, I will close all the doors and focus all my energy on one. Reading back on what I’ve just said… maybe « »organic » is a more appropriate adjective for my creative process.

William Mapan @williamapan

Generative 🖍️ #generativeart #javascript

After ten years of doing this, I identified I work with the concept of «emergence» a lot: Tinkering, searching, exploring… until something clicks/speaks to me, and then I just keep digging in that direction. Of course, I often have initial ideas, but I end up somewhere I wasn’t aware it existed most of the time. And I like that feeling. To constantly discover myself and learn every day.

FRMFRM #003 – Spread the love by William Mapan

Dragons is one of the most successful drops in the FxHash Tezos platform. It has amazed a total volume of 60k Tezos (+200k USD), and the current floor (cheapest piece available in the market) is 333 Tezos (+1k USD). Interestingly, there are only 45 Dragons for sale out of the 512, which means a short supply is available.

Who are your favorite NFT artists?

Naming my favorite «NFT artists» is tough… Because my inspirations mainly come from artists, not necessarily in the NFT space .. but if I have to name a few in that space… They would be Zach Lieberman, Manoloide, and Matt DesLauriers. Of course, there are many more that make beautiful art on a daily basis, but those 3 are the ones that motivate me to continue to make stuff nobody was interested in a while ago.
Also, one awesome thing about NFTs is they allow artists to connect a lot. I met and discovered a good amount of fellow artists. I’m not a social beast on social media (that thing takes too much time)… but being able to connect with art is truly special.

What are your most proud creations until now?

As a generative artist, I really like that our discipline constantly evolves, questions, challenges, or pushes further. Now we have «long-form» generative art. I’m not aware of anything like that before the NFT era (please someone correct me if I’m wrong)
Last year, I took up the challenge with " Dragons " series, released on fxhash. It is definitely an exciting and VERY intense exercise. Your algorithm has to display good imagery every. Single. Time. It challenged me a lot and questioned myself on the « why» I like an output. It forces you to make a recipe for your own art. Why is it good? How? I’m happy to have made that last year. It pushed me further. Let’s see where I can go next.