2,779 IOTA Whales
An IOTA NFT Project
Suppose it takes 1 Ti to be considered a true IOTA whale - then there can only be 2,779 whales. And they are all here, each whale a true one-of-a-kind, that can't be replicated.
This is not a layer based approach (as for example the Bored Apes PFP), nor a filter or StyleGAN, but a mix of different paint and vector algorithms that, when fed base images of the whale, will result in a unique outcome every time.
Here are just a few of my personal favorites:
Full Size (1000 x 1000 px):
And these are some of the base whales the above images were derived from. Some techniques would favor a flat background. At other times, a gradient would yield more interesting results.
Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as sitting back and let the algorithm spit out cool images. Even after serious tweaking, it would make the occasional odd decision and return unsuitable results. These would usually fall in one of the following categories:
Too much minimalism/abstraction kills the whale
(somehow though, the IOTA logo managed to survive in the right image)
(somehow though, the IOTA logo managed to survive in the right image)
Oversimplified - whale features are showing, but nothing to get too excited about.
Overcomplicated - cool to look at, but the whale is getting drowned in pixels.
Aesthetically unpleasing - lacking substance, too muddy, blurry, or just plain boring.
So some babysitting of the algorithm and curation of the outcome was in order, and with the high number of images created, that took a while. But in the end, I was left with 2,779 nice lookin' whales.
459 of 2,779 whales
This Warholian approach to art, in which the artist removes himself and surrenders a good part of control to randomness, has always intrigued me, and this project proved to be a perfect playground for it.
The whales will be available on the IOTA NFT marketplace when it's up and running. They will be very affordable - you won't have to be a whale to own one.
10 Whales have been given away to some of my Twitter followers. There might be another giveaway in the future, so stay tuned!
Future plans include creating a special whale, the proceeds of which would go to a whale/ocean charity. Organizations like Sea Shepherd already accept a wide range of crypto, so this could be a good opportunity to talk them into adding IOTA.
Also check out my other NFT project, The IOTArot, for a more manual creative approach.