Getting one’s name and work to generate mass interest in the art world can be laborious, but the respect and notoriety that comes with reaching that goal are unmatched.
An 18-year old visionary from Las Vegas named Victor aka “FEWOCiOUS†managed to do just that through his astonishing digital artwork. Things are certainly looking up for Victor, to say the least—one of his most recent art pieces sold for $35,000 (22 ETH.) Victor’s penchant for creating striking digital illustrations has diversified his creative options and given him the chance to produce custom sneakers with Artifact Studios. A clothing drop from the burgeoning artist is also on the horizon, plus he’s making plenty of headway within the NFT medium.
The young pop surrealist sat down with ONE37pm’s Tyler Schmitt to discuss his early origins as an artist, how he got into selling his work online, and his introduction to the booming NFT industry.
ONE37pm: When did everything begin for you as an artist? When did you consider yourself an artist?
FEWOCiOUS: I feel like there was a point in middle school where I was just drawing all the time. Kids would see me with my sketchbook and be like “can I see it?,†and I’d be like “first of all, this is really personal. But fine!†At that point, it was just other kids that would be like “yeah, that’s the artist kid.†Or I’d be in lunch (I didn’t have friends), but kids would be like “hey that’s the artist kid. Check out his sketchbook.†Then they’d look through my sketchbook and I was just like “I guess I’m the artist person.â€
ONE37pm: Do you have family? Was it crafty around your house? Where was your inspiration to start drawing?
FEWOCiOUS: My family is not supportive of art. They don’t like art, they wanted me to be a doctor. And it wasn’t even like they were indifferent or they didn’t care. If I was painting and they saw that, they’d like “what are you doing? That’s ugly. At least if you’re gonna paint, do a landscape or draw an animal.†My grandma would insult it so much every time she saw it. It was a non-no to be doing that.
ONE37pm: [in regards to his family’s unsupportive nature] Do you feel it was because you were good?
FEWOCiOUS: My mom tried to start a business and she went down her rabbit hole. My grandparents saw my mom’s failure and spiral into drug abuse. Maybe they didn’t want that for me. But that turned into actual toxicity.
ONE37pm: What was the first thing you ever sold?
FEWOCiOUS: When I was 12, I used to do Minecraft thumbnails for random people. Five bucks a pop. That’s how I learned to do PhotoShop and computer programs. And then I saw all the popular Minecraft videos no longer were graphic design, it was like drawings. And I was like “Well, I wanna be the best-selling Minecraft thumbnail person. I need to learn how to do it.†And then I learned digital and obviously didn’t know it would turn into my life.
FEWOCiOUS: No. I just start. I think with physical…It’s just I express myself in different ways. Like, I can make a mess and it’ll make sense. I can see the texture and can build off of that. But in digital, you can make a pretty mess. But it’s more like, I don’t like it as much. So I like doing my lines on digital. But if I wanna make a crazy whatever, then I’ll go paint.
ONE37pm: When you create physical vs. digital, is there much of a difference in how you’re approaching it?
FEWOCiOUS: No. I just start. I think with physical…It’s just I express myself in different ways. Like, I can make a mess and it’ll make sense. I can see the texture and can build off of that. But in digital, you can make a pretty mess. But it’s more like, I don’t like it as much. So I like doing my lines on digital. But if I wanna make a crazy whatever, then I’ll go paint.
FEWOCiOUS and Tyler’s lengthy discussion broaches a number of other introspective topics, so be sure to check out the full interview. Be sure to follow FEWOCiOUS on Twitter and Instagram, so as not to miss out on anything going on in his world.