Ricky Retouch is pursuing his dream of music production, but his visual art unexpectedly became the focus of attention. As attention grew, his passion for visual storytelling also increased. Slowly, art took over. From early explorations of typography to in-depth research into software like Houdini, Ricky's creativity eventually led him to create his generative work, Surface Sets.
Although he refuses to be labeled a "curator," his instinct for selection is undeniable - he was able to reduce Surface Sets from over 2,000 outputs to just 100. Ricky's creative process is completely instinctive. He focuses more on feeling than on formula. Over the years, he has honed a curatorial eye by searching for and sharing visuals through his project "Figs From Plums."
Whether through code, composition, or curation, Ricky Retouch is defining his own rules one by one.
Note: This record has been edited for length and clarity.
OpenSea: Let's start from the beginning, how did you get into digital art and design?
Ricky Retouch: Wow, this is a long story. I originally wanted to be a music producer. Music was one of my original hobbies. I was active on various forums, creating music, learning how to make music, and sharing it with everyone. I also started creating artwork for many people - like all kinds of people online. Nothing special, just occasionally posting small posts on the forum. Later, my work received much more praise than my music.
My family also noticed the same thing. They praised my art more than my music. I thought, 'What's this? I make music.' So one day I made a decision: 'Okay, everyone likes this art, so from now on I'll only do visual art.'
I think I have slowly risen from various levels. I started with graphic design. I liked typography, fonts, and typefaces - at the beginning, these deeply attracted me. Later, I came into contact with 3D art. At first, I used software like 3ds Max, then switched from 3ds Max to Cinema 4D, and from Cinema 4D to Houdini.
I think, in my creative journey, I have been constantly challenging myself, and finally I chose Houdini. Surface Sets was made with it. It is a procedural DCC software, so everything I do is non-destructive - I can modify anything at any time, even after it's finished, which really attracted me, yes, basically that's it.
OpenSea: What inspiration has living in Atlanta brought you? Has this inspiration influenced your creation or curatorial vision?
Ricky Retouch: I would say it indirectly, yes, it's just... it's a different kind of city, it's a city in a forest - that's unique in itself. There are always people here who do things their own way, wear their own clothes, and listen to their own music.
From an artistic point of view, it feels okay to be yourself and do things your own way. I think, indirectly, I agree with this. The city taught me to be myself instead of following the rules. This is not a current idea, but it is there.
OpenSea: How did you come up with the name Ricky Retouch? Does it have any source? Or does it have any special meaning for you?
Ricky Retouch: No, it just popped up one day. I thought it sounded cool, so I used it.
OpenSea: I like its atmosphere-based creation method. You also mentioned that you use Houdini. What initially attracted you to choose Houdini over other creative tools?
Ricky Retouch: I have been constantly challenging myself. Before switching to Houdini, I had been working with Cinema 4D, but I was limited to a certain extent for everything I wanted to do. I learned Houdini and decided to make a change.
So I tried to create a project in Cinema 4D, and then recreate the same project in Houdini. The Cinema 4D project took about two weeks, while in Houdini, it took about two days.
What made me wait for two weeks was a button in Houdini, so it was like getting started instantly, and then I became obsessed. I kept learning, learning, and learning again. It's like a sandbox - you can do generative art, 3D art, destructive art, procedural art - and I've been obsessed ever since. I can't imagine using anything else, basically.
OpenSea: I heard that Houdini is considered one of the most difficult tools to learn, so I was impressed when I saw you using it.
Ricky Retouch: Yes, it's basically like learning a language. I spent a lot of time learning Spanish - until I could converse in Spanish. Houdini is similar. It's also a challenge.
OpenSea: When you start creating a new piece, what's your workflow like? Do you first conceive of a specific concept in your mind before creating, or do you observe the final effect first?
Ricky Retouch: It's really great. I can experiment as much as I want. There are so many fancy features in Houdini. You can use whatever you want to do.
I basically start with a blank canvas and create based on feeling. You know, as people often say - I'm just creating a feeling. I'll make boxes, spheres, points - whatever, and scatter them. That's where "Surface Sets" comes from.
I just scattered points on the grid and added some noise. Eventually, I found a series of nodes and settings that would give me these emerging patterns, but it all comes from feeling. Ninety percent of what I do comes from feeling, and then I understand it.
OpenSea: Was there any inspiration behind designing the "Surface Sets" series?
Ricky Retouch: There is another dynamic work on Solana that inspired Surface Sets - The Bitter Bands and Kind Rabbits. Basically, if you can imagine Surface Sets - they are just two-dimensional points - then the other works are like blades of grass standing up, but you are looking straight at them, they are moving, swaying.
So imagine Surface Sets, but it's moving. I just took it and stepped back and removed the movement part, and you get Surface Sets. I changed the noise a bit and got a different manifestation pattern. That's basically it.
OpenSea: You mentioned in the collection description that this is carefully selected. How do you select it? I guess you created more than 100 works and then picked your favorites.
Ricky Retouch: Yes, so, originally I wanted to release about 5,000, not in the collection - my goal has always been 100, but behind the scenes, I wanted to create about 5,000. It took a while, I reduced the number to about 2,300, and then spent about two days carefully checking and finally reduced it to about 400.
It took another while to carefully check, and finally the day before uploading to OpenSea, I finally determined 100, so, yes, it took a while, it requires a lot of focus, it's not easy.
OpenSea: Are you also making choices based on the atmosphere?
Ricky Retouch: Yes, that's what I do. I also have a page on X - "Figs From Plums", where I share various small artworks and designs that I like. People call me a curator, and I don't know if I agree with that.
But I shared various small artworks and designs that I liked there, and people seemed to like it, so I took the same approach for "Surface Sets." I knew it as soon as I saw it. There was no special rhythm or reason. I just knew it, and the same thing happened with this. I don't have a real scientific method to explain it.
OpenSea: Do you hope that collectors who collect "Surface Sets" will also resonate with it? For example, when they see these works, will they resonate?
Ricky Retouch: 100% yes.
OpenSea: What are you excited about or doing?
Ricky Retouch: Not currently. I will continue to create the Figs From Plums series. I have had private messages with some people before - I am not very comfortable revealing the specific situation - but a follow-up series may be launched sometime this year.
OpenSea: I'm looking forward to seeing it. When did you create the Figs From Plums X account?
Ricky Retouch: Oh, that was a few years ago, but I didn't start taking it seriously until around 2024. I just talked about this a few days ago - I used to think art was my superpower, but now I understand, it's more my perspective, my curatorial ability, and my taste.
I'm just starting to realize this now. Fields like generative art are becoming very convenient. It's really hard to reduce from 5,000 or 2,000 works to 100, but I'm gradually discovering that my talent allows me to do this. For others, it may be overwhelming, but for me, it's very exciting. I get satisfaction from curation.
OpenSea: You said before that you don't consider yourself a curator, right?
Ricky Retouch: Yes.
OpenSea: Because I think - I mean, I've seen that X account and flipped through its dynamics - its content is curated so well. Your vision is great. I'm surprised you don't see yourself that way.
Ricky Retouch: Thank you. I don't know. I've heard too much - people keep sending me private messages, some are big names, calling me a curator, saying a bunch of these things. I think I should accept the title, but I think the word means more to me than what I'm doing.
OpenSea: For this page, do you mainly find works through social feeds or look elsewhere?
Ricky Retouch: Oh, it's everywhere. I once posted a post - my friend Mark Busch, he's in Denmark, asked me - and then I posted it. I would search on Pinterest, Google, Tumblr, LinkedIn, YouTube, X, Instagram - basically anywhere I could upload pictures, I would search.
OpenSea: I like your praise for Tumblr. I think it's quietly making a comeback. Suddenly, people are starting to download Tumblr again, or rediscovering their old profiles. It's always interesting to look back at it.
Ricky Retouch: Yes, Tumblr is great. I actually created Figs From Plums on Tumblr. If you search carefully... I used to try to hide this page. It's probably from 2014. I think my taste has improved since then. Maybe you can find it. I tried to hide it because after the X account went viral, people started paying attention to me. But, yes, it was later created on Tumblr again. I miss those days.
OpenSea: Why did you originally start Figs From Plums?
Ricky Retouch: I don't know, it's just my nature. I have a deep desire to share good art. When I first created Tumblr in 2014, it was purely out of a desire to share art, but recently - around 2023 or 2024, I really started uploading more works on Tumblr - initially to fill a gap, a pain point in the NFT field. Everything was like the Wild West, everyone had countless different views, and there were new posts about various arts every day.
I want to express my views on excellent art and design. I hope to share art in a way that allows the audience to be exposed to different things. I share a lot of graphic design, typography, videos, visual effects, CG, etc. - but I noticed that people are not really exposed to these, so, I will forward works from Figs From Plums through my Ricky Retouch account to expose my fans, collectors, and audiences to different types of art.
Because collectors and people in the NFT field mostly tend to NFT artists - they don't always know people like Agnes Martin or my good friend Mark Busch (who is my favorite artist), or other graphic designers or visual effects artists.
I want to expose people to something different, and use this to position myself from a different perspective, just like Ricky Retouch, because everyone is creating art and then posting - "This is my collection, go check it out" - and then it goes on and on. I want to break this cycle and integrate my "curation" into it. I want to do things my own way.
OpenSea: Yes, it's cool. I think it is - people sometimes tend to only share their own things, maybe they'll highlight their favorite artists, but your Figs From Plums is completely about showcasing other people's work.
Ricky Retouch: Yes.
OpenSea: What advice do you have for artists who are interested in generative art but don't know where to start?
Ricky Retouch: I would tell them to start where they can, wherever you are, start from there, don't be afraid, try not to follow too many rules, and over time, you will find that many "rules" should not be regarded as dogmas. Perhaps you can seek guidance, but don't be too rigid. Do your best and do it your way as much as possible.
OpenSea: Thank you for taking the time to chat with me. It's been great.
Ricky Retouch: Thank you, Hannah.
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