Artist Spotlight: TapTapKaboom
TLDR: For many of us, as we get older, our imaginative and creative sides often fall by the wayside. This collection transports you into a wild, multi-dimensional world that might just inspire you to rekindle that side of yourself.
Collection Site: https://joepegs.com/mint/wondercats
Twitter: https://twitter.com/taptapkaboom
There is something mystical about the imagination of a child. Their eagerness to learn combined with a perception that lacks constraints for what’s possible in this world leaves them filled with imaginative thoughts. They always have thousands of questions to ask each day because they’re constantly thinking about the world around them. Their curiosity is insatiable.
When a mind is constantly running on this imagination mode, naturally the creative parts of the brain are operating on overdrive. This is a beautiful part of the human experience. Unfortunately for many of us though, these parts of the brain get suppressed as we grow older. Oftentimes we don’t even notice it. The endless possibilities of a once imaginative mind will slowly yet surely shrink down to the tunnel vision of reality. Think about it —when was the last time you dreamt up something larger than life? Something from a world outside of your own? When was the last time you truly flexed your imagination muscle?
The ability to bring something into our minds that hasn’t been seen or experienced yet (a.k.a. imagination) is a skill that we often take for granted. In reality, it’s one of the most important skills we have as humans. It’s what allows us to create new things.
One person who has surely not taken this for granted is TapTapKaboom (TTK), the brilliant artistic mind behind The Doodleverse. In fact, the Doodleverse is actually a perfect example of someone who’s taken a journey to tap back into that child-like imagination we all once had.
TTK has always been a doodler. For as long as he can remember, he’s had a hyperactive mind that lent itself well to creating art. Back when he was a mere six years old, he won a “colouring-in art competition” with an absolutely epic wax-crayon gradient piece…epic for a six year old at least. He walked away with the equivalent of about $10 in prize money and left feeling like he’d made it big. At 34 years old now, he’s still making money off of his art. Sounds like destiny to me.
However looking at his art now, it’s quite easy to overlook the journey he went on to get here. Believe it or not — when TTK began his experimentation with NFT’s, he only had experience doodling in black and white. No colours. It wasn’t until after he began experimenting with a few NFT’s on Ethereum, followed by finding his home on Avalanche that colours became a central characteristic of his work. From there he also made significant leaps in the evolution of his work. His early works were self-described as “empty and flat”. However, for The Doodleverse he pulled in the grit and grain he developed in his 100 Web Characters collection, the gradients and bold colours from his Visual Deluge abstract collection on Foundation, and finally his inspiring gradient colouring work from childhood. When all combined, he’d found his signature Doodleverse style.
With the style down, it was time for his imagination to take the reins. Luckily for TTK, his brain is wired for creativity. He is truly a “walking idea machine”. Similar to how a child questions anything they observe, TapTapKaboom takes inspiration for ideas from everything he observes — reading books, chopping onions, or even riding his bike. He can find ideas in everything.
His studio’s centerpiece, a massive whiteboard, is the home of countless lists of ideas that have flashed through his mind. Once the ideas are written down, they’re sent to the next step in his mind — the rumination phase. This is effectively the “I’ll sleep on it” phase. The ideas ferment in his head until they’re ready to transform into art in a rather intuitive manner.
This is when the real fun starts. These ideas may start their lives as interesting shapes or a scene he’s thought up. After a quick sketch for ideation, he can move on to his production of the “black line work” — often multiple layers built on top of each other with plenty of erasing, adding, and adjusting. He then fills the piece with colours and adds gradients to add character. Toss in a bit of grit and grain to reduce the intense digital feel, and you’ve got yourself a Doodleverse piece. It’s rather mesmerizing to watch. TTK even streams during some art sessions, so you can watch as these pieces come to life.
Exploring The Doodleverse is like living in a dream. The limitless possibilities in this alternate universe create some rather wild sights. Magic trees, towering castles, birds with weird eyes, and a 4th dimension are all possible while sightseeing in this world. Only one thing is guaranteed when exploring this multi-dimensional universe — it’s going to be weird… But luckily that’s what makes it so fun.
One recurring character in the collection, the happy suns, turned into a fan favorite. So naturally TTK expanded the Doodleverse ecosystem with another collection — Happy Sun. Like the last collection, TTK finds a way to capture the audience and evoke feelings of joy and imagination through his art. You will be left with a sense of wonder after looking at either of these collections.
His next project “Wondercats” launches this week. This collection of magical creatures is his stab at exploring these so-called wondercat creatures. As always you can be sure that these collections will transport your mind into a new imaginative world. For this collection in particular, he gathered a diverse bunch of artists to help in his endeavor.
For TapTapKaboom, The Doodleverse collection was a road to authenticity. He is creating art that is uniquely his own. These collections are his exploration into his feelings, his thoughts, and his artistic expression. The art truly could only be created by him. When beginning this journey, he set out to find his voice as an artist, and he definitely has found it. This collection is the experience of an artist “who is waking up to who he is.” That passion shines through.
There’s a reason art which invokes our childlike sense of wonder resonates with all of us so much. We all wish to tap back into the joy and excitement that we found in that earlier stage of our life. Maybe these collections can act as your reminder to not let that side of you fade away…
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