July 13, 2025 • 38 mins
What does it take to transform a teenage fascination with Microsoft Paint into collaborations with global brands like Nike, Apple, and Mercedes-Benz? In this candid conversation, digital artist Rik Oostenbroek pulls back the curtain on his remarkable 19-year creative journey.
Rik's story begins in a small Dutch town where his teacher parents emphasized education and sports over artistic pursuits. His creative awakening came during his rebellious teenage years when a friend introduced him to DeviantArt, sparking a self-taught design education that would eventually lead to designing flyers for local events in exchange for free drinks. By age 17, he had landed his first major client—Volkswagen—after his portfolio unexpectedly gained over 100,000 views in a single day.
The conversation takes fascinating turns as Rik shares his evolution from freelancer to art director for Cirque du Soleil in Montreal, ultimately returning to independence when he discovered corporate environments stifled his creativity. His philosophy of "always remember why you started" has guided him through the volatile Web3 landscape, where he found both supportive collectors and new possibilities for digital art. Rik's refreshing honesty about the challenges of maintaining artistic integrity while building commercial success offers valuable insights for creators at any stage.
Looking ahead, Rik reveals details about his six-month collaboration on a generative art project, demonstrating his commitment to continuous learning and artistic growth. Whether discussing his dream of living in Japan or LA, his experience getting scammed in the early crypto days, or his obsession with risotto, Rik's authentic passion for creativity shines throughout this conversation.
Ready to be inspired? Listen now and discover why remembering your creative roots might be the most powerful tool for navigating an artistic career in today's rapidly changing digital landscape.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Who is this?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy, who is thisguy, who is this guy?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
NorCal guy, norcal guy, norcal guy, norcal guy,
norcal guy, norcal guy, norcalguy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal and chill podcast.
So it's chill time, norcal andchill podcast.
What the sh, what the sh?
Norcal and chillill Podcast.
What the sh what the sh NorCaland Shill Podcast.
So it's shill time, norcal.
(00:28):
And.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Shill Podcast.
What the sh-.
What the sh-.
Hey, everyone, welcome to thisnext episode of NorCal and Shill
.
Today we have the Rick.
In this episode of NorCal andShill, we have Rick Ostenbrook,
a talented artist and creator.
(00:49):
Rick shares his journey fromstarting with Microsoft Paint to
becoming a renowned artist.
He emphasizes the importance ofself-education and staying true
to oneself.
Rick also delves into theintriguing world of crypto art
and his experiences withcollectors and the rise of
(01:11):
digital art.
He discusses the challenges andrewards of his career,
highlighting the importance ofremembering why he started and
staying focused.
Rick also touches on his workwith well-known brands like Nike
and Mercedes Benz.
He shares personal anecdotes,including his experiences
(01:32):
growing up and his desire tomove to Los Angeles.
Throughout the episode, rick'spassion for his craft shines
through, leaving listenersinspired and intrigued by his
creative journey.
Everybody, please, welcome Rick.
Hey, rick, welcome to thepodcast.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I'm good.
Thank you for having me.
Of course, I'm honored becauseI know the Norco for quite long.
We've been exchanging DMs,especially lots of GMs and GNs,
all the time and like it's no,but it's cool that you do this
in this space in general andit's pretty cool that you have
an actual art PFP by James.
(02:13):
James and I go way back, sothat's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, you know, he was one of the first ones that I
kind of connected with in thespace and I bought a few of his
art pieces and you know, we, youknow it was fun, it was fun
chatting with him and he waslike, hey, you should check out
this person, check out thisperson.
Um yeah, it was great.
It was great and I didn't, youknow, there wasn't really any
(02:40):
pfps besides punks back when.
I got in there was like artvatar, was it artvatar or something
like that, which was kind of a,an avatar thing, um, but yeah,
there's.
So I thought it was a, you knowit was.
It was a lamborghini.
It felt like the space, perfectyou know crypto everyone's
(03:02):
talking about getting a lambo.
I was like this is perfect.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
It'll be a perfect pfp and yeah, it's an art piece,
but yeah, you're, you're stillsticking to it, but right now it
feels like I'm interviewing you.
I'm sorry for that no, it's allgood.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
It's all good, um, but yeah, I mean I, there's not
very many people that I meanI've always kept it as my pfp.
I don't ever, I've neverchanged it.
Um, you know, there's not verymany people that I mean I've
always kept it as my PFP.
I don't ever, I've neverchanged it.
You know, there's not a wholelot of people that use an art
piece as a PFP.
No, Bernie.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
So that's cool, so you stand out in that way.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, yeah, a little bit.
So do you use and have ahardware wallet?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I do, uh, only since a year or so, but I I have three
and I use one uh.
I gave the other two away tofriends, nice, trying to keep
them safe as well.
I think I had two from like.
It's like I used to have thatpre-mint thing, right like the
pre-mint membership, and youcould claim ledger or something
with that.
So I'm using no, but yeah, I'musing a hardware wallet for sure
(04:09):
, um, especially since all theftx stuff happening and whatever
right yeah, you got, you got tobe careful.
Uh, I only got scammed once, butthat was my own mistake.
It wasn't even Clickbait, butit was some guy who needed to
close a deal before he could bid10 ETH on a piece of mine and I
(04:32):
was like, yeah, here, bro, gotsome ETH.
Then he fucked me over.
That was in your early days.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Classic, classic move .
I should bring that one backman.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, I know it's not no, but yeah, safety for
everything, man, especially inthis place, and you see so many
weird things happening, so yougot to be cautious and that's
that's good, but you've got tobe that in real life as well, so
it makes sense to use it.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
For sure.
I mean, it's definitely hard.
You know the FOMO in the spaceis like oh, go get this thing.
You know it just popped up.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
You know there's only so many and you are rushing,
you're not thinking and you'relike trying to mint it and the
next thing you know, you're like, oh crap, yeah, but it's great
that I'm the worst DJ in life.
I feel like I never made a goodmove in this space.
I was like you read all thosesuccess stories and shit.
(05:30):
I've never been a trader.
I'm the worst investor in life.
My mom and dad are very passivewhen it comes to investing in
shit.
It's not in my nature.
I barely FOMO into anything inthis space.
Um, yeah at all, which is goodand which keeps me safe as well.
(05:51):
Like um I, I just had anincident with friend tech, by
the way, where I bought uh, Iactually bought into two fake
accounts today.
This is a big failure and again, like it's because of greed and
I want to be that degen too andI'm seeing like, oh, this guy,
just like this nft statistics,had a fake account.
And also ps row, the collectorand friend of mine, texted me
(06:13):
like bro, he just he juststarted an account 10 minutes
ago and I was like okay, and Iblindly bought in and again like
oh but I'm glad that like armyin the end.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Oh yeah, fun but yeah , small losses mm-hmm they're
all just small mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
On one I even made like on the Azura, do I meet
made $2 profit, so I'm proudprofit is profit exactly.
Sadly the beers aren't as cheapanymore, otherwise it would
have been a profit.
But okay.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
So what were your first thoughts when you heard
about nfts, crypto art?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
um, actually, the first the first time I saw like
the term on uh on instagramactually, because I was an
instagram maxi, so to say.
Uh was from james and and hewas, he was, he was talking
about crypto art, but but Inever, like, I really was
grinding very hard in the clientside of things.
(07:19):
Uh, for the reason that, like,we were expecting our first kid
and I really literally said yesto everything because I want to
provide for the family and blah,blah, blah.
Um, so I wasn't really uh,paying attention to it.
Besides, like alessio fromsuper rare um, he hit me up at
some point like bro, you want todo this thing on super, on
(07:40):
super rare, like I, I didn'thave any clue actually.
Um, so until the kid was born,I didn't pay any attention and,
of course, people sold his uh 5000 days and I've known mike for
quite a bit and I was like holyshit, like, and it's not not
really because it was like hewas making money out of it, but
(08:03):
it was more like fuck, are werelevant all of a sudden?
Right, like we were such.
No, but no one ever took itserious or as art form and I was
like I've been doing this for19 years and I always was
vouching for the digital craftand all of a sudden this thing
happened.
Sorry, it occurs a lot in myEnglish.
It's fine, okay, good, no, butbut I was, I, I was, I was blown
(08:28):
away by that and, and that mademe pick up on twitter, uh.
And then I got like before that, I got dms from people that
sort of like sold my style, soto say, which obviously like you
can't own a style, but likesimilar work to mine for pretty
good money.
This is another sign that Ishould just at least look into
(08:50):
it and see if it's somethinginteresting for me.
Those were my first steps.
I got into Super Rare and foundmy first collectors yeah, Right
Was Kryptonio, one of your firstcollectors he was my second one
, ah, okay, and, and he's, hewas always talking pretty high
(09:13):
of you, like I, I know, but like, as as collector and artist,
like, especially if you you havesuch a small collector base,
you, yeah, wait, is theresomeone here?
Hello, oh, there was someone inthe.
No, I have a shirt workspaceand it's mine and I don't expect
anyone to sorry for that.
No, uh, kryptonio was was mysecond collector actually, and
(09:35):
uh, just like my first collector, who's an austrian guy, I, I
really suck all information outof those guys.
Like I wanted to to educatemyself because I didn't know
anything about crypto at all.
Uh, in fact, like my firstpiece um was minted by someone
else, which is very weird, butthrough, like team viewer, he
had to click all the rightbuttons because I was like, okay
(09:57):
, what is this thing?
Like, oh, what is metamask andlike all that that stuff.
Um, like I wasn't too aware ofthat side of the world and that
was all interesting.
So I really wanted to educatemyself through my collectors and
also gain advice from theirside.
Like, hey, how does this work?
(10:17):
How do you collect as well,because I still want to be a DJ,
but I suck.
No, but I was very muchinterested and that, like with
with kryptonio I, I spoke formonths and months.
I still every time, every nowand then we check in into each
other, yeah, what's up, andthat's just like how real
(10:38):
relationships get built out here.
I guess, for sure, especiallythe dialogue between artists and
collectors super interestingand for both sides.
That, like don't get me wrong,also for for them, because in
2021, like, everybody was justbuying whatever as well.
Uh, yeah, they didn't know thehistory of digital art, or like,
(10:59):
hey, is this artist legit?
Uh, so they also came to me toask like, hey, what do you think
of this guy?
What do you think of this piece?
Uh, how original is this style?
Have you heard about thisperson?
And, and that was that wasquite interesting.
Uh, to sort of like educatemyself but also educate them,
and and that was that was reallynice and it's still.
(11:20):
This is still going on, by theway, but those early days I was
a bit shy, so they helped me alot.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Nice, that's awesome.
Yeah, it was super epic.
Yeah, I like Kryptonio.
I don't talk to him so muchanymore, but I see him around
and shoot him a GM and hey,what's going on, man?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Do it, do it, do it.
He's a good guy, he's, he'sdefinitely a good guy.
Uh.
So, yeah, tell him hi from meas well.
I spoke to him last weekactually, and he's doing fine
he's, he's very happy okay, good.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
So why did you choose art 19 years ago?
What brought you to it?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
no, but this is this is the hardest question ever,
because there were so manyfactors in play.
I guess In the end, it totallymakes sense when I look back
right now, but at that point itdidn't make sense.
My parents are both teachers inprimary school.
My father was a principal in aprimary school for kids that
(12:23):
didn't develop too well I don'tknow how to call it but they had
a hard time, hard youth, likeall kind of issues, and my mom
was a very insecure yeah, mom,like not an insecure mom, but
she wasn't like okay, my dad wassuper outgoing and pushing us
and my mom was more or less inthe background.
But yeah, my father was verymuch into sports.
(12:45):
So I basically um, with tennis,speed skating, uh, football,
soccer, however you call it, uh,sorry for that, I always have
to do it, no, but basically, uh,I was, I was doing pretty much
like education and sports wereeverything, um, yeah, and.
But then around the age of 14,um, I was kind of rebellious.
(13:12):
I would say I'm not sure ifthis is allowed to say in this
like podcast or whatever, butlike I just got like I'm
obviously I'm from thenetherlands.
So I started to smoke weed, Istarted to drink beer and
whatever, like I actually sortof just try to discover myself,
because I noticed that I'vealways been walking the path
that my parents sort of pavedand and like they only want the
(13:34):
right thing right, like there'sno offense towards them, they've
always been nice to me.
Uh, and a friend of mine showedme DeviantArt.
I don't know if you know theplatform.
It was a big chunk of theinternet at some point.
I think it was like 10% of thedata on the internet was from
that website, early 2000s, whereall kind of art enthusiasts,
(13:58):
from traditional to photographyto whatever, actually kind of
what we're facing right here.
Uh, and he showed me some somework from from like digital
abstract artist, um, and, andobviously, like I was high but I
was like holy shit, like this,this is pretty cool.
And then, like when, when I lookfurther back, like even in
(14:21):
primary school, at the age oflike nine I was, I was already
messing around with microsoftpaint, which is super random,
but I was just drawing figuresthere, but I've never been a
drawer or I never had any artinterest interest, so I guess,
like that's sort of what grew onme, uh, that I was observing a
lot and I was enjoyingaesthetics and and try to sort
(14:43):
of educate myself in that realmby educating myself in Photoshop
.
So, yeah, I don't know therewere so many factors in play and
it really sort of is my destinyis such a cringe word but like,
sort of like, yeah, and it'sstill my passion, right, like I
always try to maintain thateagerness that I had back in the
(15:03):
days to sort of educate myselfand have fun in this field.
I don't know if, like, should Icontinue.
Like I could talk about thisfor hours.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Yeah, that was a good good background on like how
things got rolling.
What kind of jobs have you donelike as a teenager up till
being a professional?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
oh yeah of course, like obviously it started quite
local where you did like flyersfor, like hockey that were like
I'm in the posh, the posh areaof the netherlands, and lots of
people play hockey here, likewith a stick on the field but
not on ice, uh, but um, yeah, soI did those flyers for them.
(15:50):
And then they were like, hey,rick, you can drink all night
for free.
And I was like, oh, yeah, fuck,yeah, no, that was epic and it
was just like, uh, you know,like it wasn't.
It wasn't that as easy andaccessible back in the days to
find someone who could make aflyer for you, or you didn't
have those like easy apps whereyou can do it on your phone and
drop and blah, blah.
Like people were really like,oh, my god, this guy can do
(16:11):
something.
And it was quite funny because,like to me, it was just a hobby
, right, like there was neverany monetizing behind it or
whatever.
Like, hey, if I can help you,fine, I'll do it.
And what do you?
Yeah, like they gave me freedrinks in return.
That was fine, uh.
And then after high school, Iwas quite like, already during
(16:34):
high school actually the age of17 I landed my first gig for a
volkswagen and I was like holyshit, like that was so random
and and like, again, people hadto.
Just, there was no social mediaback then, right, so how do
people discover you?
Like, I had this crappyportfolio site a friend made for
mine and and I still rememberthat, like in one day, some,
(16:57):
some blog posted me and I hadlike 112 000 page views in one
day.
And my friend said, yo bro,what the is this?
And I said whoa, and I got likehit up by by brands and
magazines and I was like, okay,what is this like?
Because, yeah, still, I didn'thave any idea to, or not the not
like the motivation to make aliving out of this right, like
(17:19):
that was never, never the case.
So, yeah, fast forward.
Uh, so much happened.
Um, works I?
I I only been like a full-timeonce in my life.
Uh, because straight out ofhigh school I, um I went
freelance artist and basically Iwas still living at my parents,
(17:41):
so that my cost of living wassimply just to buy drinks and
weed, which, which is terribleyeah but no, but it was what it
was.
I was still young, right, and um, yeah, that was, that was fire.
And then I got a job offer fromMontreal, uh, and and I moved
there, uh, doing full-time artdirection for Cirque du Soleil I
(18:04):
don't know if you know it and Iwas like 20 years old.
So I was like, fuck, I made itright, it was good pay, but,
yeah, no, apparently I wasn'ttoo happy when people sort of
bossed me around, so I triedthat aspect as well.
After that, I started really tofocus on developing an own
(18:25):
identity and own style, and Ithink that changed everything
for me.
Um, social media popped up.
I started to post my, my firstlike, or like my personal
experiments, and that worked outpretty well, in a sense that
people started to hire me forwhat I do in my free time.
So it it was like, uh, itwasn't that people came to you
(18:48):
with a sketch where, like, hey,rick, we want this, but
photorealistic, and then I hadto execute it, but right now it
really came out of me and thatwas that was a big win.
Um, so, yeah, social media mademe like, promote myself in that
way and my own experimentsactually sort of like.
I had more followers thanpeople in the early days of
(19:09):
Instagram, actually, but I gaveup on Instagram because, yeah,
for many reasons.
But, yeah, fast forward.
After that I got a bit likebored with executing things for
clients and I even started tofocus more on my personal work
(19:31):
and I got to sell my usagerights of my personal work.
So I have some pieces, forinstance, that have been
licensed by Apple, xiaomi,samsung, hp, whatever, and some
even multiple times.
So that was really nice earningmodel because, in the end, like
, all I ever cared about waslike being like those early days
(19:53):
where I could just play, andand and develop myself as an
artist and not like, like, andthat that's always the goal to,
to, to sort of make a living outof that and progress as a
creative and then, and yeah,make money on the site Like that
.
That's, that's the perfect likething.
So, but yeah, I had a lot of alot of clients.
(20:14):
You can see them on my websiteif you want to.
I worked for Apple HP.
I even did things for TaylorSwift show once.
I worked for Jennifer Lopez.
I did even pitbull, the, therapper guy.
Yeah, mazda, volkswagen,mercedes-benz, mini, cooper, bmw
, nike, adidas, puma what othersports band like I, I did so
(20:40):
much and it's like I gave, gavea talk the other day in
Barcelona and and realizing thatis quite insane that I've done
that all yeah.
But the weird thing is like Imy dad, was always super proud,
like hey, rick worked for this,but it never really did anything
to me personally, where I waslike oh fuck, you pulled it off.
(21:02):
Only the Nike gig was really abucket list thing, but then in
the end I was like I didn'treally.
I I enjoyed it, but to acertain gradation, like it
wasn't that I could be mad proudbecause in the end, like I
wasn't the decision maker withinthose processes and right, that
changed a lot actually.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
That changed a lot, Right, right.
So if you were an animal, whatwould you be and why Jesus?
Speaker 2 (21:35):
fuck, I think I would like to be a cat.
I want to be independent, but Ialso want to hug every now and
then I think like, yeah, right,like yeah, that's true, and
that's that's sort of like wehave a cat ourselves and he's
he's often quite annoying.
(21:56):
Like once he wants food and hejust wants to be petted and
stuff like that, like he justwants attention and like, yeah,
I, I kind of fight with that.
I wouldn't say it's my theanimal.
I like maybe a whale as well,and not like crypto will or
whatever, but just like justchilling in the ocean and doing
nothing.
But I, I think a cat is more,yeah, appropriate for me.
(22:17):
Uh, yeah, no, totally, I'msurprised by this answer.
I'm surprised by this answer.
I'm surprised by this answer.
I'm surprised by this answerthat's fair do you have a
favorite?
food yeah, totally, I'm a suckerfor risotto.
I love risotto in every kind ofway, and sushi, of course.
(22:40):
I had this conversation with mylady, like if I die or like I
have one day to live, like whatI want to eat.
I don't like sushi, but but ithas to be sushi from japan,
though, like it doesn't need tobe like the filthy takeaway
sushi here, uh, and risotto,like I, I love risotto.
I don't know if you fight withit, but I love truffle risotto
(23:02):
and such things, and especiallyif there's a bit of meat in it
or even mushrooms, although Idon't really if you vibe with it
, but I love truffle risotto andsuch things, and especially if
there's a bit of meat in it oreven mushrooms, although I don't
really like mushrooms, but withrisotto they go well.
Yeah, I guess that's it.
Such a random question.
No one ever asked me this.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
So do you have like a piece of advice or a motto that
you live by that, like repeatsin your head, keeps on coming
back?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
to me personally, um, the most important thing is
always remember why you starteddoing this.
Like, always go back to thatcore and figure out, like why
you initially started to do this, and and like, because there's
so much noise, um, there's somuch distraction as well.
There are so many moments,especially if you're in create
(23:52):
or if you are creative, that youwant to give up like I had
those moments myself as well.
But always go back to that core, like why did I ever start
liking this thing and why did Ilike it and what is so fun about
it?
And that helped me a lot also,especially in Web3, where it's
all about your own work andthere are so many aspects
(24:14):
involved, such as value, floorprices and blah, blah, blah.
But in the end, why are you hereand why are you doing this?
And I think the reasoningbehind that, like I always try
to look back at that, like 14year old, why did I like doing
this so much?
And try to hold onto that?
No, but for real, and it works.
(24:35):
But I only figured that outrecently, to be honest.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Do you?
Speaker 1 (24:43):
have.
Do you have advice for artistscoming to the crypto art space?
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah, no, I do think there are so many like it's hard
, it's hard to be part of thisspace, and it's not hard to
enter the space, but it'sespecially hard to stay in the
space, I guess, to enter thespace, but it's it's especially
hard to stay in the space, Iguess.
Uh, to to sort of maintainpositivity and blah blah and not
get caught up in those valuesand for prices and if you're
(25:11):
selling yes or no, uh, I alsohad those moments that I was
like, oh fuck, I'm not relevantanymore, I'll quit.
And then a couple months later,like just again, like, like,
why, like what makes you unique?
Like why and and then, andespecially like, don't feel
forced to be active on socialmedia if you, if you don't like
(25:32):
it.
Like just post work.
Like look at joe peace, forinstance, he only shows up post
work and he fucks up again.
It makes another masterpiece ina couple months later he he's
back again.
No, but that's cool, and juststay close to yourself and to
your core values.
And I'm from a pretty small townand I always had to find
(25:53):
like-minded people online andthat's the reason why I'm quite
active on social media and Ilike to interact with people.
But, yeah, be patient, educateyourself.
I like to to interact withpeople but, yeah, be patient,
educate yourself.
But overall, like, don't getdiscouraged for not selling a
piece, because I've been thereas well and probably like the
Grand Yon's and and the Joepieces, even like they've all
(26:14):
been there and yeah it's it'ssee it as an opportunity and not
like as a weight on yourshoulders and and just just like
I mean essentially, like we, wedo our craft, we do our we, we,
we do our passion and there's,there's a possibility that that
maybe even someone buys it.
And that possibility was neverthere, right, like that, it was
(26:36):
just like we just posted that onour feet and that was it.
Well, well, it was like it wasyour art.
So why that was it?
Well, well, it was like it wasyour art.
So why, like, yeah, I mean,feel it, see it as a blessing
and be patient, for sure, forsure, and educate yourself on
all sides if you could live ormove anywhere, where would you
(27:00):
live and why?
japan or la.
Um, like, I haven't seen muchfrom japan besides tokyo and
kyoto, but, um, the lack ofchaos there is very interesting.
What it does to your like, Idon't know, there's some sort of
(27:21):
serenity there.
I don't't know if you've beenin Japan I have not Bro, like,
go there.
No, but in all honesty, like,and I always said to my lady
that I want to move to LA atsome point in my life, of course
, depending on the situation inthe US, I don't really fight
with what's going on there.
(27:41):
The last couple years, and it'sbeen like four years since I've
been in california uh, shout outto the best weed in the world,
for sure, no, but but like, yeah, the kelly lifestyle is
something I really like, andespecially the creative scene.
Uh, it feels somehow like whichis the opposite from japan.
(28:01):
I feel like Japan is a nice, abetter environment to live in.
But in LA, like, I love howpeople created stuff together
there and and how many you knowcreativity is there out on the
streets and it could beskateboarding, it could be
bmxing, it could be like some djdragging his shopping cart
forward while making music.
I, I sort of really like that.
(28:23):
And and, of course, like yeah,I don't know.
Uh, I I love it there and and Ican't put my finger on it and
that way over new york, like Ilike.
No, actually I hate New Yorkcity.
I don't like it too much.
Sorry to my collectors who arefrom there, because I guess most
of my collectors are from NewYork.
I'll visit you guys one day,just for you.
(28:47):
That's fair yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Do you have any questions for me?
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Why Sharon Nevada brew.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
You know, um, they're not too far, they're they're
based in Northern California.
Yeah, so they're not the.
That beer is like super cheapat like the stores and
everything, and I think ittastes pretty good for what it
is.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
yeah and yeah no, I, I still remember like, uh, I
went to death valley with liketwo artist homies of mine.
Uh, we did some mushrooms andbeers and obviously the beer we
took was like sharon nevada, thehazy little thing like the.
Oh yeah yeah, yeah I had thebest time.
I know it was real.
Um, any other questions, why?
(29:43):
Why didn't you ever collect aone-off one of mine and that's
no offense, like I'm just.
I'm just curious in yourcollecting strategy and I'm not
offended by it at all, but I'mjust curious, how that works.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Dude, I have a price limit that I don't usually go
over.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
No, but that's fine.
No, but that's fine.
Like, you set your own limits.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
And you just, you know, slowly kept on going
higher and higher and I just waslike I missed my opportunity.
A long time ago, Kryptonio tookit.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Kryptonio took it.
Kryptonio took it.
Yeah, no, but yeah, that wascool.
He actually he sold me like hesold my Super Rare piece for
like pretty much like quite ahigh number.
I hate calling numbers, but itwas nice to see collectors make
profit like as well, that reallyembraces like the theme effort.
(30:35):
And no, yeah, that reallyembraces like the theme effort.
No, yeah, sorry, no questionsfor you, sir.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
No, I mean, that's why I like I look out for those
editions and be like, oh,there's a Rick edition, I'm
going to get it, I can afford it.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Don't you own my fake rare by the way.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Cheers to that.
Yeah on that, um, um, yeah.
And then your recentadditionally release I've been
just watching that one thatcollection, cool, see, cool.
See how it fares in the nextfew weeks yeah, it's, it's.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
It's that one is really interesting.
Uh, you know, that's alsosomething like I've been.
I've been doing a lot in thespace because, like you need to
know that every like I don'tlike to repeat myself, so I
always want to try something new.
And, um, like I got thisopportunity to work, to work on
this, and it was like, oh fuck,the market is bad.
(31:34):
But like, once again, like ifthe market didn't exist, would I
take this opportunity, yes orno?
And of course I would have doneit.
So why should a marketcondition dictate what we do,
like we create anyway?
So, and that's also the case,like some of my best pieces have
been launched during beermarket and some collectors were
(31:56):
like, bro, why not wait for theboo?
It could go way higher.
And I'm like it's just part ofthe creative process, like it's
it's part of my currentsituation, like I want to have
it out there and that's it.
Like never let the marketdictate.
And, of course, like you canworry about values and floor
prices.
And in the beginning I had apretty like I would say almost
(32:17):
harder time that I always feltthe pressure to satisfy my
collectors.
Right, like, right.
Oh yeah, this, this like itshould be all-time high after
all-time high, and that happenedfor quite a bit.
But then I was like bro, likethis, this like you literally
stagnate into your creativitywhen you want to create, like
you don't create a singlemasterpiece time after time,
(32:39):
like that simply doesn't happen.
That's not how the processlooks, like the creative process
.
So, um, sorry I'm rambling, butno, I do find it really
interesting and I really try tolet go of such things in this
collection.
I I recently did was a was apretty good example of that, and
right now it's super affordable.
But that's also nice for peopleto be able to pick up something
(32:59):
affordable, I feel, and havedifferent price points on the
market.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah, I know it definitely is.
It looks great.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I'm glad that you did it.
I think more people, especiallyartists that are considered
blue, blue chip, I don't knowthey have like this.
I feel many have this uh,scarcity, scarcity, scarcity,
when I feel like additions don'treally add to, like they don't
(33:28):
take away from that scarcity atall and they just build your
community ultimately but again,bro, like, like.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Look look at a brand like nike or adidas, look at how
, how many things they'relaunching and everything has a
different price point, and someare super experimental products
and some are less experimental,but in the end, you're a brand
and I feel like picasso didn'tstick to one style either.
Or just like busting out.
Work like, like like a maniac,and and I was.
I was like that regardingeditions as well.
(33:56):
Work like, like like a maniac,and, and I was.
I was like that regardingeditions as well.
The only thing I find annoyingabout editions is that it's hard
to track your collectors, likeI always like to right whenever
I see someone collected my worklike not all the time, I'm not
obsessively, uh, looking them up, but more or less like when I
noticed that on twitter and theytag me in it, like I always do
an instant follow I thank themfor, for the fact that.
(34:16):
And and like thoserelationships like I had with
Kryptonio or half with Kryptonio, for instance, where it's
really like a conversation, thatthat's something you really
have with your one-on-onecollectors.
A little bit more, that's that'show I feel, for sure, and once
(34:37):
you get so many boulders, it'slike it's all over the place and
you don't really keep track andlike I'm that social guy that
keeps on rambling like I doright now.
But, um, yeah, no, that's,that's like I.
I believe in additions too uh,for sure.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Yeah, do you have any upcoming projects you'd like to
talk about?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
I'm working on a on a generative collaboration
actually, uh, with with a gen,on a generative collaboration
actually with an actualgenerative artist, which is Pure
Code, and that's going to beinteresting to see how that
develops.
But it's been in progress for,I think, six months already.
Ah, wow, yeah.
(35:13):
But you know, the cool thingabout this space is that you
open your mind for new thingsand at first I was like, okay,
this generative thing, but likethe entire concept behind it,
like some, like endlessiterations, and you create the
margins, like, oh man, like I'mblown away by this shit and, as
always, like I'm always tryingto educate myself on new things
and this was a great opportunityto dive into it.
(35:35):
So I'm working with someone whobecame a great friend of mine,
uh, on on this thing, and wedon't know when it will release,
but it's been in progress forquite a bit and it's looking
super tight.
It's looking super tight, yeah,like that super tight awesome.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Yeah, dude, that's awesome.
Well, rick, damn any shout outs.
Do you want to do any shout?
You don't have to do any uh.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Shout out to my discord.
Uh, I love you guys.
Shout out to my friend tech keyholders are you on friend tech?
No, no, no, um, no.
Uh.
Shout out to like no, but likeeveryone who helped me from the
beginning uh, my austrian, myaustrian collector uh, saltman
(36:25):
gax, ay, kryptonio scott like myfirst one-on-one collectors are
really close art clap as well.
Uh, like those.
Those are the guys I reallysort of like value and and like
everything I do in this space.
I run by them, uh, if it's agood idea or not, and uh how
they're feeling about somethingand like, yeah, that's, that's
(36:47):
just great.
I really made plenty of friendsI could hang out with in real
life as well, which is cool andwhich I actually did.
So, yeah, man, um, a shout outto you for doing this, by the
way.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
It's great oh, thanks , thanks, it's great.
Yeah, it's been great.
Um, yeah, yeah, I mean I likeart pleb a lot and I like
kryptonio.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
I've only I've met art pleb a couple times now and
yeah, he's a great guy tooreally cool yeah it's, there's
lots of good people in the space, and especially the ones that
are in it for the art, are likeyeah, no, that's, that's quite
cool.
Like I sometimes have a hardtime people flipping me because
it takes me like I take that sopersonal, bro.
Like it's like, oh fuck, did Ifuck something up or did I
(37:27):
create something ugly?
And like I especially had thatwith, uh, the release of my fake
rare where people flipped itfor five bucks and I'm like bro,
like what is this like?
come on, come on right, true,true yeah yeah, so I'm glad you
still have it in your wallet.
Thank you for that.
Yeah, sitting there, it's, it'slocked.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
So good to talk to you.
It was really good to talk toyou, rick and uh man.
I hope you have a great eveningand we'll be talking soon we
will talk soon.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
And yeah, let's, let's have a beer one day.
Let's go for that, for sure wewill.
We will make it happen, allright thanks man, all right bye.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Norcal guy, norcal guy.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
NorCal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal and chill podcast.
So it's chill time, NorCal andchill podcast.
What the what the Chill?
Norcal and chill podcast.
So it's chill time, NorCal andchill podcast.
(38:39):
What the sh-.
What the sh-.
Who is this?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy, who is thisguy, who is this guy?
Speaker 2 (00:08):
NorCal guy, norcal guy, norcal guy, norcal guy,
norcal guy, norcal guy, norcalguy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal and chill podcast.
So it's chill time, norcal andchill podcast.
What the sh, what the sh?
Norcal and chillill Podcast.
What the sh what the sh NorCaland Shill Podcast.
So it's shill time, norcal.
(00:28):
And.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Shill Podcast.
What the sh-.
What the sh-.
Hey, everyone, welcome to thisnext episode of NorCal and Shill
.
Today we have the Rick.
In this episode of NorCal andShill, we have Rick Ostenbrook,
a talented artist and creator.
(00:49):
Rick shares his journey fromstarting with Microsoft Paint to
becoming a renowned artist.
He emphasizes the importance ofself-education and staying true
to oneself.
Rick also delves into theintriguing world of crypto art
and his experiences withcollectors and the rise of
(01:11):
digital art.
He discusses the challenges andrewards of his career,
highlighting the importance ofremembering why he started and
staying focused.
Rick also touches on his workwith well-known brands like Nike
and Mercedes Benz.
He shares personal anecdotes,including his experiences
(01:32):
growing up and his desire tomove to Los Angeles.
Throughout the episode, rick'spassion for his craft shines
through, leaving listenersinspired and intrigued by his
creative journey.
Everybody, please, welcome Rick.
Hey, rick, welcome to thepodcast.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I'm good.
Thank you for having me.
Of course, I'm honored becauseI know the Norco for quite long.
We've been exchanging DMs,especially lots of GMs and GNs,
all the time and like it's no,but it's cool that you do this
in this space in general andit's pretty cool that you have
an actual art PFP by James.
(02:13):
James and I go way back, sothat's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, you know, he was one of the first ones that I
kind of connected with in thespace and I bought a few of his
art pieces and you know, we, youknow it was fun, it was fun
chatting with him and he waslike, hey, you should check out
this person, check out thisperson.
Um yeah, it was great.
It was great and I didn't, youknow, there wasn't really any
(02:40):
pfps besides punks back when.
I got in there was like artvatar, was it artvatar or something
like that, which was kind of a,an avatar thing, um, but yeah,
there's.
So I thought it was a, you knowit was.
It was a lamborghini.
It felt like the space, perfectyou know crypto everyone's
(03:02):
talking about getting a lambo.
I was like this is perfect.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
It'll be a perfect pfp and yeah, it's an art piece,
but yeah, you're, you're stillsticking to it, but right now it
feels like I'm interviewing you.
I'm sorry for that no, it's allgood.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
It's all good, um, but yeah, I mean I, there's not
very many people that I meanI've always kept it as my pfp.
I don't ever, I've neverchanged it.
Um, you know, there's not verymany people that I mean I've
always kept it as my PFP.
I don't ever, I've neverchanged it.
You know, there's not a wholelot of people that use an art
piece as a PFP.
No, Bernie.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
So that's cool, so you stand out in that way.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, yeah, a little bit.
So do you use and have ahardware wallet?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I do, uh, only since a year or so, but I I have three
and I use one uh.
I gave the other two away tofriends, nice, trying to keep
them safe as well.
I think I had two from like.
It's like I used to have thatpre-mint thing, right like the
pre-mint membership, and youcould claim ledger or something
with that.
So I'm using no, but yeah, I'musing a hardware wallet for sure
(04:09):
, um, especially since all theftx stuff happening and whatever
right yeah, you got, you got tobe careful.
Uh, I only got scammed once, butthat was my own mistake.
It wasn't even Clickbait, butit was some guy who needed to
close a deal before he could bid10 ETH on a piece of mine and I
(04:32):
was like, yeah, here, bro, gotsome ETH.
Then he fucked me over.
That was in your early days.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Classic, classic move .
I should bring that one backman.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, I know it's not no, but yeah, safety for
everything, man, especially inthis place, and you see so many
weird things happening, so yougot to be cautious and that's
that's good, but you've got tobe that in real life as well, so
it makes sense to use it.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
For sure.
I mean, it's definitely hard.
You know the FOMO in the spaceis like oh, go get this thing.
You know it just popped up.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
You know there's only so many and you are rushing,
you're not thinking and you'relike trying to mint it and the
next thing you know, you're like, oh crap, yeah, but it's great
that I'm the worst DJ in life.
I feel like I never made a goodmove in this space.
I was like you read all thosesuccess stories and shit.
(05:30):
I've never been a trader.
I'm the worst investor in life.
My mom and dad are very passivewhen it comes to investing in
shit.
It's not in my nature.
I barely FOMO into anything inthis space.
Um, yeah at all, which is goodand which keeps me safe as well.
(05:51):
Like um I, I just had anincident with friend tech, by
the way, where I bought uh, Iactually bought into two fake
accounts today.
This is a big failure and again, like it's because of greed and
I want to be that degen too andI'm seeing like, oh, this guy,
just like this nft statistics,had a fake account.
And also ps row, the collectorand friend of mine, texted me
(06:13):
like bro, he just he juststarted an account 10 minutes
ago and I was like okay, and Iblindly bought in and again like
oh but I'm glad that like armyin the end.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Oh yeah, fun but yeah , small losses mm-hmm they're
all just small mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
On one I even made like on the Azura, do I meet
made $2 profit, so I'm proudprofit is profit exactly.
Sadly the beers aren't as cheapanymore, otherwise it would
have been a profit.
But okay.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
So what were your first thoughts when you heard
about nfts, crypto art?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
um, actually, the first the first time I saw like
the term on uh on instagramactually, because I was an
instagram maxi, so to say.
Uh was from james and and hewas, he was, he was talking
about crypto art, but but Inever, like, I really was
grinding very hard in the clientside of things.
(07:19):
Uh, for the reason that, like,we were expecting our first kid
and I really literally said yesto everything because I want to
provide for the family and blah,blah, blah.
Um, so I wasn't really uh,paying attention to it.
Besides, like alessio fromsuper rare um, he hit me up at
some point like bro, you want todo this thing on super, on
(07:40):
super rare, like I, I didn'thave any clue actually.
Um, so until the kid was born,I didn't pay any attention and,
of course, people sold his uh 5000 days and I've known mike for
quite a bit and I was like holyshit, like, and it's not not
really because it was like hewas making money out of it, but
(08:03):
it was more like fuck, are werelevant all of a sudden?
Right, like we were such.
No, but no one ever took itserious or as art form and I was
like I've been doing this for19 years and I always was
vouching for the digital craftand all of a sudden this thing
happened.
Sorry, it occurs a lot in myEnglish.
It's fine, okay, good, no, butbut I was, I, I was, I was blown
(08:28):
away by that and, and that mademe pick up on twitter, uh.
And then I got like before that, I got dms from people that
sort of like sold my style, soto say, which obviously like you
can't own a style, but likesimilar work to mine for pretty
good money.
This is another sign that Ishould just at least look into
(08:50):
it and see if it's somethinginteresting for me.
Those were my first steps.
I got into Super Rare and foundmy first collectors yeah, Right
Was Kryptonio, one of your firstcollectors he was my second one
, ah, okay, and, and he's, hewas always talking pretty high
(09:13):
of you, like I, I know, but like, as as collector and artist,
like, especially if you you havesuch a small collector base,
you, yeah, wait, is theresomeone here?
Hello, oh, there was someone inthe.
No, I have a shirt workspaceand it's mine and I don't expect
anyone to sorry for that.
No, uh, kryptonio was was mysecond collector actually, and
(09:35):
uh, just like my first collector, who's an austrian guy, I, I
really suck all information outof those guys.
Like I wanted to to educatemyself because I didn't know
anything about crypto at all.
Uh, in fact, like my firstpiece um was minted by someone
else, which is very weird, butthrough, like team viewer, he
had to click all the rightbuttons because I was like, okay
(09:57):
, what is this thing?
Like, oh, what is metamask andlike all that that stuff.
Um, like I wasn't too aware ofthat side of the world and that
was all interesting.
So I really wanted to educatemyself through my collectors and
also gain advice from theirside.
Like, hey, how does this work?
(10:17):
How do you collect as well,because I still want to be a DJ,
but I suck.
No, but I was very muchinterested and that, like with
with kryptonio I, I spoke formonths and months.
I still every time, every nowand then we check in into each
other, yeah, what's up, andthat's just like how real
(10:38):
relationships get built out here.
I guess, for sure, especiallythe dialogue between artists and
collectors super interestingand for both sides.
That, like don't get me wrong,also for for them, because in
2021, like, everybody was justbuying whatever as well.
Uh, yeah, they didn't know thehistory of digital art, or like,
(10:59):
hey, is this artist legit?
Uh, so they also came to me toask like, hey, what do you think
of this guy?
What do you think of this piece?
Uh, how original is this style?
Have you heard about thisperson?
And, and that was that wasquite interesting.
Uh, to sort of like educatemyself but also educate them,
and and that was that was reallynice and it's still.
(11:20):
This is still going on, by theway, but those early days I was
a bit shy, so they helped me alot.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Nice, that's awesome.
Yeah, it was super epic.
Yeah, I like Kryptonio.
I don't talk to him so muchanymore, but I see him around
and shoot him a GM and hey,what's going on, man?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Do it, do it, do it.
He's a good guy, he's, he'sdefinitely a good guy.
Uh.
So, yeah, tell him hi from meas well.
I spoke to him last weekactually, and he's doing fine
he's, he's very happy okay, good.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
So why did you choose art 19 years ago?
What brought you to it?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
no, but this is this is the hardest question ever,
because there were so manyfactors in play.
I guess In the end, it totallymakes sense when I look back
right now, but at that point itdidn't make sense.
My parents are both teachers inprimary school.
My father was a principal in aprimary school for kids that
(12:23):
didn't develop too well I don'tknow how to call it but they had
a hard time, hard youth, likeall kind of issues, and my mom
was a very insecure yeah, mom,like not an insecure mom, but
she wasn't like okay, my dad wassuper outgoing and pushing us
and my mom was more or less inthe background.
But yeah, my father was verymuch into sports.
(12:45):
So I basically um, with tennis,speed skating, uh, football,
soccer, however you call it, uh,sorry for that, I always have
to do it, no, but basically, uh,I was, I was doing pretty much
like education and sports wereeverything, um, yeah, and.
But then around the age of 14,um, I was kind of rebellious.
(13:12):
I would say I'm not sure ifthis is allowed to say in this
like podcast or whatever, butlike I just got like I'm
obviously I'm from thenetherlands.
So I started to smoke weed, Istarted to drink beer and
whatever, like I actually sortof just try to discover myself,
because I noticed that I'vealways been walking the path
that my parents sort of pavedand and like they only want the
(13:34):
right thing right, like there'sno offense towards them, they've
always been nice to me.
Uh, and a friend of mine showedme DeviantArt.
I don't know if you know theplatform.
It was a big chunk of theinternet at some point.
I think it was like 10% of thedata on the internet was from
that website, early 2000s, whereall kind of art enthusiasts,
(13:58):
from traditional to photographyto whatever, actually kind of
what we're facing right here.
Uh, and he showed me some somework from from like digital
abstract artist, um, and, andobviously, like I was high but I
was like holy shit, like this,this is pretty cool.
And then, like when, when I lookfurther back, like even in
(14:21):
primary school, at the age oflike nine I was, I was already
messing around with microsoftpaint, which is super random,
but I was just drawing figuresthere, but I've never been a
drawer or I never had any artinterest interest, so I guess,
like that's sort of what grew onme, uh, that I was observing a
lot and I was enjoyingaesthetics and and try to sort
(14:43):
of educate myself in that realmby educating myself in Photoshop
.
So, yeah, I don't know therewere so many factors in play and
it really sort of is my destinyis such a cringe word but like,
sort of like, yeah, and it'sstill my passion, right, like I
always try to maintain thateagerness that I had back in the
(15:03):
days to sort of educate myselfand have fun in this field.
I don't know if, like, should Icontinue.
Like I could talk about thisfor hours.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Yeah, that was a good good background on like how
things got rolling.
What kind of jobs have you donelike as a teenager up till
being a professional?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
oh yeah of course, like obviously it started quite
local where you did like flyersfor, like hockey that were like
I'm in the posh, the posh areaof the netherlands, and lots of
people play hockey here, likewith a stick on the field but
not on ice, uh, but um, yeah, soI did those flyers for them.
(15:50):
And then they were like, hey,rick, you can drink all night
for free.
And I was like, oh, yeah, fuck,yeah, no, that was epic and it
was just like, uh, you know,like it wasn't.
It wasn't that as easy andaccessible back in the days to
find someone who could make aflyer for you, or you didn't
have those like easy apps whereyou can do it on your phone and
drop and blah, blah.
Like people were really like,oh, my god, this guy can do
(16:11):
something.
And it was quite funny because,like to me, it was just a hobby
, right, like there was neverany monetizing behind it or
whatever.
Like, hey, if I can help you,fine, I'll do it.
And what do you?
Yeah, like they gave me freedrinks in return.
That was fine, uh.
And then after high school, Iwas quite like, already during
(16:34):
high school actually the age of17 I landed my first gig for a
volkswagen and I was like holyshit, like that was so random
and and like, again, people hadto.
Just, there was no social mediaback then, right, so how do
people discover you?
Like, I had this crappyportfolio site a friend made for
mine and and I still rememberthat, like in one day, some,
(16:57):
some blog posted me and I hadlike 112 000 page views in one
day.
And my friend said, yo bro,what the is this?
And I said whoa, and I got likehit up by by brands and
magazines and I was like, okay,what is this like?
Because, yeah, still, I didn'thave any idea to, or not the not
like the motivation to make aliving out of this right, like
(17:19):
that was never, never the case.
So, yeah, fast forward.
Uh, so much happened.
Um, works I?
I I only been like a full-timeonce in my life.
Uh, because straight out ofhigh school I, um I went
freelance artist and basically Iwas still living at my parents,
(17:41):
so that my cost of living wassimply just to buy drinks and
weed, which, which is terribleyeah but no, but it was what it
was.
I was still young, right, and um, yeah, that was, that was fire.
And then I got a job offer fromMontreal, uh, and and I moved
there, uh, doing full-time artdirection for Cirque du Soleil I
(18:04):
don't know if you know it and Iwas like 20 years old.
So I was like, fuck, I made itright, it was good pay, but,
yeah, no, apparently I wasn'ttoo happy when people sort of
bossed me around, so I triedthat aspect as well.
After that, I started really tofocus on developing an own
(18:25):
identity and own style, and Ithink that changed everything
for me.
Um, social media popped up.
I started to post my, my firstlike, or like my personal
experiments, and that worked outpretty well, in a sense that
people started to hire me forwhat I do in my free time.
So it it was like, uh, itwasn't that people came to you
(18:48):
with a sketch where, like, hey,rick, we want this, but
photorealistic, and then I hadto execute it, but right now it
really came out of me and thatwas that was a big win.
Um, so, yeah, social media mademe like, promote myself in that
way and my own experimentsactually sort of like.
I had more followers thanpeople in the early days of
(19:09):
Instagram, actually, but I gaveup on Instagram because, yeah,
for many reasons.
But, yeah, fast forward.
After that I got a bit likebored with executing things for
clients and I even started tofocus more on my personal work
(19:31):
and I got to sell my usagerights of my personal work.
So I have some pieces, forinstance, that have been
licensed by Apple, xiaomi,samsung, hp, whatever, and some
even multiple times.
So that was really nice earningmodel because, in the end, like
, all I ever cared about waslike being like those early days
(19:53):
where I could just play, andand and develop myself as an
artist and not like, like, andthat that's always the goal to,
to, to sort of make a living outof that and progress as a
creative and then, and yeah,make money on the site Like that
.
That's, that's the perfect likething.
So, but yeah, I had a lot of alot of clients.
(20:14):
You can see them on my websiteif you want to.
I worked for Apple HP.
I even did things for TaylorSwift show once.
I worked for Jennifer Lopez.
I did even pitbull, the, therapper guy.
Yeah, mazda, volkswagen,mercedes-benz, mini, cooper, bmw
, nike, adidas, puma what othersports band like I, I did so
(20:40):
much and it's like I gave, gavea talk the other day in
Barcelona and and realizing thatis quite insane that I've done
that all yeah.
But the weird thing is like Imy dad, was always super proud,
like hey, rick worked for this,but it never really did anything
to me personally, where I waslike oh fuck, you pulled it off.
(21:02):
Only the Nike gig was really abucket list thing, but then in
the end I was like I didn'treally.
I I enjoyed it, but to acertain gradation, like it
wasn't that I could be mad proudbecause in the end, like I
wasn't the decision maker withinthose processes and right, that
changed a lot actually.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
That changed a lot, Right, right.
So if you were an animal, whatwould you be and why Jesus?
Speaker 2 (21:35):
fuck, I think I would like to be a cat.
I want to be independent, but Ialso want to hug every now and
then I think like, yeah, right,like yeah, that's true, and
that's that's sort of like wehave a cat ourselves and he's
he's often quite annoying.
(21:56):
Like once he wants food and hejust wants to be petted and
stuff like that, like he justwants attention and like, yeah,
I, I kind of fight with that.
I wouldn't say it's my theanimal.
I like maybe a whale as well,and not like crypto will or
whatever, but just like justchilling in the ocean and doing
nothing.
But I, I think a cat is more,yeah, appropriate for me.
(22:17):
Uh, yeah, no, totally, I'msurprised by this answer.
I'm surprised by this answer.
I'm surprised by this answer.
I'm surprised by this answerthat's fair do you have a
favorite?
food yeah, totally, I'm a suckerfor risotto.
I love risotto in every kind ofway, and sushi, of course.
(22:40):
I had this conversation with mylady, like if I die or like I
have one day to live, like whatI want to eat.
I don't like sushi, but but ithas to be sushi from japan,
though, like it doesn't need tobe like the filthy takeaway
sushi here, uh, and risotto,like I, I love risotto.
I don't know if you fight withit, but I love truffle risotto
(23:02):
and such things, and especiallyif there's a bit of meat in it
or even mushrooms, although Idon't really if you vibe with it
, but I love truffle risotto andsuch things, and especially if
there's a bit of meat in it oreven mushrooms, although I don't
really like mushrooms, but withrisotto they go well.
Yeah, I guess that's it.
Such a random question.
No one ever asked me this.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
So do you have like a piece of advice or a motto that
you live by that, like repeatsin your head, keeps on coming
back?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
to me personally, um, the most important thing is
always remember why you starteddoing this.
Like, always go back to thatcore and figure out, like why
you initially started to do this, and and like, because there's
so much noise, um, there's somuch distraction as well.
There are so many moments,especially if you're in create
(23:52):
or if you are creative, that youwant to give up like I had
those moments myself as well.
But always go back to that core, like why did I ever start
liking this thing and why did Ilike it and what is so fun about
it?
And that helped me a lot also,especially in Web3, where it's
all about your own work andthere are so many aspects
(24:14):
involved, such as value, floorprices and blah, blah, blah.
But in the end, why are you hereand why are you doing this?
And I think the reasoningbehind that, like I always try
to look back at that, like 14year old, why did I like doing
this so much?
And try to hold onto that?
No, but for real, and it works.
(24:35):
But I only figured that outrecently, to be honest.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Do you?
Speaker 1 (24:43):
have.
Do you have advice for artistscoming to the crypto art space?
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah, no, I do think there are so many like it's hard
, it's hard to be part of thisspace, and it's not hard to
enter the space, but it'sespecially hard to stay in the
space, I guess, to enter thespace, but it's it's especially
hard to stay in the space, Iguess.
Uh, to to sort of maintainpositivity and blah blah and not
get caught up in those valuesand for prices and if you're
(25:11):
selling yes or no, uh, I alsohad those moments that I was
like, oh fuck, I'm not relevantanymore, I'll quit.
And then a couple months later,like just again, like, like,
why, like what makes you unique?
Like why and and then, andespecially like, don't feel
forced to be active on socialmedia if you, if you don't like
(25:32):
it.
Like just post work.
Like look at joe peace, forinstance, he only shows up post
work and he fucks up again.
It makes another masterpiece ina couple months later he he's
back again.
No, but that's cool, and juststay close to yourself and to
your core values.
And I'm from a pretty small townand I always had to find
(25:53):
like-minded people online andthat's the reason why I'm quite
active on social media and Ilike to interact with people.
But, yeah, be patient, educateyourself.
I like to to interact withpeople but, yeah, be patient,
educate yourself.
But overall, like, don't getdiscouraged for not selling a
piece, because I've been thereas well and probably like the
Grand Yon's and and the Joepieces, even like they've all
(26:14):
been there and yeah it's it'ssee it as an opportunity and not
like as a weight on yourshoulders and and just just like
I mean essentially, like we, wedo our craft, we do our we, we,
we do our passion and there's,there's a possibility that that
maybe even someone buys it.
And that possibility was neverthere, right, like that, it was
(26:36):
just like we just posted that onour feet and that was it.
Well, well, it was like it wasyour art.
So why that was it?
Well, well, it was like it wasyour art.
So why, like, yeah, I mean,feel it, see it as a blessing
and be patient, for sure, forsure, and educate yourself on
all sides if you could live ormove anywhere, where would you
(27:00):
live and why?
japan or la.
Um, like, I haven't seen muchfrom japan besides tokyo and
kyoto, but, um, the lack ofchaos there is very interesting.
What it does to your like, Idon't know, there's some sort of
(27:21):
serenity there.
I don't't know if you've beenin Japan I have not Bro, like,
go there.
No, but in all honesty, like,and I always said to my lady
that I want to move to LA atsome point in my life, of course
, depending on the situation inthe US, I don't really fight
with what's going on there.
(27:41):
The last couple years, and it'sbeen like four years since I've
been in california uh, shout outto the best weed in the world,
for sure, no, but but like, yeah, the kelly lifestyle is
something I really like, andespecially the creative scene.
Uh, it feels somehow like whichis the opposite from japan.
(28:01):
I feel like Japan is a nice, abetter environment to live in.
But in LA, like, I love howpeople created stuff together
there and and how many you knowcreativity is there out on the
streets and it could beskateboarding, it could be
bmxing, it could be like some djdragging his shopping cart
forward while making music.
I, I sort of really like that.
(28:23):
And and, of course, like yeah,I don't know.
Uh, I I love it there and and Ican't put my finger on it and
that way over new york, like Ilike.
No, actually I hate New Yorkcity.
I don't like it too much.
Sorry to my collectors who arefrom there, because I guess most
of my collectors are from NewYork.
I'll visit you guys one day,just for you.
(28:47):
That's fair yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Do you have any questions for me?
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Why Sharon Nevada brew.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
You know, um, they're not too far, they're they're
based in Northern California.
Yeah, so they're not the.
That beer is like super cheapat like the stores and
everything, and I think ittastes pretty good for what it
is.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
yeah and yeah no, I, I still remember like, uh, I
went to death valley with liketwo artist homies of mine.
Uh, we did some mushrooms andbeers and obviously the beer we
took was like sharon nevada, thehazy little thing like the.
Oh yeah yeah, yeah I had thebest time.
I know it was real.
Um, any other questions, why?
(29:43):
Why didn't you ever collect aone-off one of mine and that's
no offense, like I'm just.
I'm just curious in yourcollecting strategy and I'm not
offended by it at all, but I'mjust curious, how that works.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Dude, I have a price limit that I don't usually go
over.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
No, but that's fine.
No, but that's fine.
Like, you set your own limits.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
And you just, you know, slowly kept on going
higher and higher and I just waslike I missed my opportunity.
A long time ago, Kryptonio tookit.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Kryptonio took it.
Kryptonio took it.
Yeah, no, but yeah, that wascool.
He actually he sold me like hesold my Super Rare piece for
like pretty much like quite ahigh number.
I hate calling numbers, but itwas nice to see collectors make
profit like as well, that reallyembraces like the theme effort.
(30:35):
And no, yeah, that reallyembraces like the theme effort.
No, yeah, sorry, no questionsfor you, sir.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
No, I mean, that's why I like I look out for those
editions and be like, oh,there's a Rick edition, I'm
going to get it, I can afford it.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Don't you own my fake rare by the way.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Cheers to that.
Yeah on that, um, um, yeah.
And then your recentadditionally release I've been
just watching that one thatcollection, cool, see, cool.
See how it fares in the nextfew weeks yeah, it's, it's.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
It's that one is really interesting.
Uh, you know, that's alsosomething like I've been.
I've been doing a lot in thespace because, like you need to
know that every like I don'tlike to repeat myself, so I
always want to try something new.
And, um, like I got thisopportunity to work, to work on
this, and it was like, oh fuck,the market is bad.
(31:34):
But like, once again, like ifthe market didn't exist, would I
take this opportunity, yes orno?
And of course I would have doneit.
So why should a marketcondition dictate what we do,
like we create anyway?
So, and that's also the case,like some of my best pieces have
been launched during beermarket and some collectors were
(31:56):
like, bro, why not wait for theboo?
It could go way higher.
And I'm like it's just part ofthe creative process, like it's
it's part of my currentsituation, like I want to have
it out there and that's it.
Like never let the marketdictate.
And, of course, like you canworry about values and floor
prices.
And in the beginning I had apretty like I would say almost
(32:17):
harder time that I always feltthe pressure to satisfy my
collectors.
Right, like, right.
Oh yeah, this, this like itshould be all-time high after
all-time high, and that happenedfor quite a bit.
But then I was like bro, likethis, this like you literally
stagnate into your creativitywhen you want to create, like
you don't create a singlemasterpiece time after time,
(32:39):
like that simply doesn't happen.
That's not how the processlooks, like the creative process
.
So, um, sorry I'm rambling, butno, I do find it really
interesting and I really try tolet go of such things in this
collection.
I I recently did was a was apretty good example of that, and
right now it's super affordable.
But that's also nice for peopleto be able to pick up something
(32:59):
affordable, I feel, and havedifferent price points on the
market.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah, I know it definitely is.
It looks great.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I'm glad that you did it.
I think more people, especiallyartists that are considered
blue, blue chip, I don't knowthey have like this.
I feel many have this uh,scarcity, scarcity, scarcity,
when I feel like additions don'treally add to, like they don't
(33:28):
take away from that scarcity atall and they just build your
community ultimately but again,bro, like, like.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Look look at a brand like nike or adidas, look at how
, how many things they'relaunching and everything has a
different price point, and someare super experimental products
and some are less experimental,but in the end, you're a brand
and I feel like picasso didn'tstick to one style either.
Or just like busting out.
Work like, like like a maniac,and and I was.
I was like that regardingeditions as well.
(33:56):
Work like, like like a maniac,and, and I was.
I was like that regardingeditions as well.
The only thing I find annoyingabout editions is that it's hard
to track your collectors, likeI always like to right whenever
I see someone collected my worklike not all the time, I'm not
obsessively, uh, looking them up, but more or less like when I
noticed that on twitter and theytag me in it, like I always do
an instant follow I thank themfor, for the fact that.
(34:16):
And and like thoserelationships like I had with
Kryptonio or half with Kryptonio, for instance, where it's
really like a conversation, thatthat's something you really
have with your one-on-onecollectors.
A little bit more, that's that'show I feel, for sure, and once
(34:37):
you get so many boulders, it'slike it's all over the place and
you don't really keep track andlike I'm that social guy that
keeps on rambling like I doright now.
But, um, yeah, no, that's,that's like I.
I believe in additions too uh,for sure.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Yeah, do you have any upcoming projects you'd like to
talk about?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
I'm working on a on a generative collaboration
actually, uh, with with a gen,on a generative collaboration
actually with an actualgenerative artist, which is Pure
Code, and that's going to beinteresting to see how that
develops.
But it's been in progress for,I think, six months already.
Ah, wow, yeah.
(35:13):
But you know, the cool thingabout this space is that you
open your mind for new thingsand at first I was like, okay,
this generative thing, but likethe entire concept behind it,
like some, like endlessiterations, and you create the
margins, like, oh man, like I'mblown away by this shit and, as
always, like I'm always tryingto educate myself on new things
and this was a great opportunityto dive into it.
(35:35):
So I'm working with someone whobecame a great friend of mine,
uh, on on this thing, and wedon't know when it will release,
but it's been in progress forquite a bit and it's looking
super tight.
It's looking super tight, yeah,like that super tight awesome.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Yeah, dude, that's awesome.
Well, rick, damn any shout outs.
Do you want to do any shout?
You don't have to do any uh.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Shout out to my discord.
Uh, I love you guys.
Shout out to my friend tech keyholders are you on friend tech?
No, no, no, um, no.
Uh.
Shout out to like no, but likeeveryone who helped me from the
beginning uh, my austrian, myaustrian collector uh, saltman
(36:25):
gax, ay, kryptonio scott like myfirst one-on-one collectors are
really close art clap as well.
Uh, like those.
Those are the guys I reallysort of like value and and like
everything I do in this space.
I run by them, uh, if it's agood idea or not, and uh how
they're feeling about somethingand like, yeah, that's, that's
(36:47):
just great.
I really made plenty of friendsI could hang out with in real
life as well, which is cool andwhich I actually did.
So, yeah, man, um, a shout outto you for doing this, by the
way.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
It's great oh, thanks , thanks, it's great.
Yeah, it's been great.
Um, yeah, yeah, I mean I likeart pleb a lot and I like
kryptonio.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
I've only I've met art pleb a couple times now and
yeah, he's a great guy tooreally cool yeah it's, there's
lots of good people in the space, and especially the ones that
are in it for the art, are likeyeah, no, that's, that's quite
cool.
Like I sometimes have a hardtime people flipping me because
it takes me like I take that sopersonal, bro.
Like it's like, oh fuck, did Ifuck something up or did I
(37:27):
create something ugly?
And like I especially had thatwith, uh, the release of my fake
rare where people flipped itfor five bucks and I'm like bro,
like what is this like?
come on, come on right, true,true yeah yeah, so I'm glad you
still have it in your wallet.
Thank you for that.
Yeah, sitting there, it's, it'slocked.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
So good to talk to you.
It was really good to talk toyou, rick and uh man.
I hope you have a great eveningand we'll be talking soon we
will talk soon.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
And yeah, let's, let's have a beer one day.
Let's go for that, for sure wewill.
We will make it happen, allright thanks man, all right bye.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Who is this guy?
Norcal guy, norcal guy.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
NorCal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal guy.
Norcal and chill podcast.
So it's chill time, NorCal andchill podcast.
What the what the Chill?
Norcal and chill podcast.
So it's chill time, NorCal andchill podcast.
(38:39):
What the sh-.
What the sh-.
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