The witches look illustrated but are generated from code, which is known as "generative art."
The artists drew different face shapes, hair, eyes, hats, horns, and other features. Then, an algorithm randomly selected features to create different avatars.
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🧙♀️ The “crypto coven” — a collection of witch avatars minted as NFTs — has quickly become a magical and extremely lucrative project, already generating over $20 million in sales.
Here’s how five friends created
@crypto_coven
. 👇
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@aletheia_eth
and
@nyx_eth
both liked the idea of owning an NFT in the form of digital art, but they didn't see any portraits that reflected themselves as female tech workers and hobby-artists.
So they decided to make their own.
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The two artists looped
@xuannu_eth
,
@aradia_eth
, and
@keridwen_eth
into the project to help build out the technology and lore.
They said they landed on witches as a concept because of their powerful and feminine imagery.
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Last Halloween, the group released the first batch of NFTs for 0.05 ethereum each, roughly $215.
Since then, the project has created a windfall for its founders. One has quit her tech job to focus on the project full-time, and others hope to do the same.
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Before the coven, Katelin Holloway, a startup investor, felt "like a fish out of water" when it came to the digital art market.
But she learned how to mint from the coven's website and paid just over $300 for a witch — her gateway to owning more art.
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The digital art market is as much a boys' club as crypto investing, with an estimated twice as many men as women investing in crypto and too few female artists in the space.
But many female tech investors have flocked to the coven.
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On January 19, the average price per witch hurtled to about $6,750, a fourfold increase over the week before, and people who minted witches could resell for much more than they paid.
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But the founders took a hard line on talking prices in the coven's chatroom, blocking people for discussing floor prices or trying to "flip" witches.
This gave rise to a community slogan: "lore not floor."
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Since then, the coven has veered into new territories with meetups, fan art, games, and education resources.
Good to see you at the
@crypto_coven
Shanghai tea party 🌸
@qiqileyuan
@TheYisiLiu
@emmthesqui
@2009daybyday1
@JoAtMeno
@YeruiZhang
@TheYearof1573
🍻
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The creators feel humbled by the collection's success. Before, the idea of being a digital artist while having enough money to pay the bills felt out-of-reach. Now, it’s on the horizon.
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@BITech
Wow just like Stardoll but with the random button. Yall need some new content this is wack af ntf my ass
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@BITech
Ok... we all knew it was an algorithm that made these stupid things, but is it really a good idea to blatantly show us that these are not actually art and made by a computer?
Yikes.
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@BITech
you literally have a video of it layering illustrated elements, there is nothing "generated from code"
I know its your jobs to not educate the public but here you go
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@BITech
The art is actually nice (unlike the horrid ape stuff) but it kinda looks like it could just be a version of picrew rather than something you spend tons of money on like a fool.
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@BITech
a series of for() loops layering a handful of layer elements.. and almost ten thousand junk bond images..
not sure it's art, frankly not sure what it is, but fairly sure, that it is not art..
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