British artist Kane Tallowin, better known by his working name Defaced, has had a successful career by delving into the nostalgic charm of classic animated worlds.
His work feels as complete as Jim Henson's puppets, as timeless as Walt Disney's early animation, yet as full of personality as Shigeru Miyamoto's Super Mario Bros. world.
As an illustrator for Defaced Studio and the founder of the creative agency Gurt Corp., Defaced combines childhood whimsy with modern digital storytelling while staying sharp and adapting to the digital age.
A prime example is Gurt, the witty, deadpan, and technically inept puppet who is also the 'co-founder' of Gurt Corp. Like NFT series such as Pudgy Penguins and GaryVee's VeeFriends, Defaced connects its characters to unique backstories, fostering a loyal fan base eager to learn about Gurt's next moves.
With clever world-building at the heart of his creations, Defaced is constantly shaping the future of digital art with each new piece. Here's more about his artistic journey since 2021.
Defaced began creating daily paintings as an artist, thanks to GaryVee
In an interview with NFT Origin Stories, Defaced shared that early in his career as an NFT artist, he listened to the podcast of NFT artist and entrepreneur GaryVee, which inspired him to develop the habit of drawing illustrations every day.
GaryVee, known for his daily YouTube show and other entrepreneurial activities, encourages others to create and pursue their passions every day, just like developing other habits.
Therefore, Defaced draws inspiration from some of his favorite characters and illustrations (i.e., Mario and Sesame Street) and incorporates them into his new daily routine.
In 2021, Defaced turned these daily illustrations into one of his first NFT series, 'Defaced 'N' Friends.' In the 100-item OpenSea collection, Defaced launched a group of more complete 'friends' than his 1-of-1 NFTs on other platforms, namely geometric, brightly colored cartoon characters.
Defaced designed unique personalities for the characters in Defaced 'N' Friends, who are clear and easy to identify against a white background with simple lines. Most have only one pair of eyes, but some have multiple arms.
The series lays the foundation for recurring themes and characters in Defaced's work, including Starman, a character with a square helmet and signature white space boots.
In an interview with The Verge, Defaced explained that the creation of Starman as a recurring character was purely accidental, but has gradually become one of his most meaningful works. Defaced added: 'Starman aims to encapsulate the contrast between childhood, the creative process, and fear of the unknown.'
Gurt is the 'founder' of Defaced Studio and its main character
Defaced likes to inject fun, purpose, and character depth into his work, which we can see as observers from the way he describes his career as an artist in the NFT space.
Defaced told The Verge that NFTs are the key to opening doors and that this career path would not have been possible without NFTs. Try to find a job that allows you to direct movies, create games, make art, oversee production, and ultimately create worlds according to your imagination - without NFTs, this job wouldn't exist.
In 2023, he expressed his love of world-building by creating Gurt Corp. and Gurt, the protagonist in the NFT series 'Gotta Get Gurt'.
Defaced posted a series of short videos on Instagram and the studio website introducing Gurt as his 'lifelong friend' from the UK, who reportedly moved from the UK to New York and Miami before returning to the UK after losing all his jobs.
After a slump, Gurt, Defaced, and Reg, a friend Gurt met in Miami, co-founded Gurt Corp., a fictional agency. Gurt is the company's first entertainer.
'Gotta Get Gurt' is a collection of 790 digital cards with 13 traits from Gurt's past work experience in the United States. The cards show Gurt as a nurse wearing scrubs and a stethoscope, and in the polo shirt he wore while working at the VHS tape store 'Shiftie's Rentals'.
In the months after Defaced Studio released Gotta Get Gurt, the team continued to expand Gurt's world into a spoof talk show, Gurt Show, even hosting a live experience talk show at the Non-Fungible Conference 2024 NFT conference.
As Defaced and Gurt continue to grow, it's easy to see how Defaced creates the world of his characters and storylines, just like his biggest inspirations, Mario and Sesame Street.
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